Firstly, sorry for the lack of posts lately. Things have been pretty hectic.

There has been a lot of talk lately on the locksmith forums that I read regarding the look and feel of business websites.

Generally locksmiths spend a load of money on a professionally built website with all the flashy buttons and Wordpress themes, however it appears that these sites are failing to convert viewers to callers very well due to the fact  they are very similar in design to websites ued by larger national locksmith comapnies.

A lot of locksmiths have been emailing me for advice (since I do a bit of SEO for quite a few locksmiths now) and have been asking for ideas on how to make their websites look more friendly and less corporate.

I have always stood by the no frills approach, keeping it simply to the point with all relevant information highlighted accordingly.

As a working locksmith myself i know that 75% of my new leads are now via mobile search. So all the information your customer needs should be within that top half page of your index page.

Here are some MUST haves for your landing page:

- A bold clickable phone number, this is what your mobile user is looking for, if it is not clear and clickable they may not care to search your page for it and look elsewhere. Listing multiple redirect landlines is a definite no!

-A profile picture of you and possibly your van. So many sites using the pretty lady with headset on or a polished 'engineer' with a bag of new tools. This reaks of national call center or expensive large locksmith firm, and a good proportion of potential customers will steer clear.

-Publish your name and real address. Being on first name terms with your tradesman installs a massive amount of confidence. Most of my customers now call and ask for me by name and when I answer reassures them they have made the right choice.

Over the last few months I have been struggling with curtain picks that are well worn, completely broken or just not up to the job and was reluctant to throw money at more curtrain picks without doing some homework beforehand.

The binding edge of all my RPCP's tools finally bent beyond repair. To be honest I wasn't the biggest fan of the design as it did not allow much control upon releasing tension on the levers, so more often than not I would reset the entire pack rather than the last few binding levers. I also found the lollypop wire holders would unscrew themselves mid-picking if not bollocked up super tight.



Last week I was lucky enough to be offered a set of LTC curtain picks by Jay at Island Locks who is now manufacturing the unique design born from the frustration of teaching with existing curtain picks that just weren't good enough to send his students away with.

The LTC curtain wheel picks feature three noteworthy improvements over existing lock picks that are currently on the market.



The first being a lever height indicator that screws directly into the pick wire handles. Once aligned with the pick wire end it can be used to read the lever bellies of locks prior to picking locks such as the ERA viscount, invincible and vectis, allowing a rough decoding of the levers. Identifying high and low lift levers correctly is important with these particular locks and the indicator eliminates the need for guess work.

Secondly, the T bar end towards the tip has all been machined flat so you may twist and dig under levers without your wires being trapped in the central guide. I have found similar T shaped curtain picks to be a little restricting in the past and do not allow you to perform that spiraling manoeuvre that frees a stuck pickwire due to a tightly guided end section. There is plenty of room for all angles with the LTC picks!

Thirdly, my personal favourite design feature; the removable pin piece.
The tip of the pick allows removal of the contact pin that catches the curtain. This allows for modifications and different end pieces to be used for different locks. If you are a bit clumsy like myself you might like to use a longer pin so you do not push all the way through the lock. although a notch will need to be machined from your pin so you can reach the back lever on a right mounted lock.
Note that the default pin is of minimal height to prevent excessive force stretching the hole it is pressed into. A longer pin will be more likely to widen the hole over time.

So after a few hours testing it seems an impressive kit with some nice features that are both aesthetically pleasing and work well.

The LTC curtain pick is available either directly via Jay or through
Duffells here: LTC Lock Picks

The UK's first decent oval profile antisnap lock has been released, the Brisant D oval cylinder!

Like many other locksmiths I have had requests to install anti-snap products in apartments that use oval style lock cases and have never had a retrofit product that would meet their expectations. I know the guys over at Legend Locksmiths in Barnet have been crying out for a product like this.

The new anti snap oval cylinder from Brisant incorporates all the same features as their standard antisnap range apart from the strengthened center bar. If you have ever tried snapping an oval you will know it is much stronger than a stadard euro due to the extra material in the center, so I can't see this being a real issue.

