Your good deed for the day:

[fjardeson]

Small time locksmiths may depend on the individual jobs that come in on the phone, but the larger shops in cities will make most of their money on large corporate clients who require service every month and run and account with the company, These are the best clients because of the amount of money they spend, the distant from the service area individual client with a simple small job and the particularity of some clients who may be a bit difficult to deal with, or may poormouth the locksmith after the opening are well, lets just say that people will be doing their own coathanger jobs, that won't stop and of course you can inherit the job after they screw it up. Aint that fun. There are people with more money who would be better clients, pay better and call back again and there are the people who really can't afford to call a locksmith and you will see them driving around with the busted side window. I don't think amatuer lockpickers are taking real business from locksmiths, they may even be creating it if they screw up the job. In this country there are not seals with crown and griffiths that say "by appointment to the queen". Anyone can become a locksmith at their own choseing. When I do a job, I ask for pay.

Works for me. When someone asks me to help them with a car, I first ask them if they've called a locksmith. If they have, I say "well you've done it the fast way" and go back to what I was doing before.

Some cars are really easy. If it's a friend and I know I can BP it without doing any damage, I'll go for it. If it's a stranger, or any kind of car made in Europe, it's "call a locksmith".

This is a lesson learned from a bad attempt at BP when I was young and stupid, that cost a friend a $140 ignition lock. (I did pay for it though).

[nostromo]

What a nice topic to start!!

The most recent Non Destructive Entry good deed for me was at a charity show featuring youngsters from the Society for Young Magicians with the price of admission being two or more cans of food for the homeless. One of the performers' dads had locked the keys in the car, along with all the props for his sons' act. Two minutes with a strap tool did the deed.

[5thcorps]

Often find myself retrieving people's money for them from vending machines that eat it. A machine in front of our local home depot ate a friends change twice (he was very thirsty). So pop and click and he had his drink and gave me the other he paid for.

[thelockpickkid]

so you picked the lock on the vending machine?????

[5thcorps]

why not? I keep a fair amount of tools in my truck for work and if there is a need I use them. In less than 2 minutes You get the money back and as long as you don't empty the machine or the change in it everyone has been fine with it. Just getting what I paid for.

[thelockpickkid]

not your machine, not your lock. That is breaking and entering, I am a locksmith, if I did anything like that I wouldn't be able to have picks, be able to be in the industry, would lose my job. Not worth it to me. If you pick the wrong vendors machines one of these days, you won't have them tools in your truck anymore.

[5thcorps]

It's not breaking and entering when the manager says I don't have the key so go ahead. Unlike probably where you live this a close knit area where everybody knows everybody else. You don't just go breaking into machines. If I'm told ok its ok. Incidentally this is the same store that has called me many times to key their customers locks when employees don't show up. I have officially worked there in years but they'll pay me $20.00 for coming so what the hell. They know me quite well and have ordered a new machine for out front so people don't keep losing money. Folks have vandalized it and several others around here after being taken. Its strange, these machines are out front but no one ever seems to have the key.

[raimundo]

Haunted falls, really, I'll have to look that one up
You cant win in that spat about the outdoor vending machines. Of course they are thieving machines when they don't work properly. what do you expect under trickle down economics. Nothing trickles down until someone drills a leak in the bucket. Right now the billionaire bankers are looting the country and setting it back 70 years.
Best to tiptoe away from this, theres nothing to be gained by pursuing it.
About half of the people on the forum make posts policing other peoples thoughts, teaching them to keep their secrets I guess.
The forum suffers when its all about these spats, theres a site called locksmiths.org that shows what a bunch of opinionated fools can do to a site that could be good if it werent about the personalities, egos, etc.

Rai

[5thcorps]

have never opened a lock without the owner/managers permission. I've opened stuck cash registers for different stores and also timeclocks. Usually the manager gives me a tip right out of his own pocket. I am always thanked when doing so because once folks get their money back they are happy and will continue to come to the business. If they don't get it back, thats usually when a couple days later you'll find the machine with the front smashed in.

[5thcorps]

No spat, just get all the info before you call someone a thief. I've never used my skills in an illegal manner. No different than a locksmith going to someone's house to open it for them. They asked him to do it so it doesn't matter if it's his lock or not. Or when I'm called for a car lockout I'm asked to open it just like machines I've opened for stores, the owner is asking you to provide a service. It's different when you just open cars and steal stuff.

[Spiffytexan]

My parents are in the midst of a divorce. At one point, my stepdad stole my mom's keys, including the key to her filing cabinets with all sorts of vital documents (and money). With an allen wrench and a needle, I had both large drawers open in two minutes.

(Side note, my college locks their huge sound booth door with an $800 keypad/card swipe/key lock, and secures the 5'x9' window with some 50 cent hardware job that does not even need the correct key, just tension, to open...Oh, the people in this world...)

[5thcorps]

its great when a nasty divorce can't get in the way of good lock sport

[nostromo]

Here's another good deed for the day <<Say I, trying to get the thread back on track >>

One of my wife's freinds was being visited by her mother, who had brought a Sentry firesafe full of probate-type documents, after putting the keys in a special place to make sure that she wouldn't forget them. And guess where the key was now? Still in that special place, which was nowhere near the firesafe.

So a quick minute's work saved the business part of her visit.

[TheSkyer]

My good deed for the day was a couple a weeks ago when a friend was in a hurry to get to the airport and shut his room with the keys inside due to all the chaos.

He was gonna call the landlord to kome open the lock which would take about 1 hour and 10 euros (and would miss his flight to boot). I told him I knew the priciple behind lockpicking and had a little set I borrowed from a friend (I had never actualy opend anything but cheap padlocks).

I tried several picks starting out with a hookpick, after a while I decided to switch to a snake pick. I ended up using a rake and actualy got the lock to open. It was probably more luck than skill but I was proud to open my first propper lock in front of the eyes of a friend. Took me about 15 minutes though..... Anyhow, it left me with a superb feeling, a happy friend, and a few amazed onlookers. Pretty cool experience!