would you work for reactfast?

[pinky]

well the can of worms is well and truly open, and wide open, i agree without uniteing locksmiths all over the country to put pressure on yp, it wont happen, i did moan to the rep , who said that nationals get no preferential treatment , nor do they get better placeings for a cost, a fib me thinks.

its impossible to take this nationaly without everyone in an area trying 1st to get the lockeys on side in their area, and have 1 group meeting with yp, it may go no where, but it would be a start , and who knows.

i agree , legislation, licences ( not bought licences, but earned through background checks and skills testing) and registration, even local councils agreeing maximum charges with the local lockeys, but until this happens, then nothing will change.

maybe its time to talk to whatchdog and rogue traders, instigate a big wake up call for government and mla.

ive mentioned in a previous post about all 101 uk lockeys getting together and lobbying No 10, a visual and loud protest, but it seems no one wants to play, or even come up with ideas about how to drag our industry back into the locksmiths hands.

why is it that so many like to talk about it, but dont want to get stuck in to trying to effect change, I will contact my friend in the BBC to see what can be aired and what would be reportable from their point of view.

As to reactfast and the nationals, we all know reactfast look in here, we also no that many on 101 work for them, its not surpriseing that people dont want to speak out, they fear losing what meagre crust they are given.

ideas gents , support and lets do something, however small lets set a precedent and unite what few locksmiths we can into doing something, we may fail , but we would be heard and at least we can say we tried.

[dr feelgood]

i understand that we all have to make a living, and sometimes making a stand can be hard especially if you are skint, have a wife, kids , mortgage etc, etc, priciples wont keep the bank happy and feed the family, i am not knocking the man in this position who has to take on this work, i am having a dig at the organisations who have put him there and let it happen. i have tried to improve my locksmithing abilities over the years, so as to keep ahead of my competitors (mainly the nationals), thinking that they will not have the skills to compete with me, but the minute another locksmith with good abilities does a job for them they have the skills without having to lift a finger, only lifting the reciever.
the doc

[nhughz]

I hope you guys can make something work. I'm in a similar position only trying to make a stand against an employer rather than a competitor. Only about 5% of the workforce have taken a stand despite many times this figure agreeing with the cause, the rest simply cannot or will not risk intimidation and having there income limited. And similarly to your orginisations our union offers little help but is still happy to take your money and increase fees year on year for the pleasure.

[EvoRed]

Evo going back to the card leaving issue.I always think that could work out against you, its only got to get back to someone at rf (and these things always do) and you dont get ANY more work from them.

It's all hypothetical Andy! Anyway, if I did leave my card, and RF found out and stopped giving work to me...bothered? Not too much.

For information, from the latest RF newsletter, the top earning Lockie did 106 jobs in 6 weeks and earned over £16k for RF, so you can roughly calculate his share...

[capt.dunc]

i believe that we need to put some of our advertising money into educating the public, if people know that a locksmith can do nde and have an idea what a fair price might be for a domestic entry, then more cowboys and over chargers will be reported to the trading standards. perhaps this should start at local level, with locksmiths in an area speaking to each other and trying to fight the multi nationals in their city. i was planning on moving to dundee soon, a city where no multi had a foot in the door, and in the last few months someone there has signed up with rf. but i also found a publication which had an article in about home security, this was aimed at over fiftys, a key group for advertising bad practices to. they are more likely to question price, raise complaints and advise their sons and daughters on what they should do/ should have done.

[pinky]

we need to develop a stratergy, all agree it , and all put it into practice at the same time, only as a group would we even dent them.

lets get ideas rolling and start something

[Rockford]

We could start by identifying who's working particular areas, and get people speaking to each other on pricing etc. Once we know this at a local level, then Regional/National information can be collated. People would need to be open/honest though with the information - pointless saying "yes I'm up for it", and then refusing to speak to other Lockies (your competition) in your area.

Rockford.....