The lock, a 6 pin dimple cylinder incorporates three antidrill pins in the front section of the cylinder as well as two offset in the rear portion of the lock. Sacrificial sections on both sides ensure amatuer snapping atacks fail leaving the door both secure and in working order.

I will now be having a play to see how these oval antisnap locks pick.

This is just a quick post really to let you know about a small project I have started alongside my locksmith directory. I have decided to create a similar style directory for door repair work, which lets face it now accounts for a considerable portion of modern day locksmithing.

The door repairs directory for the meantime will be run alongside my own door repairs website until enough entries are collected for it to work as a stand alone directory. As with the previos locksmith directory, no nationals will ever be listed ensuring the customer will only ever find good local tradesmen.

The site should be fully built within the next week and I will begin tuning it to rank well.

http://www.doors-repaired.co.uk

I decided six months ago to test one of these trade review & vetting websites that you see advertised on daytime television in between home renovation and rogue trader type programmes.

I had noticed a few other locksmiths using them and it appeared a good format in which to publish and share genuine feedback from your locksmith customers.

To join you need to jump through all the hoops of the vetting proceedure and meet with a local representative from the review company who checks you are legitamate. Once you have provided a few references from old locksmith jobs you a pretty much live and online with your own  reviews webpage on their site.

It is simply a case of handing out your feedback forms at every job and convincing the customer to send one off or complete an online survey about your locksmith work to get it published online.

My initial thoughts were that this was an excellent platform upon which to advertise that I am a genuine local locksmith business, trustworthy and proud to share all my feedback with the world. I decided to give it a little longer before taking to my blog and writing a glowing review of this review service... and then we spotted something.

It appears that national advertisers had somehow jumped through all the same vetting proceedures and were also listed around the country. I thought this was unusual as the national locksmith company in question is notorious for overcharging and using freshly trained sub contractors to complete the work. Their reviews refelct this. The company name has changed three times since I have been trading, most likely to disassociate itself from the hundreds of negative reviews across the internet.

Were all these sub contractors individually vetted like us sole traders?
Did there qualifications displayed on the reviews website apply to each and every subby they sent out? Not a chance!

What worries me the most is that despite bad reviews, a notorious history of ripping off customers and failure to prove that each and every one of their sub contractors is qualified and insured, that these cowboys had managed to get prime placement on a reviews site who's moto is to Avoid Rogue Traders. I cannot help but think a little extra money has exchanged hands in order for the blind eye to be turned.

Should I be bothered? I mean the reviews site works for me ok and I do get some locksmith work from it. Unfortunately for me I have a conscience. I meet people that have had their last pennies taken from them by rogue companies each and every week. 'Locksmiths' showing up and ripping off the elderly and vulnerable, leaving them with a door in worse condition than before they started and fleeing with an extortionate call out fee when things go wrong, intimidating customers into coughing up ludicrous sums of money for the simplest of work.... It really is beggars belief that there are such tradesmen being recommended by authority review sites that are simply driven by the money.

This circumvention of vetting proceedures is rife on all review websites.
Any reviews platform where the company is paying to be there gives them the power to remove negative reviews, make false claims and continue ripping off customers that believe they are using respectable local locksmiths.

As a consumer you need to be aware of this fact and understand how these review websites work before inviting anyone into your home.
A good guide on spotting the difference between a genuine local trader and a national firm can be found by clicking the link: Spotting rogue locksmiths or on one of our old posts here

I have already posted this question on a couple of locksmith forums but have yet to find any detailed information on this particular lock.

I was recently changing some locks for an old lady that used to work for Legge back in the 70's with her father, a locksmith in Lichfield, who upon completion presented me with a box of new old stock locks she had stuffed in an old cupboard.

Amongst the old cabinet locks and rim cylinders was an unusual looking euro lockcase and cylinder.

As you can see in the image (which is actually upside down) it appears to be an early style euro cylinder design, however the central cam is split into two for each side of the cylinder, since no clutch mechanism is present. The cam has three gear like lobes that throw the bolt.

