Probably the worst day .... ever!

[pinky]

ah but there is always reasonable suspicion, though must be justified, or a good old fashioned plant.

[jason]

Add another to the worst day - I got locked in today. Visited a property went to leave and the uPVC door wouldn't open - I was with a colleague who said "thank God - you're a locksmith".

It was at this point I advised him that my tools were in my car!

I thought about opening the front window and climbing out - but that was "burglar proofed". Ended up phoning another colleague, posting my car keys out the letterbox and getting him to post my tools back through.

Why does this only happen to me?!?

[toomush2drink]

Next time remove the internal beading from the door and take out the panel or glass then you wont need to phone a friend as chris tarrant would say.

[Romstar]

Always carry a pocket tool. And I don't mean the one you came equipped with either.

A leatherman is a good choice.

Romstar

[raimundo]

I always have a pick set on me but mine are small and easily carried. If you got locked in by a spring latch that closed behind you, I have an answer to that also. It is a flat piece of metal that you can carry easily in your wallet, Its made by using a tin shears to cut it out of the top of a cat food can. Or any can lid. It looks generally cross shaped, with a long dimension and a shorter broader cross dimension. I use my thumb crossed my index finger for a template to make one. When you are coming and going a lot from a door with a closer and snap latch on it, bend the long ends and push them into the strike plate hole in the door frame. the bolt will ride across the hole on the shorter part that you didn't bend. You can also bend the long ends with a hook back bend to grip the hole in a hollow aluminum door. The nice thing about these is that they are so small and flat that its no problem to carry one in the wallet. And the door will close all the way, with the strike hole capped off. anyone passing by will not see an obviously propped open door like they will if you put a brick or newspaper in the door. also, done well, you can come and go and the door will open and close many times, without your strikeplate cap fallling out. Nixons watergate burglars from Cia used duct tape put on crossways so that it shows on both sides of the door. fools.

[Pickey]

I carry something exactly similar in my wallet. Its a small square of sheet metal. I always have a multi function knife on me so i can cut the metal with the scissors.

[jason]

Little bit of an update regarding that crappy house..

Got told by my colleague that the owner turned up, realised the locks had been changed and called a "discount" locksmith. Bloke turned up and caused over £300 worth of damage to the front door alone (according to the owner) and he was going to charge us for this guy!

He then phoned up my colleague to say that he was in his house and what was she gonna do about it now - I'd loved to have seen his face when she informed him that the cost of my time, plus locks, plus 30% administration had been set against his property as a land charge.

For those in the US a "land charge" is something that local authorities (I think the equivalent is "states") and have registered against a property (house or land) so that when it is sold the money owed (plus interest and administration) goes straight to the local authority with the remainder going to the owner of the property.

Hehehehe - revenge is best served cold!

Happy New Year to all on the forum

[mattc]

I found this online last night. At least your bad day wasn't covered on the news:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/mid/3145074.stm

Sincerest apologies if you're a member!

[Romstar]

I think that is without a doubt one of the best things I have read in ages.

I truely hope he was telling the truth about the lock being bad, but somehow......

Romstar

[EvoRed]

Yes - was called out after the owners of the flat had experienced problems in opening the door's lock - and then had further problems with the lock after he'd changed it... Hmmm... I wonder what type of lock it was...

Hugely embarrassing though I'm sure!

[Peaky]

A bad workman allways blames his tools,

Oh yea, and

[toomush2drink]

I wonder if dynolock will now advertise "as seen on tv"?

[another aussie]

Man that is soooo bad you want to feel sorry for the guy but laugh at him at the same time.

[Floater]

Here`s my bad day.

It`s my last warrant of the day and I`m ready for home, then this happend.

There were shutters on all the doors but I get lucky and down the side of the building is one with no locks on Behind this is a door fitted with a pro fit, so it`s out with the pick and 5 mins later were in...WRONG!
Inside is another door and it`s bolted from the inside, oh well let`s try the front door.
The shutters went up and I find 2 cheap looking euro`s staring back me, the bottom one went in seconds so things were looking good...euro number 2 however had other ideas. Over the next 10 mins I tried, pick gun, raking, pin picking I even tried swearing at it.
In the end I admit defeat and reach for Mr drill (sorry for the bad language Pinky)
As I turn to put the drill down I notice a man standing behind me waving a bunch of keys
Thankfully the guy was more worried about being cut off than me drilling his lock and the only thing damaged (apart from his lock) was my pride.

[pinky]

we have all been there, and anyone who doesnt experience this every year is a liar, on a warrant especially with the time constraints these days we can all be forgiven for using the ( URGH ) drill, especialy on the odd git euro cylinder.

how can your pride be dented when picking a bs 5 lever, but not 1 of the 5 locks tackled, id say a job well done and as owner there no key return.

i would say its one of those things, i also know that you didnt charge for the lock too, i think your agent and the owner should be pleased that a decent honest locksmith was on this job, they could have had a cowboy who drilled the lot and changed and charged the lot, at least you did a good all round job, i think well done mate.