A Dallas-based locksmith company is responding to a customer's complaint that her car was damaged by an employee they sent and the company wouldn't do anything about it.
Supreme Locksmith was the subject of an NBC 5 Responds story earlier this week which details how Jordan Cornelson claimed her car door and window were damaged by a Supreme Locksmith worker.
Cornelson said the locksmith told her not to worry because her car was under warranty and the company would take care of it. Supreme Locksmith never called her back, and the locksmith blocked her number, she said.
"Now I just kind of feel helpless," she told NBC 5 Responds.
Our team started looking into the business and discovered it was operating under several different names, including Avenue Locksmith, 24/7 Mobile Locksmith and Supreme Locksmith.
NBC 5 Responds emailed and called, finally speaking to a manager who told us customers have to work directly with the locksmith to fix any problems, not the company.
We tracked down the registered owner’s name, Matan Abehasira, and tried calling him, but we never heard back. So, we stopped by the Avenue Locksmith office in Dallas, but were asked to leave.
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After that visit, the company made major changes to their website, including a new disclaimer telling customers to call immediately if they have any trouble.
And a day after our story aired, the company sent us a statement, calling this a big misunderstanding.
An officer manager named Celeste Lopez told NBC 5 Responds the following:
"We at Avenue Locksmith do take care of our customers that we service, and the owner/manager were unaware that this happened with this specific customer since she went directly to the dispatching center. The company did not bring this to our attention, and had we known that this happened, we would've definitely taken care of this customer. Their manager did not inform us about what happened on location. The customer did not email or call the number or email that was listed on the invoice and went straight to dispatching company, and we were not aware of the situation."
"If they're saying I didn't call, that's just bologna," said Cornelson.
Avenue Locksmith said Cornelson only contacted the dispatch number instead of the number listed on the company's invoice. Cornelson said that’s not true, she called both numbers, and tracked down her call log to prove it.
When we sent Avenue Locksmith her call log, their response was "no comment."
As for Cornelson's damaged car, a spokesman said, "Our company is required to have insurance to cover damages in such instances as this. We would like to reach out to the customer & would like to have an insurance adjuster go to her location to make sure the damage to her car door will get taken care of."
Cornelson said a local auto shop took care of the repairs free of charge.
We also asked about an investigation the Texas Department of Public Safety opened regarding the company's business practices.
An Avenue Locksmith spokesman said, "We are aware that the Texas Department of Public Safety is conducting a formal investigation, and we are working with them to get all proper rules and regulations in line and corrected. Since their visit with the owner of the company, we have then ordered new business cards, uniforms for each technician, proper presentation for each technician's vehicle, and invoices that have our phone number and company business license number on each of the items listed above."
An Avenue Locksmith spokesman added, “They are in the process of changing many things in their company” and that they apologize for any inconvenience.
We offered the company the chance to speak to us on camera, but they declined.
