Customers Who Do It Themselves and FAIL

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jul 2006 6:29

Ok. I'm getting sick and tired of some of the customers I'm getting. It's so funny and sad that I can't help laughing my ass off, and crying at the same time. We have some of the trashiest people in this town, with some of the most beautiful luxury vehicles I can imagine. And they're only willing to call a locksmith as a last resort.

I have found bent wire, a closet's worth of coat hangers, and broken bits of wood and plastic in a number of cars I've opened. On one occasion, I was met with a customer working to coat hanger her door open when I arrived, and yet another occasion where the customer successfully opened his vehicle 5 minutes after he called me-- but asked if I could replace their weather stripping!

Today was the straw that slurped the convenient store slushy. I received 2 calls, the second only 20 seconds after I hung up with the first. This should have been an omen, as I have never received two calls in such succession. After taking care of the second call first (it was on the way, and the other much further) I arrived to the customer's house greeted with a horrific mess. A beautiful Chevy Silverado, I'd value at $18,000, had (3) *THREE* coat hangers and about 20 feet of bent copper pipe from an old ice box sticking out of the driver's and passenger side doors.

It turns out the owner is from out of state visiting her hillbilly family, who couldn't resist but to try and save her some money. Each of the wire coat hangers were used in an attempt to press the electronic locking buttons, but had instead been wedged underneath the buttons and hooked and caught. The water pipe must have been the final attempt after realizing that coat hangers don't make very good rods for pushing down on, and completely mangled the truck's door frame and weather stripping, and caused some nice scratches on the truck's interior. After much frustration and damage, it appeared they gave up on the idea of removing the pipe from the door before heading back inside to watch some Jerry Springer.

I simply wedged the door and used my professional nylon coated long-reach tool to try the unlock button-- but in the forest of coat hangers growing from beneath, the button wouldn't budge. I turned my attention to the manual sliding latch and flicked it open in one effortless instant, removed my tools and opened the door. The sheer damage was indescribable, I removed the alien copper and barbed coat hangers, pausing only to morn the suffering inflicted upon this vehicle.

The point of this post is thus. I used to carry a camera on me to take pictures of my work, but the novelty wore off. After today's experience, I will be carrying a camera with me to take liability photos in case such gross negligence is ever blamed on me after I leave. I have never seen such horror, nor could I have envisioned it possible. I'd hate to have somebody goto mommy and accuse me of their messup.

by **Krypos** » 24 Jul 2006 6:49

OMFG. that was amazingly...dumbfounding. i keep saying it more and more lately, IDIOTS THESE DAYS. america keeps getting fatter and dumber, and fatter and dumber. ti never ceases to amuse ME. the shear stupidity of people in general. of course thats not fair to those of us who have intelligence, and skill at stuff, but its what is true.

yeah, as fro liability, my father (who i despise for being a no good, divorced no show jacka$$) is a truck driver, and in case anything ever happens, he always has in the truck 3-4 disposable cameras for accidents, etc etc. so some cheap kodak throw away cameras are always good to have in the car (and with you in general in case of regular car accidents) so that you can photograph all damage to both parties so you can present them at any court showings if it goes that far.

too bad, i feel for your pain my friend, hillbillies especially are annoying. they think they are smart, but in fact they are not.

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jul 2006 8:07

Another reason I regret not having a camera on me-- I would have had some really unique pictures to share on these forums. :lol:

Thinking about it, I bet I'm the first locksmith to witness 3 wire coat hangers and a water pipe jammed into an $18,000 truck.

by **Shrub** » 24 Jul 2006 8:24

I bet your not :lol:

by **Shrub** » 24 Jul 2006 8:27

Ive seen someone throw a brick through their Ferrari window because they wouldnt pay me Â£80 weekend night rate to ge tthe keys off the passenger seat, 5 mins later as i was just driving off a police car pulled up and i later found out that they had breathalized him and did him for drink driving as well (just holding car keys whilst drunk gets you banned here)

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jul 2006 8:33

Thats when you get their address information from the police, and mail the customer a bill. They probably wouldn't remember if you unlocked them or not, but you'd get paid for showing up.

I have yet to do one of those "throw the keys back in" bits. To be honest, a part of me craves the day I get to charge a customer double.

by **Dimmy Locks** » 24 Jul 2006 10:15

I've seen it all too. Coathangers, rods, pipes strips of plastic, all wedged in doors.

So many broken keys in locks where the owners friend/family member has a similar key and just KNOWS they can get the lock to turn.

Plastic, wood, metal items jammed in locks where the owner thinks they will magically open if you just prod about a while.