The iternals of the lockcase are all brass and plastic besides the latch spring which leads me to believe this lock may have been designed to withstand  the elements longer than your bog standard lock, however the only evidence I have to back up this idea is an image I found via a boating forum about maintaining the matching handles which are described as 'nearly impossible to find'.

Reading the responses I have had on the forums from local locksmiths, it seems these locks have popped up now and again around the country, originally fitted for a variety of appliations. Here is a post on another locksmiths blog with some more pictures of the locks fitted in the unusual upside down way.

http://www.owllocksmithsandsecurity.co.uk/split-cam-euro-st-austell/

I would be interested to hear from anyone that knows the true purpose of this design.

I have been meaning to create a post full of some of the lock pictures I have taken over the years but have always found that they get stolen and re-used by other webmasters and re-sellers.

It always annoyed me that people would just stop by to copy and paste all my hard work taking locksmith images to pass off as their own for clients websites. I used to get in touch and have a moan, however I wouldn't have enough time in the day if I were to complain about everyone that had stolen content from my blogs, I see it absolutely everywhere but on the brightside they had to pay by blog a visit in the first place to find it, which is all good exposure.

So instead, I am going to post some here for everyone to use as they wish. I figure a well optimised resource such as locksmith photos can only encourage more visitors to my blog.

So here you go; some (of many) lock photo's to choose from.

Copy and paste them, hotlink to them, etc, etc.... Enjoy :-\

National locksmith firms aren't anything new. However the last few years has seen a rise in scam locksmith companies that operate nationwide. I say scam because it is actually questionable whether they are even locksmiths at all.

Working as a locksmith in wolverhampton I am getting increasing numbers of calls from concerned customers that have called these 'locksmiths' out to have been quoted astronomical fees to repair their door, typically in the region of £200-300 higher than a genuine local locksmith would charge.

The same names keep cropping up, and as much as I would love to stick my neck out and name them I will have to refrain from doing so for obvious reasons. What I do advise any customer that has been swindled by these 'locksmiths' is to get in touch with trading standards and let them know! If nobody reports their bad experiences then nothing will ever be investigated. Do not bother with review sites as more often than not, these locksmith companies can easilly get a bad review removed.

So how does the locksmith scam work?

Firstly you are going to be mislead by their advert claiming they are local when in fact they are being deployed from miles away. This often leaves you waiting for ages for anyone to arrive. I find a lot of victims repeatedly call the call center to be told 'just around the corner'. By the time you are fed up of hanging around and attempt to cancel you will be threatened with a call out fee and if you were daft enough to hand over any card details over the phone in advance then you are in trouble.

The locksmiths that do show up have always been described to me as foreign, rough looking and intimidating.

Now come the excuses as to why they can't fix the door. Whether it be lack of parts, obsolete parts, unusual locks.... and will hit you with the huge repair costs, repairs which are rarely neccessary.

A good percentage of customers will at this ppint tell the locksmith that it's too expensive and to forget it, however they are then pressured to hand over money for a call out fee, some of which have been pricier than I would have charged to complete the whole job.

One lady in particular that called me afterwards and was quite distressed, described that after arguing with the locksmith and finally getting him to leave was worried that he now knew that her door would not lock and was unable to leave the house. I immediately went over to sort this out for her.

The more vulnerable customers that are trusting enough to allow the expensive repairs to take place are usually none the wiser and I regularly have family members calling asking for advice when their elderly parents have been conned into paying hundreds more than needed.

Every time I hear another story it makes me sick to the stomache knowing that someone out there is getting rich by misleading and ripping off innocent people in need of help.

I urge anyone seeking a locksmith to ensure that they are getting a genuine local locksmith and not via some call center operation sending out untrained rogues to intimidate people into paying for a substandrad service.

Here is a quick checklist of things that you should consider when calling a locksmith:

> Are they listed in multiple cities?

