Locksmithing Ethics

[YouLuckyFox]

I would like to ask if any of you have ran into or seen any locksmiths get into a dilemma where it was unclear what the right thing to do was.
I'm in an accounting class and my professor was discussing fraud with us. He asked us if we would ever steal money from an employer for any reason, all of us said "no way." He then said that he could prove that some of us might under the right circumstances. He asked us if we ever went over the speed limit. All but 3 students raised their hands. Everyone had some reason for speeding that made it okay for them to do so. Point is: where the following three exist, there is a potential for theft to be committed:
1) Rationalization
2) Opportunity
3) Pressure (in the case of speeding, it was time constraints, need for speed, peer pressure, following the flow of traffic; in the case of fraud it was usually an unsharable financial need like a drug addiction or an affair)

I bring this up to say that I have had acquaintances and friends who have asked me to make copies of keys for their apartment or unlock their friends from an apartment complex and have had to turn down the request because authorization and ownership had not be established. This was hard for me because I was refusing service when a friend had vouched for me, etc. My question for the Locksmith Business forum is, as I slowly start taking on small locksmithing jobs, are there any ethical dilemmas you have seen a locksmith get in that I can learn from?

[billdeserthills]

I got a call from the manager of an apt complex. Turned out a woman who cleaned the private school next door had locked her keys in a utility closet. She wanted to know if I could take the fee
"out of her fanny" (there, I didn't say a~~) the apartment manager apologized profusely before I finally figured it out. However I was unmarried at the time, so Idk how unethical it woulda been?

Anyhow I figured after the barter I had done for the steaks had gone sour I wasn't gonna try this one
so I left.

[phrygianradar]

I recently was told by my wife's cousin (probably not a reliable source... ) that he had called AAA and that they had unlocked his friends car, who was passed out at the time, so he could get the keys to his own car out of the passed out guys car, and the AAA guy did it. No hesitation, so he says... I only had two questions come to mind at the time, although there are probably many; why didn't he try to find passed out guys keys first, and would any professional actually do this?

[MikeTheLocksmith]

I think that ethic situations arise quite frequently in the locksmith business. I have had requests to rekey a home so the individual could kick his roommate out without any notice. I have had people want to get into a car without discussion with the owner. I have had an individual ask to get into a home they were not welcome in(the police ended up involved in this one). I have had people without id ask to get into a car. They couldn't tell me where the keys were or any info that indicated the car was there's. All of this and I have only been in the field a little less then a year. I bet some veterans have some awesome stories lol.

Thanks,
Mike

[YouLuckyFox]

Guys, thanks for your input up to this point, I appreciate knowing that these kind of situations are pretty common. Sorry for my delayed response, as well. Right now I feel like the solutions to my life right now are locked inside a safe along with the combination .

I would be interested to know of any ground rules to keep from getting into situations where you have to make hard decisions, also what to check for and how to call the police in the appropriate manner, etc.

[bobhdus]

Lots of good rules to practice your business with. Baldomeric Oath is something worth reading, http://www.alticlock.com/Pages/CodeofEthics.aspx. I took the Foley-Belsaw Course years ago and made a copy of the Code of Ethics in the back of one of the books. I always do my best not to bad mouth other locksmiths because it weakens public opinion of our Trade.

[billdeserthills]

This realtor I know called me two days ago, seems he had misplaced the keys I had made for him last year. Now his client is coming to town and he needs these keys. I told him to pick open & remake these keys will cost $185. He says "I just forwarded your phone number to a client. He will be calling you within the next hour and also needs keys made. I want you to pad his bill enough to try and get my two keys made at no additional charge." I didn't know quite what to say, I had zero interest in padding someone else's bill and then applying that extra money to someone else's charges...However in view of the fact that I have done quite a bit of work for this client in the past, I didn't tell him where I thought he should go (to Hell) and instead I just made all the right noises, figuring that I would take half off his bill or something.
Lucky for me the guy did find his keys (yesterday) and he called to let me know I wouldn't hafta commit a crime just to make him happy.

[deralian]

I had a lockout where the customer asked if he could pay via credit card. The company took CC so I said ok. He proceeded to read me off card numbers from a piece of paper he had in his pocket. Yeah, closed the door back up and left.

[billdeserthills]

I had a lockout where the customer asked if he could pay via credit card. The company took CC so I said ok. He proceeded to read me off card numbers from a piece of paper he had in his pocket. Yeah, closed the door back up and left.

I've taken card #'s under the same circumstances and I haven't ever had a chargeback. Sometimes Mom or his friend helps out, there isn't anything
wrong with that.

I'll tell ya something Crazy that was/is completely legal but will sound off the wall
I had a woman client who had just received the divorce papers from her husband. She had me open the two gunsafes in the garage and told me that the hubby had been slowly taking the rifles out of these two safes and was now storing them in another city about 70 miles away, in a home that belonged to both of them. I allowed her to pay me to make a very far (for me) service call and picked open his/her door, opened the gunsafe next & emptied it. She had been going through the rest of the house while this went on and our next stop was the storage place. We documented all the beautiful, antique rifles for the court--Turned out she got a Much better deal than the original order, which allowed her to keep the pots & pans. I don't suppose hubby was too happy, but as a discovered cheater I can't feel too sorry for him...

[dll932]

If nothing else, if you keep strictly to your ethics, you'll avoid problems down the line. I would always ask myself "how many ways could this bounce on me" One situation is when a lady "makes you an offer you can't refuse." I've politely declined a few of those-suppose they were nuts or had jealous mates?

I remember once when a "friend" of my boss asked us to go to an address and fit keys to a car and I got the call. There I am trying to impression the door lock when a lady comes out all bent out of shape accusing me of stealing her car! Well, she called a cop who came quickly and told me not to touch the car. Long story short, the "friend" was going through a messy divorce and was playing us for patsies to basically steal her car. I left the scene, but it was quite embarrassing for the company (but no way could we have known.

[YouLuckyFox]

Had a pal ask that had his car booted, he asked how much it would be to take the boot off. I empathized with his situation, but I has to turn down the job. Question: what would you have done?

[sentientsentinel]

I say do no harm and don't help anyone else do harm and you should do alright remember in civil court if someone comes against you they have to show harm.

[billdeserthills]

I say do no harm and don't help anyone else do harm and you should do alright remember in civil court if someone comes against you they have to show harm.

I say Always record the client's drivers license on Your receipt and when the cops come and ask
"Who told You to do this work" Refer the man to the actual criminal--Keeps You nice & clean


I actually had a thief pay me to pick open a residence, of course I had no idea until I asked the lady if "she would like a free copy of her front door key?"
The thief couldn't produce the key, which was when I asked for her drivers license. The police called me a few months later, turned out a neighbor had
seen everything and called the Man, who contacted me. They arrived after she had loaded her trailer with the appliances from the house. Whoopsie