A few questions to locksmiths

[poor paperclip picker]

I just picked up the hobby of locksmithing this summer, i have re keyed a few schlage doorknobs, and i have picked a variety of locks i have. Anyways, i was wondering what percent of your work is with cars and what do you have to do with the cars, ex. like creating a key for it, or anything else.
Also how often is lockpicking used?
Also any other info you have about becoming a lock smith. I have wanted to pick up the hobby a few years back when a locksmith came to my workplace to change locks, and i was intrigued. This summer I had the oppurtinity to be around locks, and lock components. But anyways any information will be very helpful.
And yes i have been reading other topics in this forum.
Thanks a bunch

[kg4boj]

There are many types of locksmiths, all of witch have their own specialties.... Some are simply exclusive residential/commercial/institutional etc locksmiths
Others are simply automotive locksmiths.

Some like myself are all purpose locksmiths, witch you will see more of in rural areas. I do alot of automotive jobs mostly because of AAA, but I do quite a few rekeys too. I have to pick a door lock almost every other day in the summer, to multiple times per day... in short it all depends on what you can do and what people need..
I also make automotive keys, transponder keys etc, alot of people simply can't auto stuff down pat and auto specialists (particularly in big cities can make a lot of money fairly quickly.

[Eyes_Only]

My shop does work for AAA too and we do 70%-80% automotive work. We'll get home or business lockout calls a few times each week, either from AAA or from paying customers.

[poor paperclip picker]

My shop does work for AAA too and we do 70%-80% automotive work. We'll get home or business lockout calls a few times each week, either from AAA or from paying customers.

I have heard some things about AAA, some people say they are not good to work for, what do you think? do you enjoy working for them?

[Eyes_Only]

I 100% hate working for them. In our area they will hound you with up to 15 lockout calls at once and expect you to reach and service all your within 15 to 30 minutes. And they are really cheap. If you forget to document a locksmith service call of $60 to $150 depending on the membership level of the customer, within 24 hours they will never pay you for those calls.

Plus they get the addresses and cross streets wrong way too many times and even give you the wrong vehicle discription frequently too.

[poor paperclip picker]

how hard is it to get working for them, i.e. certifications, or licenses, or other credentials?

[kg4boj]

AAA Pays us 22$ for what they consider a "basic lockout" on AAA calls I make 50% of the what we get paid... more than 10 miles from the shop and we get paid 2$ per mile past 10... also I get 50% of that, so a call thats 10 miles from the shop, we get 22$ and I get 11$ for it, and they give you 5 calls at once like some guy above said, and anything for anyone above 100$ and you MUST make the customer pay. They are a great service to have for tows, but if I was in a strange town, and locked myself out of a vehicle I could not fabricate a tool for on site, I would pay cash for a locksmith to show up, with promise of tip extra within x time. That is how we like to operate, you want me to speed? you have to agree to pay the lockout charge, plus the ticket fee, plus what the average going rate for a traffic court lawyer in the area is...


and AAA will send you to the worst neighborhoods with no hope of passing the call off onto someone else, and they dont understand, you don't want to get involved when people literally throw rocks at any stranger (ie white person) that happens to be on that little subdivision on the end of a one entrance/exit street.

Danger for the nighttime locksmith can range from above moderate to extreme, you will cary thousands in tools in a van, and you will have people call you out to try to rob you. If you work at night you NEED a CCW permit, there is no excuse and no reason not to. One thing I've found out the hard way is that there is no substitute for a very used conversion van, one with a less than perfect paint job and a moderately loud stereo system, if you work nights, don't shave or cut your hair (like I used to) and MOST people will leave you alone.

[kg4boj]

I will confirm AAA (south) gets the address, phone numbers, names (all too often) and cross streets wrong.... why? because they use google maps to search for the cross streets and the address finder feature on that is not perfected yet, and if you don't call in the correct PC code, they will bust your balls, only if its too high, and if you dont give them a PC code then they wont take one after midnight.


On the other side of the coin, AAA is a lockout cash cow, if you get a contract for them with your area being exclusively your shop, then you can make a barely living wage on AAA's alone. Here in florida it can get dead slow during the summer and you need something... anything to keep you afloat, it can be useful, thing is the calls always seem to come in waves and it can get frustrating when 5-10 people are wating on you and you alone to cover a HUGE area. Since the "master locksmith" at my shop left about a month ago, I am covering a large area, any of you that know florida, I cover all but the west coast of pasco county, I cover wesley chapel, dade city, zephyrhills (primary city) lacoochie, new tampa, crystal springs.... and some areas in between (like st leo and san antonio) why do they call us? few people work for AAA that really know their $#!T we occasionally get called to lakeland, land o lakes, and plant city to cover for another shop that can do something like open an 05+ corvette (keyfob in pocket, fallen into RF deadzone in car) with nothing mechanical of any sort inside the door relating to the latch (all the latch parts are on the frame, and there is the traditionally stationary mounted latch post mounted on the moving door....)

[poor paperclip picker]

all this info is very helpful, and thank you guys for your opinions! keep them coming. but no one has really answered my question of how to start to work for AAA and what they look for to contract you. Please share.
thanks a lot.

[Raccoon]

I have decided not to "register" with AAA for the time being. Since I'm their only reliable contact in this area, they call me anyway and pay me CC over the phone without any hassle, on MY terms. (I charge them what I dictate for the given call).

As far as registering with them, they require a full suite of information in a 6 or 9 page document, including all of your insurance and vehicle information, including photographs of your service vehicle(s). They require knowledge of every facet of your existence.

[Raccoon]

If AAA is unable to find a registered locksmith or wrecker/tow in your area, they will resort to the phone book. To the customer's dismay, this is usually after 30 to 120 minutes after the customer initially contacted AAA.

You can register with them by calling AAA (or speaking with the representative who contacted you) and asking around for how to register yourself as an AAA certified locksmith in your area.

Remember, you need to be fully licensed and have tax, insurance, vehicle, etc information handy. No hobbiest would qualify.

[poor paperclip picker]

ok thanks, i was just wondering what i needed to do, i am thinking about trying to pick it up professionally.
still if anyone has more advice about becoming one, or just throwing in your two cents that would be apreciated
thanks again

[globallockytoo]

You might want to check out www.lockquiz.com to find out out about learning the trade online.

I am not on their payroll and have no financial interest in the company. I have seen the textbook(s) and they are brilliant.

I have an FB course for sale in the B/S/T section, very cheap if you are interested.

[criminalhate]

poor paperclip picker which part of Michigan are you located in?

I know the detroit metro area is flooded with AAA contracted towing services most if not all of them offer lock out services too. You may want to keep that in mind before making the huge financial investment it will take to be contracted by them.

[Eyes_Only]

Also keep in mind that if you do work for AAA you will have no life. You may be pressured or even tricked into signing into a deal where you are on call 24/7. I'm very fortunate that I'm not the owner of my store. I only have to work 12 hour days. The owner works non stop, and I mean that literally.