Local locksmiths will generally cover areas within a 20 mile radius, so anyone advertising in cities all over the UK is going to be part of a national franchise or call center scheme. This does not mean they are scammers but does usually mean you will be paying VAT and call out fees for their service.

> Do they know the area?

Often when giving directions it is easy to establish whether the locksmith on the end of the phone understands the landmarks and roads you are describing. If in any doubt ask them outright if they are based where they say they are. Often false locations are used to give the impression they are locally based.

> Payment upfront?

Are they requesting payment upfront? It is rare for any decent tradesman to be asking for upfront payment with the exception of late night call outs and large commercial jobs. 

> Clear quotations?

How clear is the quotation you have been given over the phone? Does it include VAT and what circumstances is a 'no call out fee' relevant. Often scammers will be very vague and in some cases request an address before they even quote.

> Where did you find the number?

Google adwords is usually monopolised by large companies operating nationwide that can afford to maintain expensive advertising. Small local locksmiths are rarely well placed in competitve ad space so it may be worth while trying some of the smaller adverts or those at the bottom of the page. Same rules apply for paper directories which are rife with national companies listing multiple adverts in disguise.

Conclusion

If in any doubt whatsoever, I urge you to reconsider and take the time to grab several more quotations or even phone around friends for recommendations before making a decision.

This is the very reason it is important to support any local traders regardless of the profession to ensure that larger companies and scammers do not get a foor in the door.

Spread the word and share the article where you can.

I have been experimenting lately with review websites and applications to start publishing customer testimonials on my locksmith websites. Its all going well at the minute, however my main concern is running into rogue customers that find your details through these websites and then can effectively hold you to ransom.

Other platforms such as Checkatrade require you to hand out feedback cards before work commences. The problem with this is if you should fail to jump through all the hoops, however unreasonable, set out by your customer you could be getting a poor review.

Spotting a rogue customer isn't always straightforward and the nicest of folk can turn on you should you refuse to haggle on price. I don't mind a bit of haggling but what I do mind is those that insist on haggling after the agreed work has already been completed and breaking the verbal agreement you had.

It goes without saying that anyone that calls a locksmith and straight out states they want it 'cheap' is going to be bother, so you need to choose carefully whether to accept this kind of customer or tell them to jog on. We offer a specialist service as locksmiths and nobody wants to earn the reputation of the cheap guy. Anyone can work all day for peanuts but you certainly can't run a business that way.

Non payers are another rogue that you need to be aware of. I find working as a locksmith the usual suspects that regularly give me grief are small time estate agents and letting firms that like to play middleman. However if they ar struggling to get their customer to pay they usually withold your payment too. Anyone that fails to pay regularly should be refused in the future as are more of a liability than a worthwhile customer. You can take as look at my debt collection guide for tips on dealing with non paying customers.

In the past I have run into my fair share of fraudsters and untrustworthy characters. It isn't always easy to identify them from a mere phonecall and somtimes you do not realise who you are dealing with until you are in front of them. There is always an element of risk when dealing with the public and you will undoubtedly run into the odd nutter now and again.

To protect ourselves when dealing with unsavoury characters it is always wise to check out ID and getting signatures to authorise work, some locksmiths go as far as requesting a photo of the customer for their records. Some of my past run ins as an emergency locksmith include violent non payers, a squatter that conned me into opening a property for her, evicted tennants gaining illegal access back into the property and even a guy posing as a bailiff.

Some would say this is all part and parcel of the locksmith trade but we can certainly do our utmost to avoid bumping into rogue customers that can cause unessessary stress or endanger us and our reputations.

I see so many lockmiths with stagnant Facebook and Twitter accounts, rarely updated and with a handfull of followers. Truth be told these social media pages may as well not exist if they aren't used to their full potential.

According to a recent study:

"Social Media has overtaken porn as the No. 1 activity on the web"

Joking aside, sites such as facebook are in fact the ultimate networking tool and one of the most important tools for a locksmith or in fact any other business that hopes to advertise successfully.

So here are a few tips to make sure your pages are a success and attract the right audience.

