Olympia– Gov. Jay Inslee signed Senate Bill 5296, sponsored by Sen. Steve Conway, D-South Tacoma, which prevents misrepresentations and deceptive practices in the locksmith industry.
“This is a vitally important consumer and brick and mortar protection bill,” said Conway. “Frequently these out-of-state business bully or deceive customers into paying more money for services. This bill creates important standards that makes it more difficult for businesses to misrepresent their geographic location.”
Businesses located around the world post local advertisements on the web or in newspapers claiming to be a local locksmith. Customers then call the business hoping to receive direct locksmith assistance. Instead of receiving service from this business directly, the business brokers with a local company to do the job but charges the customer, who originally called, a higher price for the service. This bill ensures that when people call a business, they know whether they are talking to a local locksmith or a third party outside of the area who may wind up inflating the cost.
“The idea for this bill was brought to me by constituents Jim and Karen Rich. They own a locksmith company called Guardian Security located on South Tacoma Way,” added Conway.