Broken window with brick sat on front seat, glass everywhere only for the owner to realise that the electronic boot release doesnt actually work without the dead locking disabled/ ignition turned on.

Top of door bent so far outwards that the glass broke under the pressure, owner annoyed that the cars internal lock button wont actually release the door due to dead locking.

Wireing looms pulled out and stripped from lights, door jams, engine compartments in vain attempt to release solenoid locking.

On more than 1 occasion I've been called to a car that has damage to doors, dorr pillars and roof and a very annoyed and frustrated owner awaiting my arrival only to get even more annoyed when I have simply removed the keys hanging out the boot lock/ passenger door lock.

My all time favourite though was a callout for a broken key in door lock.

Extraction proved very time consuming and the reason was pretty clear.

The owner had sellotaped (sticky backed clear tape) a broken key together expecting it to work in the lock. When it failed he attempted to apply super glue to the half key he had and insert it into the wafer lock expecting it to grip and adhere to the broken section in the lock. When this failed he attempted to remove the broken part from lock by using blutack.

As the vehicles passnger lock had been damaged previously he had the linkage rod disengaged so the only way into the vehicle was via this lock. I was not a happy chappie having to use my picking tools to remove all the debris and dislodge wafers that had been glued fast just to extract the broken key. The owner had the nerve to say he was not responsible and it must have been vandals, even after I pointed out that the half key he had in his hand had tape, glue and blutack remnants on it. grrrrrr :evil:

by **p1ckf1sh** » 24 Jul 2006 12:27

Dimmy Locks wrote:On more than 1 occasion I've been called to a car that has damage to doors, dorr pillars and roof and a very annoyed and frustrated owner awaiting my arrival only to get even more annoyed when I have simply removed the keys hanging out the boot lock/ passenger door lock.

THIS is indeed an evil thing. A damaged car, a locksmith bill and all that with the keys right there...

by **Varjeal** » 24 Jul 2006 12:33

Raccoon: A simple tip you probably already know, but I'll state it for others who might not...

When you arrive on scene to find obvious evidence that a client has attempted their own form of entry, get yourself either a photo as Raccoon has already mentioned, or a clean piece of paper, and accurately as you can write out what attempts and previous damage have been accomplished. Sign it, and get the client to read and sign it as well, then go ahead and perform your opening. (Make sure your description is easy and clear to read.)

Also, where possible, perform the opening in a location away from where the previous attempt(s) have occured. That will assist in eliminating liability as well. (even if it means performing a more difficult or time-consuming technique.)

This will be more than ample evidence should the client try to come back on ya for the mess.

I, too, have pretty much seen it all, including the automotive key stuck in a residential door lock, and a residential key jammed into an ignition. :roll:

by **Dimmy Locks** » 24 Jul 2006 13:28

And who can forget the big rush of call outs with Ford Tibbe keys stuck in an Arbor Ignition a fews years back? I still get the occasional call out for that little gem these days, but not so common now.

by **HeadHunterCEO** » 24 Jul 2006 21:10

The owner had sellotaped (sticky backed clear tape) a broken key together expecting it to work in the lock. When it failed he attempted to apply super glue to the half key he had and insert it into the wafer lock expecting it to grip and adhere to the broken section in the lock. When this failed he attempted to remove the broken part from lock by using blutack.

excellent

by **unbreakable** » 24 Jul 2006 21:23

Wow

sounds likeyou've all had some good laughs on the job, or maybe not so much when you had to deal with all the damage.......

I'd love to see some pictures. Raccoon, could you post some of the truck, please? I'm having a little trouble visualizing that in my head.

Unbreakable

by **devildog** » 24 Jul 2006 21:30

Anyone ever go to a safe job where someone's broken out the stethoscope and sandpaper? :lol:

by **Raccoon** » 24 Jul 2006 22:38

unbreakable wrote:I'd love to see some pictures. Raccoon, could you post some of the truck, please? I'm having a little trouble visualizing that in my head.

I'm kicking myself for not bringing a camera along-- it was a sight to see, but I don't have any pictures.

The weirdest thing is, when I arrived on the site, there were 3 vehicles in the driveway and it didn't immediately occur to me which one needed to be opened. It wasn't until the owner walked with me and lead me in the direction of her truck that I noticed the spires of metal protruding from the doors.

I guess it was so psychologically dumbfounding that my brain couldn't make sense of it, and so I didn't see it. Like when the pilgrims who first traveled to the Americas-- the natives didn't see the great ships off the horizon-- they could only perceive the wake the ships made. The brain just shuts down when something isn't quite right with the world.

by **Omikron** » 27 Jul 2006 0:36

Ah...the wonders of working in the service industry... :-D

Customers Who Do It Themselves and FAIL

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