1/ Complete ALL Contact Information

Your contact details are the most important information on your social media pages. Make sure to fill in a business name, genuine location, phone numbers and email addresses. It's an obvious one but so many don't even bother!?

2/ Follow Local Businesses

The first people you should reach out to are local businesses and other tradesmen in the areas you operate. Following, liking and engaging yourself in their posts will undoubtedly burn your company name in to the subconscious of anyone reading.

3/ Friends & Family

A good starting point to obtain new followers is to get your friends and family onboard. The more local people linked with your social media pages, the more it will be automatically suggested to similar users and freinds of friends. Think of it as digital word of mouth advertising.

4/ Similar Trade Professionals & Businesses

Alongside local businesses you should also try networking with other professional locksmiths and companies relevant to the trade such as manufacturers. This will ensure you are kept up to date with latest news and products that you may want to comment on or discuss with other like minded locksmiths. Making an effort to get involved with any campaigns and discussionswill undoubtedly boost your profile.

5/ Regular & Relevant Posts

It is important to provide regular content for your followers to keep them informed and entertained at the same time. Posts must be relevant to your page, post about new security locks you have in stock, details of interesting locksmith work you have completed, etc, etc. A post about your cats birthday, car breaking down or a picture of your meal out with the wife will not cut it, save that for your personal pages.

Follow those five simple steps and I guarantee you will begin to grow your audience and eventually pull in some locksmith work both directly and indirectly as a result of your efforts.

I know it may seem like hard work in the beginning, particularly for the oldschool and less computer savvy, but you only get out what you put in.

Rick - Wolverhampton Locksmiths

Mood:  irritated

As genuine local locksmith businesses we have all been fighting to hold our heads above the water whilst countless national locksmith firms try their luck at nationwide domination, polluting the advertsing space with multiple large adverts, pricing out smaller companies on Google Adwords and generally doing everything possible to kill us off or get us to join them.

It goes without saying that any locksmith moving to the darkside and subbing regularly is dicing with death and will inevitably be struck off and replaced by more permanent in house lockmiths that are prepared to work contracted hours for a normal wage as soon as the work in the area becomes regular.

I have recently noticed that the national locksmith companies advertsing in my area are becoming more desperate and are employing increasingly aggressive and underhand tactics to grab hold of the thinning work.
It is now common to talk to customers that felt pressured and intimidated into agreeing work by call center style operations that requested a load of personal information before a quote was issued. One woman i worked for recently went as far as saying she felt threatened after revealing to an arrogant man, both her home address and that her door would no longer lock.

So what can we do to ensure these crooks do not damage the reputation of our trade?

The first thing I encourage any genuine local business to do is advertise clearly at the top of all your web pages that you are a genuine local business, put your address and your name! This instantly puts you on first name terms with your potential client and makes the whole affair seem less formal than the tosspot at the call center interrogating the customer.

Use your websites to inform your customers about the problems we are facing with these national locksmith companies. Linking to relevant information and articles on the subject allows them to investigate themselves and will hopefully make them think carefully about who they agree to let into their homes.

Here are a few good articles you may want to link to although taking the time to write one yourselves will achieve greater results.

http://www.locksmith-directory.org.uk/nationals-article.html

http://www.the-locksmith-world.co.uk/dont-work-national-locksmiths/

http://arolockkey.com/aro-lock-and-key-how-to-prevent-locksmith-scams.html

Educating our potential customers is our greatest weapon in the war against the national locksmith plague.
They cannot compete with our prices and they cannot rely on a good reputation to get by.
We can never compete with their massive advertising budgets but we can certainly wave a red flag for everyone else to see.

The British Standard Brisant Cylinder

To be honest, Brisant locks aren't exactly new news. They have been around long enough now for anyone in the locksmith trade to have heard about them. Rick at Cannock Door Repairs has been raving about them ever since the company popped up.

I have been sitting on the fence waiting to see what others opinion were on the Brisant locks before putting my hand in my pocket and purchasing any. They recently advertised an offer I could no longer refuse on their all new singing an dancing Brisant BS rangeso I just had to get a batch ordered.

