BillBob
08-30-05, 10:30 AM
ok, so i go to this locksmith near my apartment to get a new key made. it deosn't work, so i go back and he makes another one. it doesn't work. i go back again and he says it shoudl work. i'm mad now so i go to another guy and he syas the first guy was using the wrong key. he says mine is a harloc and showws me this little notch on the end of the key that's not on the key the first guy made me. seemms like this is pretty obvious andthe first guy shoudla know better. can anybody just hang a sign and say there a locksmith?
cuedude
08-31-05, 01:59 AM
ok, so i go to this locksmith near my apartment to get a new key made. it deosn't work, so i go back and he makes another one. it doesn't work. i go back again and he says it shoudl work. i'm mad now so i go to another guy and he syas the first guy was using the wrong key. he says mine is a harloc and showws me this little notch on the end of the key that's not on the key the first guy made me. seemms like this is pretty obvious andthe first guy shoudla know better. can anybody just hang a sign and say there a locksmith?
Morning billbob,
I understand your pain in this. Locksmithing is more than just hanging a sign, believe me. I'll give you my history, and let you decide. While still in the Military, I got interested through a friend, and asked him what I should do to become a locksmith. His first and immidiate words were to take a course. I did, to the tune of almost a thousand $, and learned the workings of basic locks, keys, and the different ways of making keys. That's about all these courses teach. They do not give you the whole picture of what could be wrong with a key, now how to correct it. (Just the beginning of the scope of this reply). But the do provide you a little card that says you are now certified as a locksmith.
Now comes the fun part. They also do not provide information on how difficult certain things really are. Like how to correctly drill the door for an installation. Or how to open Safe Deposit boxes. Or how to install door closers, etc.
I could go on for a long time with this, but will spare you. You pretty much get the picture, that yes, you literally can just hang a sign. But that doesn't mean you have the experience to be more than an embrio at this job. It takes time. Prior to me becoming a Moderator, I had my own discussions over things, and am still learning after my short 15 years doing this type of work. And don't forget the industry is constantly changing. (Electricity? What's that?) There is so much to this job, most people couldn't keep up. That's why so much is for sale on the internet market places.
Sorry about being so long winded here. I know that I have worked very hard learning my trade, and really do learn something new everyday. I hope you don't hold it against the "new guy".
cuedude
Everyone has their faults. Iv'e been doing locksmithing for 5 years. I still have trouble with certain things. I.E. Safe opening. Thing is that I did some duties for years. Which was installiation of Deadbolts, knobs. Closers and panic hardware, Keying / masterkeying. And making lost keys for vehicles. Now i'm moving on to safes ect. So I can understand why this guy screwed up. Maybe he was new? Or maybe not to firmilar with key identifying. I'm not a CML, I just work for one. But I still remember the first two weeks was heck. Specially when you have walls and walls of keys. So like dude said, hope ya don't hold it against the guy. He was probably just learning. :)