Locksmithing Blog

One of the perils of popping away for a few days is that you have to close the office (to some degree) and, incredibly, I got a call during the approximately 30 seconds I was in mobile area contact! Unfortunately, the call dropped when I answered the phone. D’oh! Still, being over 100 miles away it is unlikely that I could have helped much.

The pervasive nature of IT and telecoms was brought home to me a few months ago, when I was at a locksmithing meet-up in Sneek, in The Netherlands. I walked up the hostel stairs, and the phone rang, with a job. I arranged to deal with this at 6pm the following day (Monday), and hung up. Pretty amazing when you stop and think about it, as the customer had simply called the regular number, and the computer systems had directed the call through to me.

All good fun. Just like New Years.

I’m obviously far too nice. Christmas eve, 3am. Yes, the phone goes, yes, I go let them in. And charged them £60. I must be mad!

I’m obviously far too nice. I got there, and the couple had come back from a party in a taxi. No jackets, so when I got there 30 minutes after the call came in, she was nearly crying with the cold, poor lass. I gave her my jacket. He at least had long sleeves, but he was also frozen.

Fortunately, the hundreds of hours I spend fiddling with locks pays off in a lot of situations like this, and I got them in by hand picking in under 3 minutes. They were very thankful, and offered me a drink, which I declined, since it was now ten past 3, and I had been asleep in a nice warm bed. The rate for this job? Good question. Late night calls are always more expensive, and it was the morning of Christmas Eve, a Sunday to boot. But the job only took 3 minutes of my time. I was planning to charge £80, but because it was a nice quick one, I didn’t feel I could. Is that weird?

Has anyone else got any stories of Christmas/holiday charging?

This is a blog to tell the (slightly changed and anonymised) stories that this locksmith sees. I’m wondering what the public reaction will be, and I await comments with interest.

I’ve written a few bits already, I’ll be adding them shortly. Today’s story, coming on the very verge of Christmas, is very sad, and somewhat indicative of the times. And it is one of the few jobs that I hate.

A lovely little old lady, burgled while she slept. The thief climbed in through a window that had been left ajar, and helped himself* to the presents. Obviously she was very upset, so I changed the front door lock, since a key was missing. I also taught her how to deadlock the nightlatch, and fitted alarm units to help ensure that no more sneak-thievery could occur.

*Statistically, most burglars are males and young.

Reports are coming in that some of the national “locksmith” services have not only upped their prices to the £160 mark, but that the quoted price is *only for labour* and the “locksmith” sent to open your door will, incredibly, *break down your door by force* and then *charge you* for repairing the damage! (And often sting you for the VAT on top!)Please! Always check exactly what you are buying for your money. We charge between £50 & £90 all inclusive for anything but the most complex jobs, and that usually includes the hardware. A standard door with a high security deadlock and Yale-style cylinder, or a multipoint door, is *not* normally a complex job. If you are told that it will cost extra, call someone else. (Us!)

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Reports are coming in that some of the national “locksmith” services have not only upped their prices to the £160 mark, but that the quoted price is *only for labour* and the “locksmith” sent to open your door will, incredibly, *break down your door by force* and then *charge you* for repairing the damage!Please! Always check exactly what you are buying for your money. We charge between £50 & £90 all inclusive for anything but the most complex jobs, and that usually includes the hardware. A standard door with a high security deadlock and Yale-style cylinder, or a multipoint door, is *not* normally a complex job. If you are told that it will cost extra, call someone else. (Us!)