patriotgal
Veteran Member
When relative used to work for alphabet agency his wife would answer the door and find suits waiting to escort her and kids. They would walk right out the door and be relocated. Their stuff would follow.
Comments The Locksmith Journals
- Thread starter day late
- Start date
day late
money? whats that?
Now that I'm down to two days a week, the stories are obviously going to be fewer and farther between. But sometimes it is just amazing what happens. As a matter of fact, I learned something the other day. When I get a call, the boss expects me to at least start the invoice the customer has to sign when paying the bill. I got a job a few days ago and while I was pushing buttons on the phones screen, I accidently hit the button that says 'DONE'. I immediately changed it to 'on the way' and went about what I had to do. All of a sudden, I get a call from the customer wanting to know why I have shown the job as done, when I haven't even gotten there yet. AHHHH, the miracles of modern technology. It seems with the app we are using, when the job is clicked as done, it automatically sends the customer an email or notification of that and askes for a review online. Obviously, a boo-boo on my part. But having computers being all over you like that is kind of disturbing. The good thing was that once I arrived at the location, that door opened in less than fifteen seconds. The young lady was more than willing to forgive the old man for his lack of computer skills and was MOST happy to be inside as quickly as she was. NO! She didn't leave a review.
You know, I should have seen this one coming. I mean this is TB2K!!! We know ALL of the stories, threats, secret devices and so on. Just today, the guy who I share the van with called in on the group text.......Wait for it.
You've either heard of this or in your worst paranoid moments thought about it. The customer asked,
"Can you sweep my house for electronic bugs?"
Ummmm, no. We are locksmiths. We don't do spy stuff. But now, because this guy mentioned it on the group text, the boss sounds like he is interested. Why not? Turn on a device, sweep the room/house, and charge out the ying yang for it. Very little cost and a lot of profit. RIGHT? I don't think so. How many people are going to be worried about someone listening to them? And if they are worried about it, do I even want to be remotely related to what's going on?
You know, I should have seen this one coming. I mean this is TB2K!!! We know ALL of the stories, threats, secret devices and so on. Just today, the guy who I share the van with called in on the group text.......Wait for it.
You've either heard of this or in your worst paranoid moments thought about it. The customer asked,
"Can you sweep my house for electronic bugs?"
Ummmm, no. We are locksmiths. We don't do spy stuff. But now, because this guy mentioned it on the group text, the boss sounds like he is interested. Why not? Turn on a device, sweep the room/house, and charge out the ying yang for it. Very little cost and a lot of profit. RIGHT? I don't think so. How many people are going to be worried about someone listening to them? And if they are worried about it, do I even want to be remotely related to what's going on?
Siskiyoumom
Veteran Member
I think the liability factor would be a prudent reason not to offer such a service.
Alphabet soup a g e n c i e s, adverse outcomes if you missed a device and such.
I have read of tire and brake repair places finding trackers on vehicles being serviced.
Usually placed by stalkers and disgruntled spouses.
Alphabet soup a g e n c i e s, adverse outcomes if you missed a device and such.
I have read of tire and brake repair places finding trackers on vehicles being serviced.
Usually placed by stalkers and disgruntled spouses.
feralferret
Veteran Member
The "fat finger" strikes again!
day late
money? whats that?
I was talking about evictions. Now, on my day off I get an appointment for tomorrow at 11 A.M. To give you an idea of the degree of uncertainty these jobs bring, let me describe what the dispatch says and what it could mean.
At 11 A.M. tomorrow I have to be at a certain address. As I said, it's an eviction. I am to wait until the property owner arrives with the local law enforcement. NORMALLY in these cases, the home is already empty, but not always. Once everyone is there and the officer announces his presence, if there is no answer, I open the door and he goes in to make sure there's nobody home. Here's where things start to get fun. The landlord doesn't have a key. Strange, but not unknown. Once the officer gives the all clear, I start to work. This time the landlord doesn't know if this is a case of rekeying the locks or replacing them. If the first, I take all the locks apart and make them work on a different key. Then re-install them. If replacement is required then I install new locks and since each lock comes from the store with its own key, I pick one and rekey the rest of the locks to that one.
While all of this is going on, I have the officer and the property owner standing around waiting for me to get done. Depending on the number of locks I have to deal with, this could take as much as two hours. And they have to wait. To be honest, a lot of the time I'd like to take a stroll through the home and see if by any chance there might be something I might like to have that was left behind. I once picked up a battery powered shortwave radio by asking the property owner if he minded me taking it. So far as he was concerned, it was one less piece of trash he had to get rid of, so I could take it. And ya never know what someone might just forget and leave behind. Like the last eviction I spoke about. They left EVERYTHING. Who knows what might have been stuck away in a closet or something. I think tomorrow could be very interesting.
At 11 A.M. tomorrow I have to be at a certain address. As I said, it's an eviction. I am to wait until the property owner arrives with the local law enforcement. NORMALLY in these cases, the home is already empty, but not always. Once everyone is there and the officer announces his presence, if there is no answer, I open the door and he goes in to make sure there's nobody home. Here's where things start to get fun. The landlord doesn't have a key. Strange, but not unknown. Once the officer gives the all clear, I start to work. This time the landlord doesn't know if this is a case of rekeying the locks or replacing them. If the first, I take all the locks apart and make them work on a different key. Then re-install them. If replacement is required then I install new locks and since each lock comes from the store with its own key, I pick one and rekey the rest of the locks to that one.
