FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Basics

Yes. ACH offers 24-hour emergency lockout and other locksmithing services, 7 days a week. We can help with your residential, commercial, automotive, and motorcycle locksmithing needs.

We’ll provide you a fair, honest price estimate over the phone.

Talking with you directly allows ACH owner Ron to assess all the different factors at play in your situation. He’ll name you a custom flat fee (with no hidden up-charges later), before arranging your service.

When determining a price estimate we look at the costs of materials, time of day, and travel time, in addition to standard labor and admin costs.

Call or text us at 608-224-9254 and chat personally with ACH owner Ron. He’ll ask you to describe your situation in detail. He may also ask you for some pictures of the lock or vehicle in question.

At this time ACH does not offer online booking.

Yes, we’re a fully mobile locksmith service serving Madison and Dane County. As long as you’re in our service area, we’ll come to you.

ACH services the whole of Dane County, from Cross Plains to Columbus. Areas that have no additional travel charges outside of Madison are Sun Prairie, Oregon, Verona, Monona, Deforest, Cottage Grove, Middleton, Stoughton, McFarland, Fitchburg, Waunakee, Token Creek, Windsor, and Westport.

For emergencies, we occasionally travel as far as the Dells and Janesville. Please note that travel premiums apply to service in outlying areas.

We’ll be at your location as soon as we possibly can. Our response times depend on our current job location and the number of service calls before yours.

Owner Ron will always give you an honest time estimate over the phone.

Owner Ron graduated from the fully accredited American Center for Locksmith Training, where he studied trade secrets from 4 generations of a locksmithing family. He has also passed a background check from the Pinkerton agency.

Residential and Commercial

ACH has the formal training and skills to pick your lock the good old-fashioned way.

Drilling and replacing locks is something other locksmiths do right away, but it’s a last resort for us. That means minimal damage and visual changes to your doors.

If you want to change your locks, that typically means one of two things.

1. You want to “rekey.” This means taking the core out of a lock and making it so a new key will work without having to change all your hardware.

or

2. You actually want to replace your current hardware.

The cost of rekeying your locks is almost always cheaper than replacing a lock. So, rekeying is always the first thing we recommend UNLESS you specifically want your hardware replaced.

Call us and we’ll make sure we’re taking the best and most cost-efficient approach for your specific situation.

Yes, absolutely. We offer installation and repair of these systems.
Yes, we install both standard metal hardware and electronic deadbolts.
Yes, ACH offers complete residential and commercial locksmith services, including rekeying your door and door lock repair and replacements.
Our owner-operator Ron is a skilled professional locksmith. He’s got the training and the tools to take on any lock, including high-security locks and vintage locks.
Yes, the ACH van is a locksmithing workshop-on-wheels. We can do key cutting, duplication, and replacement all right there on the spot.

Automotive

ACH has the formal training and skills to pick your lock the good old-fashioned way.

Drilling and replacing locks is something other locksmiths do right away, but it’s a last resort for us. That means minimal damage and visual changes to your doors.

Yes. We can unlock your car door, outfit you with a new set of car keys, key fobs, or remotes and get you going again – usually within hours!

Yes. No matter the make or model, or whether it’s a keyed ignition or push-button start car, owner Ron can get you going again. With ACH, there’s no towing your car to the dealer and then waiting a week and paying major dollars.

As a trained locksmith, Ron unlocks your car through its physical keyway. And it’s generally not as expensive as you think.

The answer is yes.

Owner Ron is a trained automotive locksmith who can unlock and rekey any lock. He also carries one of Madison’s broadest assortment of keyless entry devices.

Other area locksmiths only carry basic equipment. If they don’t have a fob, for instance, they’ll offer to order it the next day. Or they will program in a basic key and send you to the dealer for the remote.

Ron carries close to $50k in stock of all makes and models of transponder keys, fobs, and remotes. That way people don’t have to wait or go to the dealer after paying for a plain key.

Yes, we’re a car key locksmith that handles everything from duplicate key requests to additional key fobs. And we do it all onsite from our van. We also replace lost motorcycle keys.

Motorcycle

Yes. We’re proud to be Madison’s only dedicated motorcycle locksmith.

Lost motorcycle keys are the big issue we see at our shop, so we do lots of motorcycle key replacement.

ACH can replace keys for the trunk, gas tank, ignition, and any other part of your motorcycle. We can also change out your locks, repair or replace your ignition locks, and remove stuck motorcycle keys.

Yes. No matter the make or model, or whether it’s a keyed ignition or push-button start car, owner Ron can get you going again. With ACH, there’s no towing your car to the dealer and then waiting a week and paying major dollars.

As a trained locksmith, Ron unlocks your car through its physical keyway. And it’s generally not as expensive as you think.

Yes, ACH has the training and tools to provide locksmith services for ANY motorcycle or scooter.
Yes. We treat this like a lost key situation. ACH can be out in our van to rekey your lock in no time. If you’d like, we can also change out the locks for increased security.