[acl]

Shaun, i was taking the rise mate honest!I know your situation and ill not knock you for for doing what your doing as already mentioned everybodys got to make a livinG. Having said that i think Rockford and Pinky are on to something here,we all know guys who are pi**ed off with the current state of affairs and arent fortunate enough to have a forum like this to air their views so its up to us to speak to other lockies and get their support.This could really go somewhere if we all get behind it and rope others in too.
Andy

[Rockford]

If we can get it working (ie people talking) at a local level, maybe a way forward would be for lockies in a particular advertising area to pool resources and place a decent sized advert in YP TL etc. This needs a little thought on how best to organise this - each lockie has their individual contact number/details, and it's a lottery who gets the work. Numbers by village/town/city, and these feed through to a single number answered on a rotation basis by the lockies, who then feed the work out. Don't particularly want to get to a "call centre" type operation, as people prefer to talk to people, and not trained chimps. I'm sure people would feel more confident talking to someone with an understanding of their problem, and who could provide advice/guidance on suitable solutions.

As the local lockies would be talking and working together, this would provide the ability to pass work on if too busy, or not available (sickness/holiday etc.). Working together would also enable larger jobs to be tackled that may have been turned down due to lack of resources or time.

Any advert would need to have a common format across all areas, say the same things, and make the same promises (we need a name !). Emphasis must be that we are a large group, and with standards and ethics that tear strips of the competition (ie the nationals). Also, being a large group, we have a pool of knowledge that is probably unequaled in the UK (outside of the MLA). If an individual hits a problem, it shouldn't be too long before a solution is found (as happens now - and it works very well).

Anyhow, enough waffling - just thought I'd write down a few thoughts that came to me while driving back tonight. Comments welcome.

Rockford.....

[79commando]

One more national just about to rear it's ugly head; Timpsons the shoe/key people. Had one of them try to sign me up recently as their head office is looking at getting into the local locksmith area. Looks like even the nationals need to look out for their competition. With a bit of luck they will spend millions on advertisements and find there is not enough work out there to pay for it. Wouldn't it be a bummer if just after they spent their money on the adds the local locksmiths dropped their cover. I reckon it would take about a month before they felt the pinch big style.

[79commando]

One more national just about to rear it's ugly head; Timpsons the shoe/key people. Had one of them try to sign me up recently as their head office is looking at getting into the local locksmith area. Looks like even the nationals need to look out for their competition. With a bit of luck they will spend millions on advertisements and find there is not enough work out their to pay for it. Wouldn't it be a bummer if just after they spent their money on the adds the local locksmiths dropped their cover. I reckon it would take about a month before they felt the pinch big style.

Remember your mistakes so that you recognise them the next time you make them.

[quicklocks]

bloody hell ive stirred up a bit of a hornets nest here?
good int it i like a good debate

[toomush2drink]

Well i didntthink timspsons would do it. I went into one recently as i was passing by to drop off a card and got a very rude reception from the guy who said "we have our own locksmiths" I asked him for their number so i could pass on work i couldnt cover (blagging it) to them, at that point it was quite obvious he was lying so i took it with a pinch or salt. No doubt if its anything like their shoerepair set up, the staff will be on peanuts.

[acl]

New Thomsons book out here today,We managed page 3 1st page Phoenix and some joker called Keytek who actually has a picture in the ad showing him drilling a rim cylinder! 2 reactfst no Absolute Emergencies
which probably means theyll have 6 or 7 inYP and a few 2 day course cowboys leaving the decent lads back on pages 4 and 5.Cant wait for the yellow pages im going to be 1st this year i reckon and next year i wont have to bother as ill spend the year in St Tropez
Andy

[EvoRed]

Andy, I think you'll find Keytek are AE as they're in our YP with the Poole H/O!

How does Phoenix get on page 1? Being on about the last page of my YP (Thomson and BT book currently being distributed too but haven't seen them yet), it is annoying. I'm sure the directories get a bung from these companies at the front.