Anonymous
Please don't post my previous review -I hadn't finished it! Avoid Banham Security (locks, alarms, safes etc.) Dreadful company. If, like me, you imagined Banham's high prices reflect good service, beware; if they screw up, their so-called ‘customer service’ is DREADFUL beyond belief. And if you refuse to pay for their terrible service they play nasty, threatening legal action and damage to your credit rating, along with closing your account (which implies you won’t ever be able to get spare keys cut, because Banham keys can only be cut at Banham with your personal Banham i.d.). Last year we went to their Golders Green branch to get 4 spare keys cut. At this stage Banham had failed to fix our new but intermittently sticking lock in 2 years, and when I mentioned the ever-sticking lock to the Golders Green staff they looked astroturfing the key and said it was because the key was bent, so they’d straighten it. Not long after, the same key broke off in the lock. I called Banham to get a locksmith, telling them I would not be paying for this; they should have fixed the sticking lock long ago, not wait until a key finally breaks in it (of course the straightening of the key had not resolved the sticking). However they invoiced me anyway then threatened court action and ‘account closure’ when I refused to pay. After months of trying to have a reasonable discussion with them, all I can say is they play dirty. Other reviews on various sites indicate the way I’ve been treated is their normal modus operandi. Perhaps harnessing the power of social media will help - ah but they don’t seem to have any social media presence. One wonders why… There is zero customer service, only a total refusal to discuss the issue; they refuse to explain the logic of threatening legal action for not paying to rectify a problem THEY created through negligent practice even their own locksmith condemns; not only was the sticking lock not resolved, but we learned from the locksmith that you never straighten a key, it weakens it and makes it prone to breaking. Why then, did Golders Green straighten it? Why didn’t they say this at the time? We were already buying 4 more keys, we could simply have chucked the bent one had we know it could become an issue. During his visit to remove the broken key, the locksmith took the lock apart and sprayed something inside. This seemed to finally resolve the sticking problem. When we asked what he’d done he wasn’t very forthcoming though, just muttered something about a ‘dry spray’ you can’t buy, but that was it. Pity the first locksmith who claimed there was no issue with the lock didn’t do the same two years earlier. Of course we were still left with the issue of being invoiced for resolving the key problem Banham created in the first place. During the ensuing lengthy correspondence they made 3 competing statements but refused to acknowledge the obvious contradictions in them. They also refuse ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution for consumer products), insisting their ‘customer services’ department is the only way they handle complaints - but 'customer services’ doesn’t actually handle complaints at all, it ignores them, hiding behind 'director's decisions'. The directors in turn hide behind 'customer services', refusing to speak to customers, all the while threatening legal action. Neat. Four months' worth of attempts at sensible communication were met with the repeated response that 'our directors stand by their decision, there is nothing to discuss’. Their behaviour is actually pretty nasty. The rude and icy girl I dealt with actually seemed to relish playing cat and mouse with me, deliberately obfuscating any logic that might emerge. And you can’t get past customer services - the partners will NOT communicate with you. They play dirty; in response to a review I posted online they implied that I’d refused to pay for a locksmith on another occasion when I’d locked myself out. This was untrue, of course I’d paid - on the day in fact. Then 4 months later they re-invoiced me for the same job. When contacted about this they failed to respond or even acknowledge the proof of payment provided, let alone apologise. On the same review site they also made a crass attempt at claiming we bent the key ourselves by using it to open cans of paint. (One has to laugh. Of course, after spending £980 on locks, the £65 a pop house keys would be the obvious choice for opening paint, as opposed to using an old screw-driver). It ended with me taking legal advice and being told I’d win in court, but my husband quietly paid them because I was seriously ill at the time (which btw, Banham knew) and it was causing a great deal of stress. Finally, don’t even bother contacting the Master Locksmiths Association to try and resolve anything with Banham; Banham copied me an email between the two companies regarding my complaint; Banham and the MLA clearly have a nice cosy relationship and MLS won’t help you. Never again. Wish I'd looked at review sites before using Banham.
7 years ago
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Banham has a 1.7 average rating from 30 reviews

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