Mul-T-ple lock !

[SteveW]

I had a very strange lockout this afternoon. I was called to some sheltered housing for OAP's by a nice old guy who had lost his keys.

When i arrived at the door i was surprised to find a brand new solid hardwood door with three mortice locks!

The gentlemen explained that he had lost his keys just befor Xmas and the maintenance company had simply kicked the door in and replaced it and sent their 'Locksmith' round to fit the locks.

The three locks themselves were all Union 2177's and he seemed incredibly disapointed when my 2in1 opened all three in a few min's.

There is a very long list of 'wrongs' here and i explained to the guy the sort of locks he should have (Bs etc) and he was understandibly very angry, and would take the issue up with the maintenence company.

I felt so sorry for him i didnt charge, and have offered to return and fit the door properly locks and all!!.

I just find the whole thing quite shocking, just how shoddy the job was and that it was on sheltered housing.

I am curious to here if anyone had found any similiar botched jobs in a similiar situation ?

[Omikron]

The gentlemen explained that he had lost his keys just befor Xmas and the maintenance company had simply kicked the door in and replaced it and sent their 'Locksmith' round to fit the locks.

Do you mean to say that instead of repairing the damage, they just drilled holes for more locks, or did they just install three locks for some reason?

[toomush2drink]

I had a strange one too today, got a call to a faulty upvc multi lock last night but he said it could wait till today.Rang me today that somebody had now sawn off the key that was stuck in the lock !! As he was already in i couldnt work it out so went and when i got there the lock was gone. The bloke reckons he called out another locksmith (i wont shame them here) who had sawn off the euro !! Now bearing in mind he didnt even remove the handle to do this i was amazed at how hard he made things.Lets face it mr snapper and a removable handle makes life soo much easier with a faulty mech.Anyway a quick look inside the mech ,with my new lenser torch , and i could se it had broken where the cam engaged. A little poke with 2 small screwdrivers and its unlocked. This customer was in disbelief as the other guy had been there ages sawing etc. Total time was probably about 45mins after securing it with sashjammers till the new mech comes monday.
Now im always hearing the stories of the cowboys out there but to see it first hand is something else.

[quacking_duck]

Steve,

I wouldn't have charged him either in the circumstances.
Your story seems as bad as it gets for the cowboys.

For sheltered accommodation in particular, I wholeheartedly agree with you that the 'workmanship' of the previous 'locksmith' was a complete disgrace.

What if the gentleman in question or anyone else that this idiot may have 'tended to' needed to get out in a hurry, in case of emergency, with 3 mortice locks to open?

You should certainly find out who the property manager is and write to him/her to try to arrange an appointment to discuss your honest service and professional standards. You may find and I would certainly hope they'd use you for all their lock and door related jobs.

My worst experience of cowboys so far, is when I was cancelled, on arrival to a lock out in a flat, where entry had already been 'effected' to a Genii cylinder by a 'workman' with the communal fire extinguisher. I didn't even offer to repair the door, just cut my losses and walked from it. You can imagine the sort of people you're dealing with there.

[SteveW]

Ive been back this evening, and rehung the door and fitted a 2134E and a Yale X7. The guy insisted on paying me but after a bit of diplomacy i persuaded him to only pay for the locks i had fitted.

I did write him a complete invoice for the job (time, locks etc) and this has been sent to the maintenance company. I expect to receive a phonecall from them early next week (im looking forward to that !)

I checked out the other doors in the block and i spotted alot of problems. More 3lever locks fotted to outside doors, badly hung doors etc. So when the company phones i will offer my services to repair the faults.

Im very tempted to charge 'idiot tax' though

[pickin]

Keep in mind that without the shoddy work of "cowboys" ,or hacks as we call em around here, you might not have as much work to do.

No I don't condone shoddy work anywhere in any field of work it truly is a disappointment to me when I have shown up on a job just to tell the owner that they got screwed by the last person there.

Ive worked in the HVAC field for over 4 years now and I done claim to know everything but the shoddy work done by some of these people is appalling to me and I have seen this in other trades also. I mean there is nothing scarier then to find a furnace grounded to a gas line just makes you want to track down the person who did it and pummel them.

The truth is there are so many "cowboys" or hacks out there that anyone who does an honest job in any trade will always have work the problem comes from when they drag the whole trade into the gutter and people just don't trust anyone anymore.

[quacking_duck]

I agree that much of the time we have to put cowboys work right and the vast majority of the time. I gladly will and do at very reasonable costs, although I can't help feeling annoyed at the state of locks, doors etc.

However, in my worst call out, the 'fire exinguisher' situation, I was called out after hours, for a 'gain entry' only to be told, on my arrival, that I wasn't required to open up and I wasn't paid for my troubles, my costs, my fuel and my time, as the 'workman' they'd also called had already 'opened up'. I got 'we've already paid him, so why should we pay again etc.' and it was ' just one of those things'. I had received no communication between initial call and my arrival. You can imagine how ecstatic I was. If they'd 'phoned me back and said 'can you come tomorrow and have a look at my broken door/frame and get some wood and possibly a new door?' things may have been different.

QD