I knew to expect something special after reading several months worth of positive feedback on the Brisant range and upon opening the first box was not disappointed.

It is immediately aparent that this lock is designed to withstand a prolonged attack from even the most experienced burglar.
Unlike the majority of antisnap locks on the market, the Brisant BS has anti-drill pins beyond the sacrificial section to ensure the cylinder resists attack long after the snapping has been tried.

The Brisant cylinder features all the other security features that you would expect of a quality anti-snap product such as anti-drill pins, strengthened spine as well as a couple of trap pins, making for a formidable opponent.

The lock has been designed with the locksmith in mind, which is why this is quickly becoming the most popular product amongst locksmiths around the UK. The antisnap sections are not handed as with the Yale BS cylinders and comes in a dual brass/satin finish similar to the MulTLock for a universal colour match. It seems we no longer need a van full of locks for every application!



What I was most impressed with was Brisants reluctance to sell to the general public, a tactic which can damage the locksmiths ability to sell the product. ** The very reason a lot of professional locksmiths are unwilling to offer the Avocet ABS which is sold with very little discount to trade professionals. There is nothing worse than working for a customer that sits there quoting lock prices from Ebay whilst you work.

(** I have since learned that Brisant will actually deal with public orders and key cutting. There are also rebranded versions of the Brisant available on ebay)

The BS range carry a TS007 one star rating (unsure why they didn't meet the criteria for a three) but should be more than sufficient to satisfy any special insurance requirements for uPVC security.

Update Jan 2016

I feel I need to update this post to reflect a chnage in view on the Brisant range. I am hearing countless stories of locks failing due to an over fragile sacrifical section. I myself had a couple broken which I had put down to my own heavy handedness but it seems this is in fact a design flaw.

I am also concerned about the actually key control as it turns out anyone can ring up Brisant and order a key copy by supplying the code to them, no questions asked. This is not good enough for me personally to continue using them.

Raising Awareness Of National Locksmiths

Anyone that is a member of Island Locks Locksmith Forum has probaly already seen Jays huge banner at the top of the landing page.

This is a great banner to display on your locksmith business web page, it will catch the eye of potential customers and make them think twice about who they are calling to complete thier lock work.

Since we struggle to compete with national locksmith firms and their everlasting budgets we can only continue to offer an affordable locksmith service that is reliable, trustworthy and do our utmost to educate as many people as possible about the continual scamming and poor service provided by these large national locksmith chains, out to grab every penny they can.

In all honesty I think the general public are beginning to wise up to the fact that using a genuine local tradesman is the best option and it is often mentioned on my own locksmith jobs that they either know of someone or have been ripped off themselves in thre past so shopped around to find a genuine local business.

If you would like to add this banner to your own website, along with a link to more information on national locksmith chains then you can copy and paste the html code below into the body of your webpage.

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<a href="http://www.locksmith-directory.org.uk/nationals-article.html"><img src="https://media.angelfire.lycos.com/preview/2206319/1024x1024-2346216.jpg" alt="local locksmiths"></a>

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It's an all too common situation that can have any number of reasons from poor management of paperwork to calculated deception. Every now and again someone will try it on and lead you on a wild goose chase for the money they owe you which is both time consuming and irritating, particularly if you a relying on that income for the month.

I am currently chasing a small debt of £200 for some recent locksmith work myself at the minute, from a regular customer no less, that has never given me any trouble in the past.

Whilst you need to be firm enforcing your terms and conditions you sometimes have to relax a little as not to put off a regular customer from ever using you again. However, nobody likes a piss taker and I would rather have no custom at all than one that fails to pay on a regular basis.

Here are a few steps that I have successfully followed in the past to help resolve these situations and identify a genuine fraudster from a simple mistake.

1/ Terms and Conditions

If you haven't got this at the bottom of your invoices already it is something worth adding. State clearly a due by date or reasonable time frame in which you expect to be paid. For new locksmith customers I specify 14 days if not immediate payment, customers that I already have a good relationship with get 28 days which is pretty much the national standard.

