Proposed FEDERAL LAWS regulating Locksmiths

[Capt_Tom]

Interesting article.....

It appears that the ALOA, while trying to control scammers, is hurting the MOBILE LOCKSMITHS. I have attached an article concerning the matter.

It is rather lengthy, but well worth the read.... If it boors you, skip to the proposed FEDERAL LAWs they are trying to pass (near bottom of page) it is in a separate window that you can scroll through. Two items in the law really concern me.

(1) They make it a federal offense to drill an un-pickable lock.

WHAT??? Who makes the decision that there are no un-pickable locks? I Pick or bypass nearly any lock that I need to open. I don't drill many, but that lock with a # 1 master pin turned sideways, or hasn't been opened in 3 years on a beach front house, The one with the broken spring... etc. There are many different reasons to be forced into doing a destructive entry.



(2) They make it a FEDERAL OFFENSE to charge much more than the local rate.


Well... What is the local rate? Who sets the "local rate"? Do all "local" locksmiths get together and set it? Price fixing is illegal. What about that 3 am call on Christmas day, or the call on your day off... begging you to leave the comfort of your home during the playoff games? Would it be illegal to quote them a higher price (not only to have them call someone else, but to make it worth your loss of "special time", in the event they insisted/demanded your service?

I hope that you enjoy the article

Tom

http://www.sopl.us/4/post/2013/05/aloa- ... thing.html

[alockguru]

Seams like in my state there are plenty enough laws already against unprofessional or illegal locksmiths. How bout instead of more laws that are only going to hurt the legitimate locksmith, states enforce the laws already in place against those doing the illegal/immoral practices and help prop up the honest businesses. I mean the crooks are already breaking the law, why would they follow new ones?

[alockguru]

I know for sure after the many things I have seen/read about ALOA they will never be getting any kind of funding or support from me...

[cledry]

I am curious. If you guys hire a plumber or a roofer or some other trade, wouldn't you prefer someone with a physical business address? Other than word of mouth how do you choose a plumber for example or an AC repair man? Do you shop by price?

I'm not saying being a mobile business makes the business any less legit, but personally I would prefer to deal with a brick & mortar shop where I can go in person if there is an issue with some work or a part that I purchased.

[alockguru]

I am curious. If you guys hire a plumber or a roofer or some other trade, wouldn't you prefer someone with a physical business address? Other than word of mouth how do you choose a plumber for example or an AC repair man? Do you shop by price?

I'm not saying being a mobile business makes the business any less legit, but personally I would prefer to deal with a brick & mortar shop where I can go in person if there is an issue with some work or a part that I purchased.

Well that's not really an issue to me, many business operate from a home office. Long as someone is licensed and insured to practice that business, that's enough for me. I judge on quality of work they provide. My licensing does make me provide my physical address. It is public information on their site where anyone can check my licensing or make complaints against me. I'm not hiding or cheating anyone. Why loose money or have to increase my rates to run a empty office or store front when I am in the business to provide MOBILE Service to customers in need of said service. I'm happy to refer any customers with your same opinion to a local shop and I have many times. What ever floats your boat. The most important thing is that the customer feels safe.

My issue is I am already in a licensed state, which I AM happy about. My sate just needs to enforce the laws and go after the criminals, not make new federal laws on top of what we already have. Looking over the laws they wouldn't effect me. I run a fair and highly moral business already. It would just cause me to have to give more money and jump through more hoops to another useless gov group that wont go after the real problem. Hell if they keep going after the good guys, there's only going to be the crooks left. Still maybe I'm just biased. I prefer things handled on a state lever rather then the federal level so just the title gets negative attention from me

[Hachronn]

...Hell if they keep going after the good guys, there's only going to be the crooks left. Still maybe I'm just biased. I prefer things handled on a state lever rather then the federal level so just the title gets negative attention from me

Years ago I worked for a guy who liked to refer to himself as a "wholesale grocer". He supplied meat and frozen food to small restaurants (Mostly burger joints).

Not long before I quit, he and I had a discussion about the fact that we weren't licensed in any of the municipalities we serviced, and none of our trucks displayed the business name, address, and phone number as required by law.

His response was, "Why would I want to do any of that?" He pointed out that aside from the expense and hassle of pulling local licenses, he'd just be inviting inspectors, regulations, and other headaches that he didn't have, want, or need.

That's the problem in our state. It seems that getting licensed is an application for enforcement that otherwise overlooks the fly by night cowboys.

[Squelchtone]

I am curious. If you guys hire a plumber or a roofer or some other trade, wouldn't you prefer someone with a physical business address? Other than word of mouth how do you choose a plumber for example or an AC repair man? Do you shop by price?

I'm not saying being a mobile business makes the business any less legit, but personally I would prefer to deal with a brick & mortar shop where I can go in person if there is an issue with some work or a part that I purchased.

