Reactfast Warrants

[Al]

If anybody goes on a warrant for reactfast, please PM with the name of the rep.

[horsefeathers]

Further to what Pinky said - so it is the locksmiths responsibilty to return new keys to occupier. How does the occupier know who to contact in the first place when he/she returns home to find they cannot get in? Is something left stuck to the door? What if the locksmith gets a call from the occupier - "where's my keys" - and the locky is on a job 30 miles away? One very irate occupier!!!

regards

wayne

[NKT]

And that is exactly why the big players want NDE. No little old ladies dying because some nasty utility company locked her out! Imagine the loss of customers that would bring...

They also don't have to pay you money to go out and return the keys. Paying out half as much for the day to get an NDE locksmith still works out cheaper (and often quicker) than someone who drills, since there are no lock repairs to pay for, either.

[pinky]

a sticker is stuck to door or to inside of window stating
" YOUR LOCKS HAVE BEEN CHANGED, FOR YOUR NEW KEYS CALL"

your number is given, generally whether your on a job or not you have a contracted set time to get keys back to them, some give you 3 hours some insist within the hour, either way you have some very unhappy people to take keys to.
some locksmiths like to meet them at a police station, some pretend to be a courier only which is fine until the lady next door recognises you and spills beans.

some debt agencies still consider drilling ok, most now wont pay for lock replacements and key returns its all in contract at your daily rate, but many now insist upon 95% plus non destructive entry and thats becoming a requirement.

[horsefeathers]

Seems like a good idea to avoid doing warrants in the first place if you do not consider yourself to be 95% NDE.

Or if you need the work better to try to pick the lock as best you can and if it is defeating you (or bailiff/utility man are pushing for a quicker entry) then refuse to drill and simply walk away. Ok, you probably wont get paid for attending but alot less aggro!

Me thinks I shall avoid this line of work until my NDE is above 95% and am totally confident in my own abilities.

regards

wayne

[NKT]

I can't imagine you ever getting another call if you walked away! The rep. and/or fitter would be furious, unless you agreed with them first. If they were just hopeing someone would be in, they wouldn't have booked a locksmith!

[toomush2drink]

I agree nkt 20 jobs in a day and you walk away from a few of them, forget any future work as im sure your name will passed about warning others off you. Ok maybe a few are acceptable if its say banham dimples etc but why risk losing a days pay and getting a bad name in the first place if your not up to it ? Its something i strive to do in the long run but until i know im up to the standard required im not even thinking of "giving it a go".

[horsefeathers]

You guys really get 20 warrant jobs in a day? Perhaps in London I suppose but what about out in the sticks (like Norfolk!!). Most people round here havent even got electricity so dont have to worry about paying or not paying leccy bills.... (me - Norwich, Norfolk born and bred)

Having said that, anyone getting that much work is obviously very good at his job with an NDE rate to prove it. Deservedly so!

regards

wayne

[pinky]

warrant runs are booked by the day and the half day, trouble is in your area you could do 50 miles between jobs.

Electric runs tend to be between 8 and 12 jobs a day and gas between 12 and 40 jobs a day, dependent on area and distance etc.

take an average run of 10, you would expect 5 of these to be in or outside boxes and to open 5 on an average day, on a non average day you get the guy with the baseball bat or the real nasty job.

its not just being able to pick every lock type, but to pick under pressure, some contracts give you just 10 minutes a door and still want and expect an nde opening, all this with an agent and a fitter getting cold, who work with locksmiths every day, comments such as my guy gets these open in seconds, as well as some banter, the not knowing if someone is other side of door waiting for you to come in and of course everyones friend the DOG , all good fun.

[jordyh]

Ah yes, the joy of not being appreciated.
By the dog.

[NKT]

At ten minutes a door, most would be lucky to get even the easy BS mortice locks open in time, never mind the harder ones.

Of course, this is where lock ID and investment in specialist tools comes in.

As Pinky says, outside the box is a great skill. Sometimes the entry is trivial when looked at from a different angle. And then you use that time to give you a bit more leeway when you are trying to get that last security pin in place, on the next job...

[acl]

When Pinky says about 50miles between jobs hes right and Norfolk is one is one of those areas.Ive done warrants up there many times and beleive me the most important thing to take with you is a pair of DVT tights .3 jobs can take all day.
Also had days when every job was an outside box and hardly got out of the van.These days can also be very boring!

[horsefeathers]

When Pinky says about 50miles between jobs hes right and Norfolk is one is one of those areas.Ive done warrants up there many times and beleive me the most important thing to take with you is a pair of DVT tights .3 jobs can take all day.
Also had days when every job was an outside box and hardly got out of the van.These days can also be very boring!

Travelling around like that given the distances covered must mean that you might lose more local business, urgent lock-outs for example. I did one warrant once in Lowestoft which is a fair distance from me. Over an hour to get there (rush hour), an hour messing about while bailiff tried to get a dog handler and failed - job postponed - then hour or so travelling back. Although not required i got £35. And guess what, during that time I had to turn two Norwich urgent lockouts away. Swings and roundabouts I guess but if you live in a rural area then maybe par for the course. Based in London for example and there could be enough work to make for a busy day. Dont envy the London traffic though!

regards

[acl]

Swings and roundabouts exactly,you could have also been sitting at home all day doing nothing.I dont actually do the Kings Lynn runs now as one of my guys lives up there but i used to travel for 2.5 hrs there then god knows how many miles doing the run then the 2.5 hrs back,did this at least once a week.The siemens guys have their preferred lockies and i happened to be one of them and the work had to be done so i did it. I do find this a lot now, guys who say they have no work on then when they get offered some, thats a bit of a drive or the moneys not too great,they wont do it or if they do they whine about it. The first warrant day i did for Rob was in Manchester which is a fair old drive for me from Dunstable .He phoned me the day before (Bank holiday monday) i could have said no as it is a way and i had other stuff on but i didnt. We now do about 15 runs and countless half days and singles a week for him.
A lot of guys now are too shortsighted or beleive the shite from the dodgy courses and think they dont have to work to earn their 2k a week!
Horse feathers this was not a direct rant at you its just a few people have pi**ed me off today with this kind of attitude. Add that to the fact ive only just got in from a long day!
Andy

[pinky]

acl is right
i had to cover a guy who thought driving 30 miles from home to cover a warrant run was unreasonable for £180 for the day so didnt bother turning up, thought he was worth far more money than the £180.
Instead he sat at home and urned £40 on 1 lock out, and lost any chance of further warrant work, thats a regular £800 to £900 a week thrown away.

warrants are swings and roundabouts, some days are short and easy others are a pain, but you do them all, ive even travelled and stayed away for a weeks work in past, the question is, do you want to work or not.

on paper call outs look better, as you only need 2 good jobs per day to exceed warrant earnings, but not many locksmiths nowadays get 2 good call outs a day, this being the case a £900 a week buffer is a nice position to be in, it certainly pays the bills, and one can still cover evening and weekend call outs on top.