2/ Signature

Once work has been completed ensure you obtain a signature of satisfaction to say that work has been completed, the customer is happy and they agree to your invoice terms.

 3/ Friendly Reminder

You can judge this one any way you feel fit. Based on 28 day terms I would expect payment to have been made within the first 14 days and usually this is the case. The beginning of week three I would call or email a reminder through just to let them know you are still waiting. If you are in a queue of paperwork this usually gets you bumped to the top for immediate payment. Depending how familiar I am woith the customer I would do this a couple of time approaching the due date.

4/ Firm Reminder

Day 28 and still no payment. It is time to send out a reasonably firm reminder in writing stating terms agreed and requesting a reason for the delay. More often than not there has been a staff member away, paperwork misfiled or you were just forgotten. You can include a copy of the invoice if they have lost the original.

5/ Final Request For Payment

It is up to you how long after day 28 you leave this but up until now you have been both reasonable and patient allowing plenty of time for a response. It is now time to state clearly you will not be undertaking any more work until debt is cleared and that further delays will leave you no choice but to hand the debt to a collection agency including additional costs incurred. You may want to specify a further timeframe, seven days is usually more than reasonable. Send this letter by special delivery so you have proof of contact should you require it in the future.

6/ Taking Further Action

Failure to act up upon the previous contact it is now clear the customer has little intention of settling the debt. My mate Rick at Cannock Locksmiths showed me that there are online solicitors that will send out an official letter for a small fee, stating clearly your intentions to escalate the matter and follow up in court, including all the additional fees and potential black mark against their organisation with regards to future credit. A proper letterheaded document from a real solicitor has always been the tipping point in my experience and has yet to fail. Money usually arriving within seven days.

7/ Follow Up / Write Off

If all else has failed you either have the option to write off the debt, take the loss and never engage in further business, or to proceed further via small claims or however a qualified solicitor suggests. If you have followed all the steps above you will already have proof of work satisfaction, records of letters and confirmation they received them. This shows in court you have been reasonable throughout the dispute and have given more than enough opportunity to query or settle the debt.
There is never any guarantee you will see your money after a court hearing and may need to employ further collection agencies on top of court fees. It is something you either follow up out of principal or for a large sum owned.

Conclusion

It is important to maintain good communication throughout to ensure a favourable result and hopefully resolve the issues without damaging the relationship with customers. Never be naive enough to keep accepting work from rogue customers and persistent non payers, it is rarely worth the headache.

Rick

The Lock Out From Hell

Thought I would write about a job I did last night which won the award for the worst job i have encountered in my five or so years of trading.

After a fairly busy day it was about knocking off time and I was looking forward to a spot of dinner. As I pulled upon the driveway the phone rang, a chap locked out as his uPVC door had jammed.

Not a problem I thought. I have probably unjammed hundreds of doors and rarely present a problem, I carry a tonne of uPVC gearboxes so although out of hours I can replace it.

When I turned up the chap had already sawed off his handle and been digging at the spindle gear which was now sitting sideways in the hole.
I immediately identified the lockcase as a mila/coldseal.

The key was turning fine to 'unlock' the mech so it was just a case of forcing the locks' hooks back in place... or so i thought.
Using various bent tools in the spindle gear hole I dug around to find a bit of rail to slide the hooks in but nothing would budge. It was jammed solid, a bit more digging around in hope of releasing jammed parts probably obstructed by broken cast metal also failed.

Now half an hour in it was time to try plan B.
Using a flat wedge i spread the door gaps to see how many hooks I was dealing with. It was a 4 hook system and an incredibly tight fit!

Now the basic principle of unjamming a door in this way is to make enough gap to manually retract a hook which in turn should put them all back in place, providing you have unlocked the mech with a key.
Another half hour passed and it was beginning to get dark with still no progress on retracting these hook bolts which appeared to be jammed locked.

Having faced this situation on a two hook system in the past I would normally spread as wide as possible and push each hooked section out of its keep one at a time until the door pops open. The problem with a 4 hook system is that you have two pairs of hooks throwing both upwards as well as down making this impossible.

