emmmab

Writing this to warn people about a known locksmith scam that I had no idea about and fell victim to recently. I called 'London Locksmith 24h'. They trade under 'Lock Services London Ltd'. This is their website: https://londonlocksmith24h.co.uk/ DO NOT use them. I needed to regain entry to my property. When their worker arrived, he insisted that destructive entry (drilling) was necessary. He carried out the work, and when he was done he charged me £555 (!) which was never agreed upon. I challenged this and he became aggressive, shouting at me and threatening to leave my door without a lock to it. I am female, it was night time, and I live alone. I was frightened of him, and of being left vulnerable to attack or robbery without a secure door. I was pressured into paying most of the bill and forced to pay on the spot. Apparently it's known behaviour that reputable locksmiths are trying to warn their clients about. I went to see Callow Locksmiths after it happened and they told my that frustratingly they'd heard of lots of cases like mine. They told me that the cost (drilling, emergency call out, replacement lock) would have been around £190. They also told me that the lock never needed drilling or replacing - they would have picked it. After the worker left, I looked the company up again and hidden under fake 5* reviews I found numerous reports describing the same experience I had, including reports of intimidating single women, as well as extorting people for unnecessary work in an emergency situation, forcing them to pay on the spot and becoming aggressive if they refused. Key thing to note - a good locksmith will ALWAYS try to enter non-destructively (i.e. picking the lock). If a locksmith arrives and tries to drill straight away, ask them to leave. The master locksmith association has this advice https://www.locksmiths.co.uk/faq/how-to-spot-rogue-locksmith/ The whole thing has been really disturbing. Hoping that writing this will stop at least one person around here from falling victim to it!

Just to add to this - I recently fell victim to (what I know now is) a well known locksmith scam. I needed an emergency locksmith, and the one that arrived (not Callow!) charged an extortionate amount for poor work. I’ve used Callow before and trust them so I went to them for advice around how much I should have been charged. I spoke to Tom, who has been so helpful, providing quotes for how much I should have been charged and advising on whether the work was actually necessary or not (turns out it wasn’t…). I’ll always use Callow in future!

Hello! I'm Emma, I'm a yoga teacher based in East Dulwich. I wanted to let you know about some new community yoga classes that I'm running on Saturdays in Peckham. They're suitable for all levels of experience (including complete beginners!). They start at 9am. The address is 111 Consort Road, SE15 3RU (yep, the boarded up church!). They're ?7, you can just drop in or book online through my website here: https://emma.burdon.yoga/ Any questions you can contact me here: https://emma.burdon.yoga/contact Hopefully see you soon. Emma x

Hello everyone! I?m a yoga teacher based in East Dulwich. I usually lead classes at Qing Liang Buddhist centre in Peckham but since lockdown I?ve been offering classes online. These classes are free, by optional donation to the mental health charity Mind. I teach Ashtanga yoga, which is a dynamic flowing style which links movement and breath. I also offer a gentle class, still based within the Ashtanga framework, on Mondays. The current schedule is: Monday 12:30pm - 13:30pm (Gentle flow, suitable for beginners) Wednesday 8am - 9am (Guided half primary series) Saturday 10:30am - 12pm (Guided primary) For the class details and how to join, visit my website emma.burdon.yoga/classes To register your interest, just fill out the form on the Classes page and I?ll send the invite to join online. Look forward to meeting you on the mat online. Emma x

New community yoga class! Ashtanga yoga classes, all levels welcome. Wednesdays 7pm - 8:15pm, by donation (suggested ?5). Qing Liang Buddhist Association, 111 Consort Road, Peckham, SE15 3RU Contact Emma at: [email protected]

We just had Niko out to fix a problem with our toilet. We've called him out a number of times since we moved here a few years ago after finding recommendations for him on the EDF. He's always come round really quickly, even if it's quite late, and found the simplest solution to whatever was wrong. Really nice guy, reliable and trustworthy - highly recommend. His number is 07818607583

Sorry to hear that - guess nowhere is safe!

Thanks guys! Glad to get the message out - hope no one else has to find out the hard way that those bike racks aren't secure. it seems like they're operating in the area, there was this report from Camberwell recently too: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-35669181 You're definitely right about locking your bike to the garden fence being a bad idea. If you do have to leave them outside, it's probably best to leave them somewhere near a shop that has CCTV, which can act as a deterrent. Ours were on a residential street so they were easy targets.

Just a quick warning to local bike owners - if you can, make sure you keep your bike inside at night. Bike thieves have cut through the bike stand on the corner of Landells / Sylvester Road. They then tried to cover it up with tape, presumably so that they could steal bikes more easily in future. If you do leave your bike locked to one of these stands, make sure it hasn't been cut into then taped up! Our bikes (both stolen) had pins to prevent anyone taking the wheels and were locked with Kryptonite locks. They cut through one lock, but it seems they couldn't cut the other (thicker) one, so they cut through the bike stand instead. We have reported it to the police - we just wanted to post on here to try and stop it from happening to anyone else!

just wanted to add another recommendation for John Powers (contact number - 07977909339). Kind enough to not charge for a call out, really decent guy.

Yet another recommendation for Niko. He came round to fix our leaky toilet last night. At 11pm. On a bank holiday. Even despite this the price was incredibly fair. Really decent guy, can't recommend him enough!

I can highly recommend Tiv at Big Chief. He did a fantastic job re-plastering and repainting our (somewhat battered) hallway to a very high standard, and was incredibly helpful, friendly and professional. He consistently went above and beyond great service and we will most definitely be calling him again!