MATRIX TRAINING IN UK

[Grump]

Has anyone been on a Training course with this company or know anything good or bad about them.

The website looks good and the Trainer seems to know his stuff, but lots of training on offer with other companies and I am a bit confused who to go for.

£640 for a 2 day lock picking course seems a bit much, but then again if its a good course and a good company then it is worth it. Any responces would be much appreciated. Would not want to get ripped off!

[Jaakko]

£640 for a 2 day lock picking course seems a bit much

Now that is absolute BS. You could as well read the stickies and a little extra from these forums for two days and then take a vacation with your saved £640

[lockey1963]

is it 1 to 1 training ? if not it isnt effective and you wont get the most out of it, is the trainer well known in the industry do any associations use him for their training ?
what are you hoping to learn in 2 days ?

If you want a good cheap course covering the real basics thats classroom orientated in a group then the cheap and cheerfull justlocks course is about the best of these, though you get exactly what you pay for with training, if you want to be trained by the best and want to get the most from it on a 1 to 1 basis then you pay a bit more to a respected and known effective trainer, of which there is only about 6 in the country.

[paul1982]

To be honest save your money all the info you could ever want you will find on here. The certificates given out are worthless really. I paid out £600 when i trained and i look back now and see i wasted my money really. Plenty of info out on web. Use money you save for tools

[p team]

Total load of bullocks.First post ? this is an advertisement for a over priced course.

[UWSDWF]

doesn't seem like it to me... atleast with the way it's written

[Grump]

EH?

I am just wanting to know if anyone has done training with this company. I have nothing to do with them but was thinking about doing a Lockpicking course. I understand it aint going to make me a "Locksmith" But got to start somewhere.

Locksmith like most Trades can not be learnt on a weeks or months course, I know that much.

I was just hoping someone would say, Ive been there and they are really good or Ive been there and there crap!

[p team]

Apologies

[Grump]

No Probs!

Anyone got some info for me? I can read these excellent informative posts all day and all night but I need to be shown how to do stuff and thats what draws me to a 2 day course.

I have thought about buying DVDS from Ebay but just think its a bit micky mouse!

[taylorgdl]

I have thought about buying DVDS from Ebay but just think its a bit micky mouse!

The DVD's are generally copies of articles on this site, and other freely available content.

Some of which is copyright.

DO NOT BUY THEM

[p team]

Grump
Ebay is the place to go but save your money on DVD's.All that info is online just search,. www.youtube.com has plenty of good lock picking posts.Get on to ebay and buy a selection of second hand locks.Then it is just a matter of taking them apart and putting them back together again until you can do it with out thinking.Also handy is to get a book on locksmiths terms so when you are stripping locks you can learn the names of parts.When you have mastered this then look for a course.Be selective some good courses out there and many more bad ones.

[crazyman]

Grump mate try www.justlocks.org, you will find lots of good feedback on this site about them if you do a search.

picky a member on this site does 1 to 1 training to try sending them a PM

hope this helps

[Shrub]

Martin has already commented on this thread and he also no longer works for Ken at justlocks,

Justlocks or the icl courses are the ones you need to be looking at really but i dont know much about the icl ones as regards content so you need to research a bit,

As for needing to know how to do things watching someone do it isnt always the way to go but with the ability to watch it over and over again i suggest that this site is all you need as regards pin tumbler picking, click my www button for a great guide on this,

As regards the dreaded lever lock picking its not all that bad but thats what i would adivse you train on if you want to be a lockie and thats where the courses i mention would come in to their element, read mine and others threads on lever picking and maybe youll get enough of the concept to simply sit and practice every day until you can do it, thats what i did as after being ripped off for training myself i came away thinking most locks had to be drilled, if not then look into the training thing,

Remember theres so much more to this game unless your only gogin to be an opening technition,

My belief is that a 2 day course can tell you a lot, someone could sit there and read out this site or LSS for a day and you will learn a lot but just like engineers coming out from university, you will know the princibles but wont be able to do jack shite in the real world,

Its all about the practiceing, read the thread on curtain picking and you will know almost all there is to know about picking a simple curtained lock but you wont be able to go out and pick one first time,

The pure fact that you are on here and asking if the course is any good tells me that you would benefit a lot from reading up on this site anyway, i suggest that if you go to a good trainer and show you know the basics you wont still have to sit through learning them again instead you may be shown more advanced stuff you wouldnt normally had time to see,

[lockey1963]

Thers some good sound advice given in this thread, and much should be heeded from it.

first off what are you looking for training for ?
to work towards becoming a locksmith i guess ?

If so then before even considering training and trainers do some ground work first;

1) Have you researched your area ? can it take another advertising locksmith? will their be enough work to make it pay?

2) what advertising plans do you have and what budget can you afford ? the wrong decisions here and it wont matter how good the training is you get, you will be done for.

3) what start up investment do you have and what do you need?

4) where will your work come from and why should they choose you?

5) have you looked at and developed a workable business plan?

I know the above isnt as cool as picking locks, but an essential first step to take before even considering training. Its fact that around 9 out of 10 people in the uk attending courses either never bother starting up or fail very quickly, mostly down to no initial research and planning.

Then read this site, get some locks and play, do a bit of picking and learn a little about locks, i guarantee if you follow the advice on this site and play and practice, you will learn as much if not more over next few months as you will on 90% of the 2 day courses, and for free.

you will find if you have a talent or ability to make this work and also learn enough prior to training, so that as shrub has rightly stated, a good trainer only need fill in some gaps on the real basics, a decent trainer can then take you to a higher level of success and adapt a course 1 to 1 to your specific ability and needs, thus really benefiting you and making it more value for money all round.
most courses cannot adapt in this way as classroom based, a classroom full moves at a much slower pace, as can only move as fast as the slowest candidate.

If you have money to burn, then any of the 2 day courses will teach you the very basics of pin tumbler and basic lever picking, but if you spent the next few months researching your area and formulating your business plan, at the same time learn from this site free, then you will find yourself in a much better position long term, and will benefit from being able to learn more advanced material when you train and stand a better chance of retaining what is taught.

not i know what you was asking, but i hope helpfull to you in the future.

If adament on wanting to attend a 2 day basic classroom based course, then justlocks is the most established of these, and in my opinion the best of the classroom courses.

hope it helps.

[toomush2drink]

If i were you i would take a long hard look at how much your prepared to live off in the early days, try zilch for a good figure. So many people have flooded into the industry it is very tough going as a new start up. Ive recently had several calls from lockies who are after work as they are struggling. Most have only subbed for a few of the big players but now they have helped the big player get established in the areas they cover they have been dropped.
The big player then puts in a full time lockie to do the work on peanuts.

Before you become yet another startup failure decide where and how your work is going to come from, lockouts are not as regular as you think and i say that being based in london.
Can you confidently fit a lock to an expensive door ? most courses dont teach these skills.
Are you going to target the domestic or commercial markets ? What sort of budgets do you have ?
The guy who rang me yesterday seemed surprised that i had decoders as "they are so expensive" in his words, he drills everything regardless, not even got a pickgun. He didnt even have a website and wondered why he hasnt any work.

Before you go on any course please really do your research or risk losing a lot of cash on a wasted business venture.
This year im spending about 10k on marketing alone so this is what your up against.

Sorry if i sound negative but unless your prepared to cover huge areas and work long hours for realistic prices you wont survive long.

Sort out your business plan before deciding on a course then work out how much you can survive on.