In the fall we started having issues with some of our keys (we have 3). One of them wouldn't go in the lock anymore, and another one was getting stuck about half the time. The 3rd key worked fine.
We own our apartment, but I called the gérance for advice and they told me they'd send someone over. A young guy from a key & security company came by, I explained the problem and had all the keys with me to show him. He barely looked at the keys and said "the keys are all the same, it's the cylindre", installed a temporary one and took the old one away. (We had been warned it might be the cylinder and were not completely surprised, but did assume that the guy knew how to do his job.)
Two months later the guy comes back and changes the cylindre while my husband was at home. Two weeks after that we get a bill for 918 CHF (we were expecting it to be high, but not quite that high). About the same time, my husband tells me he can't find his apartment key. After closer inspection, we see that the key is indeed on his keychain (he has several that are similar) but doesn't go into the lock! We test the reserve key which doesn't work either! Apparently the guy had only tested my key, despite all the keys being available?
I called the company and they sent someone else who came by this morning. He firstly informed me that the previous guy was "no longer with the company". He then tried all the keys, filed and adjusted them, tested them all until they all worked. He was careful in his wording, but seemed to suggest that the cylinder did not, in fact, need to be changed, the problem had always been the keys, and that the previous guy "hadn't followed the correct protocols". I asked what happened next and he said to call his boss this afternoon once he'd dropped the file off.
I have never experience this kind of issue in Switzerland or elsewhere. Before I call the company, I'd like to be aware of what my options are in case we don't agree on a solution (I'd be willing to pay something for the intervention, but not an unnecessary cylinder). In Canada we have small claims court and an equivalent seems to exist in CH (poursuite?), but since no one owes me money I feel like this isn't the correct recourse. I've heard friends talk about "assurances juridiques". I will have to check if we actually have this, but would it apply in this case? Any other options?
That would be ideal! However, the guy who came this morning said "it'll depend on his mood." That didn't reassure me , so I'm going to try to be well-informed beforehand. I just got the gérance involved, as they work with the company often and suggested them to us. I'm hoping the threat of losing the business of the gérance will encourage the owner to offer a reasonable solution.
Are you a Swiss newbie, haha? Or never needed repairs before? We had a broken dishwasher once and decided we were better of buying a new one rather than paying for someone to come repair it (we were quoted min 500 CHF just for getting to our place and walk in the door without actually fixing anything). Though we ended up managing to repair it ourselves and our Miele has been working wonderfully for the past 10 years.
To get back to the lock, yes we were expecting a big bill but not that big. The guy who came this morning explained that there is only one company (in the area, I assume?) that replaces these cylinders, that it is their sole activity (they used to have more varied activities) and they keep jacking the prices up. It seems like a uniquely Swiss thing - given the local housing situation (lots of professionally managed apartment buildings), a company specialises in an obscure but necessary service, ekes out a monopoly and makes a fortune.
Maybe a bit of confusion but the invoice should have gone directly to rental property manager (gérance). Disputing the 918 CHF cost is not your job, forwarding the invoice to the right person is.
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mind the comment about forwarding the invoice. I guess gérance (real estate company) was only involved in the buy.
So there is indeed quite a bit of confusion around this. We are owners but it was the gérance who contacted the company to intervene.
I had called the gérance only for advice as they are more familiar with these types of problems and the companies that deal with them. They sent someone over, but we expected to pay the cost of the intervention. The bill had initially been sent to the gérance, which forwarded it to us as it was a "private matter". However, there was also a "bon de commande" from the gérance attached to the invoice, which I had not been made aware of and had never seen before. It specifically asked that an offer be sent if the repairs were to exceed 500 CHF.
The person who came to do the work (and who unsurprisingly no longer works for the company) made several mistakes:
- didn't properly investigate the keys before deciding the problem was the cylinder
- didn't send a quote to the gérance who had specifically requested one if the repair was over 500 CHF
- didn't try all the keys when installing the new cylinder
I have gotten the gérance involved as it was them who mandated the work. However, we did expect it to be a private repair.
I tried to keep things simple in the initial post, but it is quite a complex situation and I'm trying to figure what my options are if ever things don't go our way (furiously Googling while simultaneously replying to posts).
They are "secure" keys because we live in a PPE (condo building). They have a code on them and we need to contact the gérance and pay a large fee if we want to make a copy, just like one would if living in a rented apartment. The apartment key also opens the front door to the building, the garage, etc.
So we could never just change the cylinder and get new keys, we need a new cylinder for the exact same keys.
BUT, we actually didn't need the damn cylinder, hence the problem we're now facing. We knew it would be expensive, it just turns out we didn't actually need it.
Tip for everyone else - WD40 every year in the lock barrels... also on the door closing mechanism.. (and windows whilst you are at it, and the postbox, garden gates, garage locks...)
Otherwise you risk your locks getting dirty and stuck-y (technical term that is)
And about the key price, well yes if it's a secure lock plus cost of labour plus depending how far they came it can cost bon bon.. not much you can do about it after the fact, I know hindsight and all, but ask what things might cost before agreeing the work.
For reference I wanted a old watch serviced, again one would assume a few hundred, even in dear old switzerland.. luckily I asked so I won't get a shock when I pick it up (600 francs! probably about what the watch is worth..)