A thread for new locksmiths

[pickmonger]

Can some of the more experienced locksmiths please share advice and war stories on on avoiding and mitigating "unfortunate misunderstandings.

My training taught me locksmith skills but not a lot about staying out of trouble.

Common sense is a good start but there are things not so obvious to less less experienced.

Stuff you only learn at the School of Hard Knocks.

[stratmando]

Would be good to hear about Auto or Home Lockouts, Never had a Problem, have seen someone here who did, Never Asked for ID. All Appeared Straight Forward, Should I be asking For DL? Thumbprint? Credit Card.
So far, No Problems
Safes would also be a Good question, just because they are in the house, doesn't mean it is their Safe?
Not related, doesn't deserve a separate post, went to an Auto Lockout, 4 year old kid locked in with Remote in his hand, I told Parents I wanted for him to see me push the button on my remote, thinking he would mimic, They said don't even try. Maybe they would feel silly calling me if they saw they could have done, or they didn't have confidence with their kid? So I used tools, got them in.
I think he may have been able to do it?
Another Problem I can see arising is Damaging Lock linkages or Wiring inside Automotive Doors.
Hasn't happened to me. I do go through Passenger Door due to less wiring/electronics.

[nothumbs]

Can some of the more experienced locksmiths please share advice and war stories on on avoiding and mitigating "unfortunate misunderstandings.

My training taught me locksmith skills but not a lot about staying out of trouble.

Common sense is a good start but there are things not so obvious to less less experienced.

Stuff you only learn at the School of Hard Knocks.

Another way of saying good judgement comes from accumulated bad judgement.

[billdeserthills]

Years ago I made the mistake of letting a criminal into a condo. This person called and said she needed to get back into her home cause she was locked out. First warning sign was she had a deadbolt & had supposedly lost her key--I picked the lock and told her I would be glad to make a free key if she could find her door key & she couldn't find her key. At that point I told her I needed to put her drivers license on the bill as proof she was allowed to order the service.

6 months later the police call me--turns out a neighbor had witnessed me picking open the door and the loading of all the appliances in the condo onto a trailer. The neighbor even got the plate numbers--after threatening me, the policemen hung up, never to be heard from again

[billdeserthills]

Last week I had a suspicious conversation with someone who claimed to be a contractor who was locked out of a home. He told me all I had to do was reach inside the window, open the door & make a key for the lock. I told him someone would hafta meet me at the home to do the reaching through the window & unlocking the door & not to forget to bring a driver's license-- He sounded worried about providing me with his driver's license & said he'd call back later to make an appointment but I never heard back from him...

Years ago I had somebody call me, said he knew where there was a house with a safe in it that was full of money--he wanted to know if I would open the safe & split the cash with him? I said if I was doing all the work opening the safe, why should I give him any of the money? He got lost pretty quick

I get a lot of shady people calling me in the summertime

[demux]

It's crazy the lengths people will go to to try and get a quick and easy buck. I like your response on that last one though.

[Ghost58]

For safes, if I think there is something not right, I simply tell them that I don't have the right tools for that safe, and will return later. So far, I've only had to do that once on a safe that the "kids" said belonged to their late father. But they didn't have a will, any ID, or any idea of what might be in the safe.

[pickmonger]

I felt like crap

Today I was visiting a freind and his neighbor said he had water pouring from his ceiling. The lady above him was out and left a tap running.
Skill wise I could have opened her door and turned the tap off. Credit card shim .. very easy. But legally no way.

The super was out and the replacement took 20 minues to get there.

I could have prevented a lot of expensive damage but can we agree that would have been very foolish?

[billdeserthills]

For safes, if I think there is something not right, I simply tell them that I don't have the right tools for that safe, and will return later. So far, I've only had to do that once on a safe that the "kids" said belonged to their late father. But they didn't have a will, any ID, or any idea of what might be in the safe.

Generally, as long as nobody tells me that they don't own the house, safe, ect that I'm supposed to open, I just assume they have the permission needed to order the service I'm providing & take down their ID info onto my bill. That way, if/when the police call me and want to know why I opened that thing, I can tell them exactly who paid me to do the opening. That way I actually become that person's burglary tool & all wrongdoing is on them.

A few years ago an evil stepson decided he wanted to get into his stepdad's home in Scottsdale. I picked the door lock and let him open the door. Of course the burglar alarm went off & of course the kid didn't have the code. Wasted a few minutes watching him try to convince the alarm people that he was supposed to be there when they rang up the house telephone. Then I gave him my bill, got my pay & took off.

On my way out of the community, the Scottsdale Police were just coming up the drive. I stopped & gave them my biz card & explained that the stepson paid me to unlock the house for him. They said they understood perfectly & said they'd get in touch with me if they needed a witness to prosecute-- Never heard from them after that

[demux]

I felt like crap

Today I was visiting a freind and his neighbor said he had water pouring from his ceiling. The lady above him was out and left a tap running.
Skill wise I could have opened her door and turned the tap off. Credit card shim .. very easy. But legally no way.

The super was out and the replacement took 20 minues to get there.

I could have prevented a lot of expensive damage but can we agree that would have been very foolish?

Had I been in that situation, I would have done exactly what you did: call the proper authorities and wait. Even if the super (or replacement super) had told me over the phone I had permission to break in and shut off the tap, I would not have; I would only do so with written permission. You've heard the expression "No good deed goes unpunished", right? Sometimes, for you legally, the only real option is to stand back and watch the dumpster burn...