uk locksmiths work available

[pinky]

i have been asked by a large debt company to put forward names of people nationwide willing to cover warrant runs on gas and electric warrants.
to apply you must be able to work non destructively, its ok to drill an occassional lock but most must be picked and within 15 minutes. the rates they are paying is £140 a day and £70 a half day, it will be pointless going for this if you cannot open non destructively, at worst with the drill but with no damage to mechanism at all.

those that feel confident can pm me with what area they can cover and i will forward your details to the company for inclusion on their database, they will then decide and pass you work, i dont know how much work, but i know they do pay and they have plenty of work nationwide, though some areas they may be sorted, so no guarantees, but they may be able to keep some of you busy.

The company is a well known debt collection agency , not a middle man contract holder, they now want to work direct with locksmiths.

[SAFEPICKS]

What exactly is this work doing, do you know the hours or what the job entails, how can you pick most locks guaranteed it could be anything, do they pay for locks and how much.

[SAFEPICKS]

How can you drill non destructively, once you drill a hole in the case and remove the stump I would call it shagged?.

[pinky]

hi firstly on drilling, 1 with the exception of a few locks , you never drill for the stump, the lever gate is drilled for using no more than a 2mm drill bit, once opening up the 2mm hole in the case you open the lock. so no its not shagged and for warrants this is acceptable.

in answer to warrants a half day is 1 to 6 jobs start at 0830 finish by 12, dependent on your ability to get them in, a full day is 0830 to 4pm though you rarely work past 2.30pm again dependent on you opening speed.
you get 15 minutes maximum per door, thats not per lock thats per property, you must not change more than 3 locks for every 100 doors you open, they insist upon 97% non destructive. and no you dont get paid for locks, as you should be capable of opening non destructive, though a key return payment is made to a maximimum of 3 properties in 100 opened only..

in honesty you sound as if you are not yet ready for this work, drilling stumps is not acceptable with this work, though drilling a small hole in case only and opening the lock and relocking the lock with no damage to the mechanism is acceptable to this contract, though i would say you need the knowledge to correctly id the lock and make a precision hole to open the lock non destructively is essential, without these skills then my advice is forget it, seek some training.

though i prefer to never drill, its unnecessary if you have the tools and skills to use them, i will however drill on some warrants for safety reasons, and on damaged locks, though drilling is kens area of expertise not mine.

[SAFEPICKS]

If you drill a 2mm hole i take it you use a template or something or it would not be accurate, where do you get a template.

[pinky]

you can get templates from, RB locktools for £178, from aldridge for £250 and from ken at courses24-7locksmiths.co.uk for £60, i believe davenport burgess also do pro plate templates, but ive never tried these.

yes you need templates to drill 2mm, but even to drill 8mm you need accurate measurements, so you will need to know your drill points, then theres lock id, ken at 24/7 runs a lock id and drilling course, or for the DIY he does a lock id cd of over 100 photos with drill points, mark francis also does a lock id cd of 36 photos with drill points, unless you already have all these and can id locks through the keyway.

i have to ask, is this a wind up, as you ask about drilling being destructive as you take out the stump, and then you ask about templates, if a wind up , good one you hooked me, if not then the answer above answers your querie and go to search facility on this site where you will find info on templates etc.

[MrB]

If you drill a lock to open it, can you repair and hide the hole back to original standard, or is the lock permanently compromised? I mean, someone could see the evidence of filling and repainting on the door and guess that the lock was previously drilled. They just have to go back to your original 2mm hole and they can open the lock the same way?

[pinky]

a pro locksmith will replace the hard plate, besides you cant just open a lock through a 2mm hole , you need special tools and knowledge to do this.
this is 1 of the reasons that picking is always the best method, but not all locksmiths can pick, and sadly not all want to.

[Al]

Save yourself some time Martin, just post the companies details here.

[pinky]

??????? No 1 i dont promote nor do i reccommend drilling of any kind. No 2 i do not sell my own or any other locksmiths products on this forum or any other.
if you want a template kit you wont get one from me, you must go to RB , aldridges, or ken direct.

i will answer any querie, and all advice i give either by email or by forum is free and i hope for the best of the industry.

as for the work i will send the companies email address to anyone with the skill and ability to do the work, but for obvious reasons i wont post a debt collection companies details on the web, they are well known and most locksmiths will be working through a third party company for them at present, they now want to deal direct with the locksmith to cut out the middle men for cost. i work for this company too, im sure they wouldnt thank me for posting there secure mailbox on line.
though this post has gone off track somewhat.

[Al]

Just PM it to me buddy, I'll charge 'em double to make you look good. Hope it's not D**** W******'s outfit.

[Al]

Thanks for the message Pinky, turns out I already am charging them double! Guess I better watch out

Anyone who speaks to the nice lady DO NOT let her bargain you down. I've worked for them since the company was founded and they've been paying me 20% more than Pinky realises.

If they need somebody in your area then they need somebody.

[pinky]

all i can say then is your area commands a higher rate than the rest, that or you must be far better than us mere mortals.

what i will say however is that if you go in too dear you will blow it, as with the contracts becoming fewer and the locksmiths wanting the work becomming more and more, competition is stiffer, it wont pay if you go in too arogant , i happen to know of 16 locksmiths in my area bidding for the same work, all non destructive and all fully tooled up.

you will go the way you will, ive made you aware of the opportunity existing, its up to you how you handle it.

[acl]

Ive been doing this kind of work for some time now and unfortunatly there are a hell of a lot of "locksmiths" out there doing warrants that will take out a stump,drill 3 or 4 8mm holes and ive even seen a sitex door with Securefast locks on that had been crowbarred.Im sure youve all seen and heard your fair share of horrors,but the fact is these guys are still getting work and i guess the reason being is that they are cheap,but surely the debt companies end up paying more,due to lock changes and buggered doors.
Regards Andy

[pinky]

i must admit that the contracts i work on dont allow this and insist upon 97% non destructive, 1 wont allow the use of the drill unless 3mm or smaller, all locksmiths are police vetted and bonded, it surprises me that this still goes on.

i am aware that some debt companies do use people better called the missing link than a locksmith, though i know that they are cheap and this is why, i know one that places the cost of lock changes upon the debt, but you must have noticed the decline in work they now get.

this lot the post was on ive worked for in the past, and although they allow modest lock changes they are getting stricter.
they like my own company get on average 20 + letters and calls a week from hopefull locksmiths trying to get a contract, i know of 1 master locksmith with 14 employees who has gone in so cheap that it makes me shudder.

the comfortable little world we had gets harder every year, fortunately the contracts we have are only held by 3 companies nationwide, us being one of them, and these are now extremely fussy.

roll on licencing and registration and a standards code of practice, how long it will be i dont know, but i for one welcome it, if for no other reason than to clear out the cowboys.