A network of locksmith companies investigated by CTV News which is now the target of several other investigations told CTV they wouldn't be back to Metro Vancouver for "a couple of years."
A man from a number connected to Dependable Locks Inc. -- the name for a network of companies US authorities say routinely overcharge locked-out, vulnerable clients -- said B.C. callers would have to go elsewhere.
"I don't have anybody available, try someone else," said the man, who wouldn't give his name. When asked if there would be someone tomorrow, the man said, "Not tomorrow, and not for the next couple of years."
When CTV News called back looking for a comment on the record, the man hung up the phone.
US authorities say Dependable Locks, Inc. puts many phone numbers in local listings that appear to be local, but are in fact forwarding numbers to a central dispatch.
The dispatchers work with locksmiths in more than 100 cities across North America, according to documents, and are told to understate the price for a lockout, while the locksmiths are instructed to charge much more.
This week the B.C. government confirmed they are also investigating companies called "123 24 Hour Emergency Locksmiths," "Emergency A Locksmith," "Safe Locks Canada," and "Dependable Locks Inc."
Last week a man claiming to be from 123 24 Hour Emergency Locksmith was caught on hidden camera by CTV News refusing to give a name or his licence, and attempting to charge for an expensive lock replacement when a lock could be easily picked. He gave a receipt with the name "Safe Locks Canada."
"Emergency A Locksmith" caught the eye of Surrey locksmith Chris Mack because one listed address is very close to his shop on 72nd Avenue, Maximum Lock and Security.
"My son found a locksmith that was supposedly just a few doors down from us so I thought something was funny," Mack told CTV News.
The address given -- 13393 72nd Avenue -- was between a Chinese restaurant at 13391B, and an empty office at 13395. The only object in between the two addresses was a Province newspaper box.
Mack said the address would confuse a customer looking for his shop, which has an A+ rating with the Better Business Bureau and has been voted top in Surrey for a number of the past years.
"It sounds like they're trying to ride on the coattails of professional locksmiths," he said.
Hearing that the company was under investigation from the province, the phone companies, and had told a reporter it was leaving town, Mack said he was glad to hear it.
"Sounds like good investigative reporting," he said.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jon Woodward
