Car keys, done where your vehicles already sit.
I’m Leo — RAXO Locksmiths, Winnipeg. I cut and program automotive keys at the vehicle, so a unit with no keys stops being a vehicle you have to move and starts being a job done in your own yard.
No tow. No trip to a dealer. No waiting on a parts order while something sits blocking a bay or missing off the front line. One written number before I start, and you pay when the key works.
RAXO Group Inc. · Manitoba corporation #10249209 · commercial general liability insured
The short version
I come to you
Keys cut and programmed at the vehicle. It never leaves your premises.
Volume and accounts price differently
Several at one address is one trip, not five. Regular accounts settle into their own rate.
One hard line
Automotive keys only — no building doors, padlocks or cabinets, ever.
Built for your back office
A PO number on the invoice, an insurance certificate for your files, net-15 terms once you’re an account — tell me what your books need.
When you’d call me
Four situations, all of them expensive to ignore.
If one of these sounds like a Tuesday at your place, that’s the conversation.
A vehicle arrives with one key. Or none.
Trade-ins, auction buys, repos, estate vehicles. It can’t go out the door as-is, and the usual fix means moving it somewhere and waiting. I cut and program on your lot instead, and a second key made on the same visit is half price — so it leaves with the pair a buyer expects.
A customer’s key dies in your bay.
You don’t do keys, so the job stops being yours and your customer goes to a dealer — and sometimes stays there. Call me in and the vehicle never leaves your floor: the work happens under your roof, on your work order, and the customer stays yours.
A work vehicle has exactly one key.
It’s fine right up until the morning it isn’t, and then a truck is parked and a crew is standing around. Spares are the cheapest thing on this page and the only item here you can schedule instead of react to.
Several vehicles need sorting at once.
The back row that never got dealt with, or a yard where half the fleet is down to a single key. This is the version that works best for both of us — one trip, one setup, and a batch price instead of a stack of individual ones.
The actual saving
It was never really about the key price.
Most businesses I talk to already know roughly what a key costs. What they haven’t added up is everything wrapped around getting one the usual way:
- No tow, and no staff member driving it anywhere. That’s a bill and half a day of someone’s time that simply stops existing.
- No parts-order wait. The equipment is in the van. Nothing sits blocking a hoist or missing off the front line for a week.
- The unit stays sellable. A vehicle you can’t hand keys to is a vehicle you can’t close on.
- Your customer stays your customer. Anything you have to send to a dealer is a relationship you’re lending out and hoping to get back.
How pricing works
Three steps, and I’ll tell you plainly which one you’re on.
One vehicle, first time
The published floors on the pricing page — exactly what a walk-up customer pays. No business markup, and no better number that only appears if you think to ask for it.
Several at one address
One trip, one setup, one round of equipment time. That’s a genuinely different job, so it gets quoted as a batch rather than added up sticker by sticker.
An established account
After a few jobs together the friction is gone — your paperwork’s on file, I know your site, and neither of us is starting a quote from scratch. Work that costs less to deliver gets priced that way, and that’s the rate ongoing accounts settle into. It’s earned by working together, not handed out on a first call. Accounts also move to net-15 invoicing — billed when the keys work, paid within fifteen days — so nobody’s standing in the yard with a company card.
To be clear about what that last one isn’t: it’s not a discount off an inflated number. The published floors are the real prices — the account rate just reflects a job that genuinely costs less to do. Whichever step you’re on, one written number comes before I start, and it’s the number you pay.
The part nobody enjoys
I’ll ask for paperwork. That’s the point.
Before I cut anything I need photo ID from whoever’s authorising the job and a document showing the business has a right to the vehicle — bill of sale, auction or dealer paperwork, registration, a signed work order from the owner. Every time — including for regulars.
Here’s why that should reassure you rather than annoy you: a locksmith who’ll cut a key without asking is the same locksmith who’d cut one for somebody helping themselves to a unit off your back row. The rule that slows you down by sixty seconds is the same rule standing between your inventory and a thief with a good story.
Everything else is deliberately boring: an itemised invoice made out to your business, GST and RST shown properly, a reference or PO number on it if your books need one — just tell me before the job. Twelve-month warranty on every key and fob I supply, and it follows the key, which matters when you’re selling the vehicle on.
The questions I actually get asked.
