Locked out at eleven at night in a country where you are still working out how the doorbells are labelled, let alone how to explain a broken cylinder over the phone. The ordinary problem is manageable. Doing it in a second language, with a stranger at your door and no idea what the going rate is, is what makes your stomach drop.
That is the bit we care about. English-speaking staff across the whole country, published prices, and a promise we put in writing below. You pay what a Dutch customer pays. Not a cent more.
We put a name on it because it should be easy to hold us to. Four commitments, and they are the same four whether you call us from a canal house in Amsterdam or a new-build in Eindhoven.
No expat rate, no tourist rate, no postcode rate. Our prices are published in euros, on this page and on our prices page, for everyone.
You hear the full total on the phone, not at your door. VAT and call-out are already inside that number.
The person who picks up speaks English, the locksmith who arrives speaks English, and your itemised invoice arrives in English.
No teaser headline price that grows into something else, no price that changes once the door is open, no cash-only pressure, and no drilling a lock that did not need drilling.
If the price at your door is ever different from the price we quoted you, tell us and we will put it right. That is the whole point of writing it down.
There is a reason this page exists, and it is not a marketing exercise. Our company is called Locksmith. In a Dutch trade full of Dutch names, an English one stands out, and the people who found us first were the people searching in English. Expats were among our earliest customers before we had any strategy about it at all.
So we learned early what the job actually involves when you are new here. That a lockout is not just a lock: it is a landlord you have not met, a lease you half understand, an insurer whose website is in Dutch, and a nagging worry that you are about to be charged three times the normal price because you would not know the difference.
The longer version is worth a read: how our English name brought us our first expat customers.
Every job stacks up from the same base. You start at the €75 start rate, and the work you actually need is added to it in clear steps. That is the whole price. You hear the total before we set off, and it is the total you pay.
Each card below shows the step it adds and the total it comes to during the day, so both readings line up. Evening and night add one further €75 on top; a weekend during the day adds nothing.
€75
Call-out, travel and VAT. Never a job on its own: it is the base that every daytime and evening total below builds on.
+€75
€150 total, daytime. The €75 start rate plus €75 for the opening itself.
+€75
€150 total, daytime. The cylinder and the fitting are inside that step.
+€125
€200 total, daytime. The cylinder and the fitting are inside that step.
+€75
One-off, added on top of the daytime total. Opening your door becomes €225 total in the evening or at night.
+€0
No surcharge at all. A Saturday during the day costs exactly the same as a Tuesday during the day.
+€75
Only if the job runs longer than the half hour already included, and always agreed with you first. Added to the daytime or evening total.
Longer or heavier jobs are quoted before we start, never afterwards. The full overview lives on the prices page.
In English. Tell us where you are and what has happened.
On that call, before anyone gets in a van. All-in, in euros.
Usually within thirty minutes. Our locations are dispatch bases for engineers on the road, so there is nothing for you to travel to.
Digital, in English, listing the parts fitted and their certification. Exactly what an insurer or a landlord will ask for.
We would rather you used a good competitor than got stung, so here is the short version. The rogue operators in this trade rely on you being in a hurry and unsure of the going rate, which is precisely the position a lot of newcomers are in.
The full guide, including what to do if it has already happened to you: scammed by a locksmith? This is what you should do now.
Six guides written for people who did not grow up with Dutch locks, Dutch tenancy law or Dutch locksmiths. Each one answers a question we are asked every week.
Standing outside your own front door, in the rain, at an hour you would rather not be. What to try before you call anyone, how to spot a bait price on the phone, and what an opening actually costs: a €150 total during the day, €225 in the evening or at night. Read locked out in the Netherlands, what to do right now.
The whole price list explained as a stack: a €75 start rate covering the call-out, the travel and the VAT, plus one clear step for the work itself. Nothing appears at the door afterwards. Read how much does a locksmith cost in the Netherlands?
Often covered, particularly after a break-in. Dutch contents cover (inboedelverzekering) and buildings cover (opstalverzekering) usually pay for break-in damage and a replacement lock, if you meet the policy conditions and can produce a police report and an itemised invoice. With a three-question checker: does home insurance cover a locksmith? Coverage always depends on your own policy.
Most expats here rent, and rented doors come with their own questions. May you replace the cylinder at all? Who pays, you or the landlord? In most cases you may, as long as you keep it reversible, and who pays depends on why the lock is coming out. The full guide: renting in the Netherlands, your locks, your keys and who pays.
Shared front doors, master key systems, key deposits, and a housemate who moved out still holding a key. What you may change in a student room, who holds a key to it, and who pays when something goes wrong: student housing in the Netherlands, locks, keys and your landlord.
Why a Dutch locksmith is called Locksmith, how that one English word decided who found us first, and what twenty years of being the company expats stumble on taught us about how newcomers get treated in this trade: how our English name brought us our first expat customers.
About keys. We do not cut keys. For a plain spare, a local shoemaker or key service is faster and cheaper than we could ever be. If your lock is a certificate lock such as M&C or Nuki, original new keys can be reordered through the manufacturer: call or WhatsApp us with the certificate to hand and we place the order, then deliver or post them. The manufacturer sets the terms, so we cannot promise a price or a delivery time in advance. Having the cylinder replaced anyway? Extra keys can come with it, just say so when you book.
Yes. There is one price list and it is published in euros on our prices page, in English, for everyone. You hear your total on the phone before we set off, and that total is what appears on the invoice.
It builds up in two steps: the €75 start rate, plus €75 for the opening itself. That is €150 total during the day. In the evening or at night one further €75 is added on top, so €225 total. A weekend during the day adds nothing, so a Saturday costs the same as a Tuesday.
Every job starts at the €75 start rate, which covers the call-out, the travel and the VAT. The work you need is then added to that base: +€75 to open your door, so €150 total during the day; +€75 for an SKG★★ cylinder, so €150 total during the day; +€125 for an SKG★★★ cylinder, so €200 total during the day. Evening or night adds one further €75 on top, so opening your door becomes €225 total. A weekend during the day adds nothing.
Yes, from the first phone call through to the invoice. Tell us where you are and what has happened and we will take it from there.
Usually within thirty minutes. We work across the whole country with engineers in every province, and our locations are dispatch bases rather than shops, so the locksmith travels to you.
Often, especially after a break-in. You will need a police report and an itemised invoice, and your policy has to cover it. Our invoice lists the parts fitted and their certification, which is what insurers ask for. The detail is in does home insurance cover a locksmith?, and coverage always depends on your own policy.
No, we do not cut keys. For a plain spare a local shoemaker or key service is quicker and cheaper. If you have a certificate lock such as M&C or Nuki we can reorder original keys through the manufacturer: call or WhatsApp us with the certificate to hand. Because the manufacturer sets the terms we cannot promise a price or a delivery time up front.
Everywhere in the Netherlands, with engineers in every province. The five cities where most of our English-speaking customers are:
Not on the list? See all our locksmith services, or just call and tell us the postcode. Locked out this minute? The emergency request is the fastest route.