My friend is a local residential/commercial/industrial electrician, has a nice white van with nice big logos, has insurance and is licensed, but there would be no need for him to have a store front, in fact for his trade that would be weird. The local electrical supply warehouse which is open to electricans and the public, sells all the parts and fixtures, but they do not have a nice white van and they don't do installs. He has a home office, his wife answers the phones, faxes, and emails, and his work is sought after and word of it spread mouth to mouth.

Locksmithing seems to have an interesting dynamic going on as compared to an electrician, plumber, roofer, or landscaper. Speaking of landscaping, I don't think any of them have an office, and I'm sure more than one person has chosen their landscaper based on how awesome their truck and trailer looked. To them their truck and trailer is free advertizing in the form of a moving bill board.

The reason locksmithing seems to need a shop, or at least in people's minds is better with a brick and mortar store is because you can walk into a little show room and see locks on wooden mounts, some safes, a wall of padlocks, and latches and hinges, and someone there who knows all about it and can even come to your house to install what you buy. Unlike home wiring, or a lawn, people can actually bring a lock with them to a locksmith shop, place it on the counter and request a rekey, a repair, or a replacement. Unless a mobile locksmith has a Snap-On step van, I think it would be hard to have a little showroom of your offerings, but I suppose thats what the nice wrap job advertizing on the side of the van is for.

I'll admit for many years a mobile locksmith to me was just someone who did auto work, lock outs, key fob programming, but I would never think to call a mobile guy to work on my business or house locks. I think for a sole operator it makes good sense to not have a shop, because most of the day you'd have to pay someone to sit in the shop and tend the counter, otherwise your shop has a CLOSED sign on the window all the time, and people don't know you're out in the van doing work on site. The old brick and mortar locksmiths here in New England have been around for 25 to 100 years, many are family affairs, and they also happen to have a couple vans to drive out and do service and install work.

Knowing what I know now, I have nothing against a mobile business, but I will say a 1988 Buick or an old unmarked 1995 Astro van is probably not the best way to represent your business, especially if that is your "store front" or primary way of advertizing. If you're strictly mobile, at least have a nice new van, or the best you can afford, and some graphics or professional lettering that tell a customer what you are there to do.

just my opinion...
Squelchtone

[ARF-GEF]

Why I think a brick and mortar shop has advantage is that locksmithing is a really a very trust based job. You depend on the lockie's product and honesty for the safety of you home, family and business.
So it's reassuring to know those people have been there for like 10 years, they are probably trustworthy, not gonna screw you.
I know it's not a direct relation, but it is a reassuring htough that you have a place to go if you have a complaint.
That is why most lockies, even those who specialise on lock outs have some sort of fixed address or office even if it's just a basement of a normal house.
And that is my theory why true "mobile" lockies, (operating from a truck) are virtually non-existent here.

[dll932]

These days a storefront is something fewer and fewer 'smiths can afford.

[cledry]

Our shop more than pays for itself. It pays the rent, the utilities, the yellow pages and usually a bit more. However the real money is in the service calls. In the shop we average $400 - $600 a day, many days considerably more. A lot of it is people coming in for duplicate transponder keys. We probably do 5 - 6 on an average day and I have done as many as 30 in a single day, it doesn't take many transponder keys to make a $500 day and that is not bad for 1 employee who also is dispatching calls, writing estimates, scheduling jobs, e-mailing invoices. It is also not uncommon for general contractors to drop off cases of locks to be masterkeyed, I think the most at one time was in the 800 lock range. I think this sort of walk in business is also good because it generates a lot of outside sales.

I think a lot of brick & mortar shops do tend to look down on some mobile guys. These guys aren't necessarily bad locksmiths or dishonest in any way, but they tend to often charge much lower than the going rate, especially the guys that perhaps are retired and do this as a hobby/job or the guys who bought a set of car opening tools and a pin kit and work out of an old vehicle. I suppose by the same token they might think we charge above the going rate. We base our rates on those posted in the Locksmith Ledger and adjust slightly for our local market.

We subcontract to a couple of mobile locksmiths, but the guys we use have modern, clean, lettered vehicles and wear a uniform & they are very good locksmiths. In fact their vehicles are nicer than ours!

I guess, as was already pointed out. A shop shows that there are ties to the local community and that perhaps instills a bit of trust in our unique business where trust is everything. A mobile shop could move to another town in an instant. Advertising that one has been in the business locally for 10 or more years is also comforting to a customer, so mobile businesses should emphasize this in all their advertising including on their vehicles.

[2octops]

I am curious. If you guys hire a plumber or a roofer or some other trade, wouldn't you prefer someone with a physical business address? Other than word of mouth how do you choose a plumber for example or an AC repair man? Do you shop by price?