At this point the next door neighbours arrived and we were allowed access to the rear of the property where i gained entry to a back door and get the customers in. This also allowed me to tackle the door from the inside.

Another half an hour spent I finally submitted and made the decision to venture into unknown territory and remove the hinges in hope of freeing the interlocking hooks. With the door off its hinges and rotated as much as possible without bending anything I again tried to free the hooks to which i had full access. Still I could not free them from the keep!!

After much struggling and a murderous headache coming on I finally released it by unsrewing the keep completely, which is not easy through an angled door gap I tell you!

The next hour was spent repairing the lock, re-hanging the door and adjusting it all to work smoothly again.

In the five or so years of opening jammed uPVC doors which I believed I was pretty much an expert at (Its usually a thirty minute job to open and repair) I have never had to go to these lengths to repair a door.

It just goes to show no matter how good you think you are, theres always going to be that job that will knock you down a few pegs and remind you that sometimes you will have to work hard for your money.

Update 06/11/2015

I have since encountered a couple of similar scenarios with this particular lock setup and have developed a great way to unjam them. Keeping it to myself for the min but it may make a future appearance on the locksmith blog ;-)

I first heard the name Carl Gibbs locksmiths on a locksmiths forum a couple of years ago, a newcomer to the trade seeking advice and information regarding training and setting up business as a locksmith in Kingston.

Since then Carl has established himself and fought hard to become one of the leading locksmiths in the Surrey area and has earned an enviable reputation amongst locksmiths across the country as well as inspiring new comers to the trade.

Carl Gibbs Locsmiths is living proof that if you want something bad enough and work hard enough you will succeed!

CG Locksmiths now provide all the traditional services you would expect of a master locksmith as well as modern aspects such as uPVC door lock repairwork. A recent addition to CG Locksmiths services is the new auto keys equipment allowing Carl to program, decode and build new car keys in Kingston.

As a proud ex-forces member Carl has  decided to look after his fellow servicemen by offering special rates for locksmith services. He explains regularly how the SFA maintenence teams rarely provided a satisfactory service whilst he was serving and would like to provide a reliable locksmith service for his fellow members.

If you live in or near Kingston upon Thames and require a locksmith then do not hesitate to call Carl, a friendly and reliable local locksmith service with a blinding reputation. I hear he's a nice guy too ;-)

Im currently working on a job to open and replace locks on a bank of deposit boxes for a customer in the West Midlands.

Its a really old system using dual key Chubb AVA locks, most of which no longer work or are missing keys. Its going to be an interesting job for sure.

The hardest part is sourcing these obsolete locks as there isn't anything that will retrofit the existing fittings that won't require a load of modifications, something which I doubt the customer will be interested I paying for.

Apparently Gunnebo have a load of bits and pieces knocking around in a warehouse I may be able to use, hopefully enough to do the job.

Anyway I grabbed some photo's for the lock enthusiasts out there that may be interested to see the innards and how it works.

I won't waffle on, the pics are self explanatory really.

Enjoy

Rick - Wednesfield Locksmiths

The competition in the Manchester areas is fierce, particularly online advertising which is littered with national companies employing negative SEO tactics on anyone that gets near the top of the search engine results. In fact my first meeting with James was to discuss a new website build for JS Locksmiths in Manchester who's online presence was as good as dead.

Since building theFacebook page and listing in review directories on James' behalf I have seen a wave of positive feedback from his customers who regularly email and review JS Locksmiths vouching for the excellent service provided in the Manchester area, most notably in his auto work, an area in which JS Locksmiths specialise.

James also designs some great locksmith tools! I recently received a homebrew letterbox tool from him which is really effective. Its nice to see locksmiths out there still innovating and sharing their ideas for the good of the trade.

If you require a locksmith in the Manchester area, Sale, Salford or Altrincham then I would urge you to get a quotation from JS Locksmiths, a homegrown local business that is both affordable and ethical. You wont be dissappointed.

James Smyth: 07789593034