Does the vehicle have to come to you?
No — I come to the vehicle, and that is the whole point. There is no shop to drive to; the van carries the cutting and programming equipment, so the work happens wherever the vehicle already sits. Your yard, your bay, a back row, a customer's driveway. Nothing gets towed, nothing leaves your premises, and nobody on your staff loses half a day driving it somewhere.
What do you need before you cut a key?
Photo ID from whoever is authorising the job, plus documentation showing your business has the right to the vehicle — a bill of sale, an auction or dealer document, a registration, a signed work order from the owner. I check it every single time and I do not make exceptions. That rule protects you more than it protects me: a locksmith who will cut a key without asking is the same locksmith who would cut one for somebody helping themselves to a vehicle off your lot. If the paperwork is straightforward the check takes a minute.
How fast can you get to us?
Usually same day or next morning, and I will tell you which when you text rather than promising and rescheduling. Most spare-key and fob jobs are done in well under an hour at the vehicle; a vehicle with no working key at all is a longer visit — usually two to three hours. If you have several waiting, say so up front — I would rather block out the right amount of time once than come back three times.
What does it cost, and is there a rate for ongoing work?
A single vehicle runs at the published floors on my pricing page — the same numbers a walk-up customer pays, with no business markup and no better number that only appears if you think to ask for it. Several vehicles at one address is a different job: one trip, one setup, one round of equipment time, so it gets quoted as a batch rather than added up sticker by sticker. And for businesses I work with regularly, the job genuinely costs me less to deliver — your paperwork is already on file, I know the site, and neither of us is starting a quote from scratch every time — so established accounts settle into their own rate. That is earned by working together rather than offered on a first call, and it is not a discount off an inflated number: the published floors are the real prices. Established accounts also move to net-15 invoicing — billed when the keys work, paid within fifteen days — rather than a card at the vehicle. Whichever applies to you, one written number comes before I start and it is the number you pay.
Which makes and models can you do?
Most of what is on the road, but I would rather check your actual vehicle than hand you a list that turns out to be wrong for the one sitting in your bay. Send me the VIN — a photo of the dash plate or the registration is enough — and I will confirm what I can do and what it costs before you commit to anything. If a specific vehicle is beyond what I can do properly, I will tell you that instead of turning up and guessing.
Are you insured, and who am I actually dealing with?
RAXO Locksmiths is a trade name of RAXO Group Inc., Manitoba corporation #10249209 — a real registered entity you can look up before you let anyone near your vehicles. I carry commercial general liability insurance and can provide a certificate for your files if your process needs one. It is a one-person business: the person who quotes the job is the person who shows up and does it, so there is no dispatcher and no subcontractor you have not met.
What warranty comes with the keys?
Twelve months on every key, fob and blank I supply, covering manufacturer defects — I re-cut and re-program a replacement free. Water damage, physical damage, dead batteries and keys that later go missing are not covered. That matters more when you are reselling a vehicle: the warranty follows the key, so a customer buying a car off your lot is not inheriting a problem you will hear about in three weeks.
What happens if the job cannot be finished?
You pay when the key works — that is the standing rule and it applies to business customers too. The one exception is a $45 plus tax trip fee if an undisclosed problem on the vehicle's side blocks the job, for example a module that was already dead or damage nobody mentioned when the work was booked. Tell me what you know about the vehicle up front and that situation almost never comes up.
Can you supply keys and fobs for in-house programming?
No — I am not a parts counter. Keys and fobs are supplied as part of a job I cut and program at the vehicle, tested before I leave. That is what the warranty is attached to, and it is why it means anything. If you already own a fob and want it programmed to a vehicle, that is a job I will happily do; the warranty then covers my programming rather than a part I did not supply.
Do you do building locks, padlocks or cabinets while you're on site?
No — automotive keys only, and that does not bend for a good customer. No doors, no padlocks, no filing cabinets, no safes. If you need building work I will point you toward someone who actually does it rather than take a crack at it. Keeping to one trade is why I am good at this one.
Got one sitting there right now?
Text me the business name, how many vehicles, and a year/make/model to start with. You’ll get a straight answer on whether I can do it, how fast, and what it costs — before anyone commits to anything. And if what you’ve got doesn’t match anything on this page, text anyway — worst case, you leave with a name for next time.