I'm not saying being a mobile business makes the business any less legit, but personally I would prefer to deal with a brick & mortar shop where I can go in person if there is an issue with some work or a part that I purchased.

Brick and mortar storefronts are quickly becoming a thing of the past with locksmiths and most other contractors including plumbers, electricians and HVAC companies.

All of those are mobile based businesses that might have a office somewhere but generally do not have services where customers can come in to have a service performed. If your roof is leaking, are you going to bring it in to your roofers shop? If your plumbing is leaking or stopped up are you going to remove the pieces from your home or business and bring them in? If your AC does not work, are you going to load the condenser and air handler in your trunk and take it to the shop? No, you are going to call them out to perform the service work at your location. Same thing goes for locksmith work. People are not going to bring their doors in for service and 90% of the safes that we see most normal people would have no clue how to even begin to pick it up off the floor.

A storefront has absolutely nothing to do with the legitimacy of a service provider.

[cledry]

I am curious. If you guys hire a plumber or a roofer or some other trade, wouldn't you prefer someone with a physical business address? Other than word of mouth how do you choose a plumber for example or an AC repair man? Do you shop by price?

I'm not saying being a mobile business makes the business any less legit, but personally I would prefer to deal with a brick & mortar shop where I can go in person if there is an issue with some work or a part that I purchased.

Brick and mortar storefronts are quickly becoming a thing of the past with locksmiths and most other contractors including plumbers, electricians and HVAC companies.

All of those are mobile based businesses that might have a office somewhere but generally do not have services where customers can come in to have a service performed. If your roof is leaking, are you going to bring it in to your roofers shop? If your plumbing is leaking or stopped up are you going to remove the pieces from your home or business and bring them in? If your AC does not work, are you going to load the condenser and air handler in your trunk and take it to the shop? No, you are going to call them out to perform the service work at your location. Same thing goes for locksmith work. People are not going to bring their doors in for service and 90% of the safes that we see most normal people would have no clue how to even begin to pick it up off the floor.

A storefront has absolutely nothing to do with the legitimacy of a service provider.

I think it is different with locksmiths. Yes we rarely get an entire door in, but we do get many locks brought in every day and we can keep 1 or 2 guys running full out in the shop without any problem. I cannot believe we are the exception, surely most well-run shops with a good location in a place that has a good population can do a booming business. Let me counter your claim. A customer wants to buy a safe, do you carry a selection of safes around in a mobile van to show them? No of course not, that is a place for a shop with a showroom. We have on display probably 300 different locks. Customers do like to shop in a real shop, believe it or not.

I know a couple of plumbers that have shops where they sell retail and wholesale but you are right, I can't recall more than a handful of electricians that have a shop, and only one roofer.

[cledry]

Question for all you 1 man mobile businesses. How do you answer your phone and manage to get your work done? Do you let it go to answering machine and return the call or do you answer each call?

We have 3 phone lines, a fax line and an IM line for internet calls. This is one reason why we have a shop. There is hardly a second in the day when something doesn't need answering. As a single man operation we couldn't possibly get any work done.

[alockguru]

we may both be locksmith But my business model is different than anyone running a shop. I focus mainly on emergency services like Auto keymakes & repairs. I do a lot of work for dealers at thhere lots and real estate agents at there properties. right now I am service-based and not sales based. I do not have a big market for sales. I have uniforms a new and very nicely labeled vehicle, and the top equipment for automotive and residential work I am just as professional as anyone running from a shop. I just provide a different service. do I want a shop in the future? maybe. we'll see.

[Evan]

Question for all you 1 man mobile businesses. How do you answer your phone and manage to get your work done? Do you let it go to answering machine and return the call or do you answer each call?

We have 3 phone lines, a fax line and an IM line for internet calls. This is one reason why we have a shop. There is hardly a second in the day when something doesn't need answering. As a single man operation we couldn't possibly get any work done.

They can't...

It isn't very professional for any tradesman, be it a locksmith, electrician, plumber, etc to be charging for their time on a job when they are constantly answering their phone to deal with other business... Not only does it take much longer to do a job when you keep interrupting it to deal with your phone, this is the sort of issue that an assistant working at your OFFICE, not at your house, should be dealing with...

You aren't going to be doing much real business on projects where architectural/engineering plans need to change hands and be signed for if you are a one man mobile operation... Projects like those are what keep the larger businesses in any trade in operation, not chasing around one time service calls hoping the customer will remember you and call you when they need that service again...

If you can not afford an office somewhere in a place other than your home, with adequate space to meet with potential clients and store your inventory while having someone there during business hours 100% of the time to answer your phones, open your mail, be able to accept legal process and to comply with any audits or compliance checks then you shouldn't be in business... A one man business takes your life away and ages you faster than need be...

~~ Evan