day in the life of a locksmith

[billdeserthills]

Had an interesting call, client told me she had accidentally locked her bathroom door. When I got there the lock was a Schlage F-10 series passage, so it didn't have a way to be locked. I tried to shim the latch but the door was too tight, I even got my stainless steel shim & still couldn't loid the latch. Depressed the retainer & removed the outer handle & the trim ring & drilled out the mounting screws, then I pulled the latch piece by piece through the 2 1/8" mounting holes--when I got the tongue out it became annoyingly evident that the door had been painted and then shut sometime last month & the paint was glueing the <censored> door shut.

The client was actually renting and I assured her that she wasn't at fault as she had nothing to do with the painting but she didn't seem to care about the money--wish I had more clients like her

Wow. What a hassle,

Gordon

It was a difficult job & I've seen lessor men fail
I do find that I can more easily remember the toughest jobs

[GWiens2001]

It is from the toughest jobs that we learn the most, and we remember those lessons best.

Gordon

[cledry]

A client came into my shop the other day & he brought his own key blanks & wanted me to cut his blanks. I usually tell these folks that I don't cut their blanks but I made an exception in his case & cut them--he came back a minute later to say that neither key worked, so I refunded his $5 & then he got upset that I didn't try to re-cut them--I just figured if they had been my blanks there would be some implied warranty involved and I would have played around with them but since he brought his own he had no warranty--

Anybody else cut blanks their clients carry in?

We actually charge more to cut a customer's key than ones we supply. We tell the customer in advance if the key doesn't work there will be no refund and offer to cut our own blank instead, with warranty. Same with installing customer supplied parts, there is no warranty on parts or labor, although we will hold our hands up if it is an issue with our workmanship and take care of it.

[billdeserthills]

Seems like a couple of people call me every week about having the transponder key or fob they bought online cut/programmed-- Makes me glad I don't offer those services

[Safecrackin Sammy]

Havent worked on cars since Nissans were known as Datsuns.... Fine by me!

[billdeserthills]

Havent worked on cars since Nissans were known as Datsuns.... Fine by me!

I drew the line at airbags & transponders

[cledry]

Cloning transponder keys is easy and good money. We usually do at least a couple a day at the shop, and on some days we have done 30. At $65 - $85 each of a simple transponder key it would be foolish to send that business to a competitor. A minimum of $130 a day for maybe 5 minutes work and $22 each for materials. There isn't much in the shop that pays as much per minute of work, if anything.

[cledry]

Seems like a couple of people call me every week about having the transponder key or fob they bought online cut/programmed-- Makes me glad I don't offer those services

I will cut them, but programming is up to them. Fobs we send to a mechanic down the street who charges $70 - $90 to program a fob or a key.

[billdeserthills]

Cloning transponder keys is easy and good money. We usually do at least a couple a day at the shop, and on some days we have done 30. At $65 - $85 each of a simple transponder key it would be foolish to send that business to a competitor. A minimum of $130 a day for maybe 5 minutes work and $22 each for materials. There isn't much in the shop that pays as much per minute of work, if anything.

You're in a busy shop that stays open all day-- I'm in a small town & my shop is open for 45 minutes, 4 days a week-- I send transponder customers down to Ace Hardware, I'm sure they get charged too much there

[Raymond]

Well one of my favorite fast food restaurants called me out on Friday. They could not get the safe open. It was an in the floor, round, older Major. The dial would barely turn. I tried dialing with the exact combo many times with no success. I was hoping I would not have to drill it as there was no serial number to get reference points from. Finally, after some tricky dialing adjustments it opened. A fly was stuck solid about three numbers off.

I took it out to the truck and removed the back cover. I had to pour the water out! I brought the manager out to see it and to find out if they were mopping it or what. She explained that after they mopped the floor with soap, they rinsed everything using a water hose. We had a good talk about care for her safe. The general manager will also be hearing about it and looking at a couple of pictures.

I cleaned it up, lubed it, and it now works very smoothly.

[GWiens2001]

Well one of my favorite fast food restaurants called me out on Friday. They could not get the safe open. It was an in the floor, round, older Major. The dial would barely turn. I tried dialing with the exact combo many times with no success. I was hoping I would not have to drill it as there was no serial number to get reference points from. Finally, after some tricky dialing adjustments it opened. A fly was stuck solid about three numbers off.

I took it out to the truck and removed the back cover. I had to pour the water out! I brought the manager out to see it and to find out if they were mopping it or what. She explained that after they mopped the floor with soap, they rinsed everything using a water hose. We had a good talk about care for her safe. The general manager will also be hearing about it and looking at a couple of pictures.

I cleaned it up, lubed it, and it now works very smoothly.

I wonder what the contents of the safe looked like.

Gordon

[billdeserthills]

Well one of my favorite fast food restaurants called me out on Friday. They could not get the safe open. It was an in the floor, round, older Major. The dial would barely turn. I tried dialing with the exact combo many times with no success. I was hoping I would not have to drill it as there was no serial number to get reference points from. Finally, after some tricky dialing adjustments it opened. A fly was stuck solid about three numbers off.

I took it out to the truck and removed the back cover. I had to pour the water out! I brought the manager out to see it and to find out if they were mopping it or what. She explained that after they mopped the floor with soap, they rinsed everything using a water hose. We had a good talk about care for her safe. The general manager will also be hearing about it and looking at a couple of pictures.

I cleaned it up, lubed it, and it now works very smoothly.

A few years ago I got a call fro the local Dairy Queen with the same problem but the dial would no longer turn on an older Amsec round lift-out door. I wound up drilling the 3 locking bolts, took hours and was a real mess. I sold them a used round door with medeco key, instead of the dial, along with a new plastic w/ o'ring top to keep the water out

[Raymond]

"I wonder what the contents of the safe looked like."

Apparently they were used to the water as everything inside the safe was sealed in zip-lock bags.