Customer Supplied Keys Purchased Online
We State On Our Website That We Only Cut & Program Keys Supplied By Us or supplied by the main dealership and supported by their official main dealer Reciept.
We are Often Asked To Cut keys or program keys that customers have purchased online . Why Wont We cut These ?
The answer is very simple ;
Warranty
if we was to cut and program a customer supplied key we would be expected to guarantee this key under consumer regulations.
Not Knowing its quality of components and build makes offering a warranty impossible.
so many different qualities of key are sold online , some ok and some terrible and unlikely to last a month or 2, but all look the same outside.
No business can afford to offer a warranty on any product they cannot verify the origin and quality of.
Reliability
The reliability differs greatly on internet purchased keys , some are reliable , some are 50/50 and some are awful and wont last long at all.
Some wont even program in straight from the packet as so badly made and containing inferior components.
There are thousands of keys for popular brands being sold online. All will look the same on the outside , china is exceptional at making the key look like the genuine key.
The Internal Quality of the key can differ greatly from 1 copy brand to another , some will contain good components and some wont .
Poor quality circuit boards can cause problems programming , program with faults , cause immobiliser issues and can quickly fail to work at all.
Cutting
many of the chinese key blades being supplied online are made from an overly hard alloy.
These can damage our expensive cutters , they can cut incorrectly and can be very brittle and prone to snapping in the lock.
2nd hand keys
there are many 2nd hand keys being sold online , some in a new case and passed off as new. Some sold as 2nd hand .
Many vehicles can never accept a 2nd hand key as the key is locked to the 1st vehicle it was coded to. so many are no more than a paperweight .
Counterfeits
A key purchased that looks like a genuine key and contains the manufacturers logo is a counterfeit key, plain and simple.
sold without a logo is an aftermarket , but with a logo its counterfeit. unless a genuine key , which most online are not. counterfeits are classed as passing off and against the law.
Consumer Law is a great thing that offers the consumer protection against being sold non fit for purpose goods and poor standards of workmanship.
So a legitimate business cannot afford to take the risk , cannot warranty an internet purchased key without risking cost or prosecution in doing so.
We therfore stick to the policy of not cutting or programming these.
But You Also Sell Aftermarket Keys , why are these different ?
We Buy aftermarket keys from reputable suppliers , keys they have tested fully before selling to us.
But we go a step further and test these ourselves for reliability , durability and ensure fit for purpose before we will sell them.
After all we have to guarantee these for 12 months , so in fully testing and ensuring them, both protects us and our customers.
If No reliable aftermarket key is available for your vehicle , we wont offer an aftermarket option for it.
If we havnt been able to test an aftermarket option fully we wont offer it.
A good quality reliable aftermarket key is a good budget option compared to the oem key cost.
A poor unreliable key is a poor option as can lead to downtime when it fails and more cost to put things right.
So the difference is , we can verify the origin , the components and build quality of the aftermarket keys we supply. we have tested their reliability and durability.
Meaning we can offer them and can guarantee them for 12 months as we must.
I hope this explains why we cannot cut and program customer supplied keys.