While all of this is going on, I have the officer and the property owner standing around waiting for me to get done. Depending on the number of locks I have to deal with, this could take as much as two hours. And they have to wait. To be honest, a lot of the time I'd like to take a stroll through the home and see if by any chance there might be something I might like to have that was left behind. I once picked up a battery powered shortwave radio by asking the property owner if he minded me taking it. So far as he was concerned, it was one less piece of trash he had to get rid of, so I could take it. And ya never know what someone might just forget and leave behind. Like the last eviction I spoke about. They left EVERYTHING. Who knows what might have been stuck away in a closet or something. I think tomorrow could be very interesting.
day late
money? whats that?
Just a quick one from today. It's 7:30 now and I'm on until 8 so hopefully my last one of the day. I got sent just a short distance out of town to rekey a couple of locks. It turns out that the lady wanted the storage sheds rekeyed. One shed had one of those circular locks that you can't pick, and even if you could, it is made not to come apart. If that lock fails or you lose the key, cut it. She didn't want that. She didn't have a padlock handy to replace it. We went to the other shed. This one had one of those locking 'T' shaped handles. Guess what. They are also made to not come apart. About the only thing I could do was to pick the lock on the T handle to let her in. Which I did. As we are discussing options, it became quite clear that our services come with prices she wasn't ready for. Upshot of the whole deal was a 1/2-hour trip to get there, and then there is nothing I can do. She doesn't want to come up with even more money to have everything taken care of, so all I could charge was for the service call. Then a 1/2=hour trip home again.
I almost forgot. I had the eviction today. No big deal, but one thing happened that has never happened before. After the tenants moved out, they left the key to the door in the lock. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Made things so much simpler for me.
I almost forgot. I had the eviction today. No big deal, but one thing happened that has never happened before. After the tenants moved out, they left the key to the door in the lock. THAT NEVER HAPPENS. Made things so much simpler for me.
feralferret
Veteran Member
I'm surprised you didn't faint and fall over. That would be quite a shock.
day late
money? whats that?
NUMBER ONE I am sick, tired and quite grouchy right now. You may detect a measure of displeasure in this post. I've had a cold for three days now and worked through two of them. Not that bad, but just enough to make you miserable. Coughing through the night, so short on sleep. Very little food. But the appetite is coming back as I type. I truly believe that taking the colloidal silver has helped more than anything else. But that's not a story about locksmithing, and it doesn't make a difference, but does affect your attitude.
Monday was actually kind of slow. The eviction was pretty much the high point of the day. This morning was also kind of slow. That made me happy considering the way I'm feeling. Then we hit this afternoon/evening. I had an appointment to rekey a doctor's office. Just three locks. All three are Sargent locks. I had no problem with the Mortise cylinder on the back door. But it is nearly impossible to get those bloody doorknobs off. I said before, the last one I came across had to be cut off the door. So, I call dispatch. 'Look, I just need someone to get those knobs off the door while I rekey the mortise.' The other guy who's supposed to be in Gainesville has been sent out of town. The only way to get the guy who knows these things here is for me to go there and take over the job he's working on. He's in Wildwood. It's an hour and a half, one way. That's not going to work. THEN the doctor seems to think that he has hired James Bond or something. I got there at 3:00, or so. At 3:30 he's wanting to know if I'm going to be done in the next fifteen minutes. Um...No. Long story short, I did rekey the one door. Didn't touch the other two. The other guy will swing by later this week and finish the job. All arranged with the lady on dispatch on speaker, so everybody knows what was said. Doctor pays for completed work, all is cool. I thought.
After that I had another job sort of like that later. Simple. Rekey locks on two doors. The customer is bringing a keypad deadbolt from her old apartment to her new home this weekend and will have us out to install it for her. So, I get there and ask the lady is she knows what kind of deadbolt it is.
"I have a picture of what I ordered on my phone."
I look and it is a Smart Key keypad. The doors in her new home are Schlage. They can't be keyed the same. Now I have to explain the problem and offer solutions. I told her that there was absolutely no reason the replace the existing locks. They are good locks and look almost brand new. But if the Kwikset is installed on the front door, that means carrying two keys. What do you want to do? Change the locks. Ok. I go to the van, and we don't have one of the locks I need. Not good. I tell her I can run down the road and pick one up and then install it. She then decided to put off the job. 1 The painters are coming. 2 It makes more sense to have all the locks done at once. Call dispatch. Arrange a different time and day to do the job. Everyone knows, right? Don't hold your breathe.
By now it is time to go across town and pick up the guy who works tomorrow. It is 7:59 when I get a call to go to an apartment much closer to where I live and open a car. We are on call until 8 P.M. I am literally two minutes from his house and have to turn around. Twenty minutes later I open the car and head back for the other guy. I get a text from the boss. He wants to know why I had two jobs that were delayed today.
Now understand. The only way he could know I had the delays was by going over the dispatch records. Well, he's the boss and he should do that. But that also means he listened to the recordings that are made when dispatch is called. So, why am I, the guy who is sick, had a light breakfast, skipped lunch, and am already late for supper, explaining to him all the details that he has already heard?
Needless to say, I'm not feeling very good right now.
Monday was actually kind of slow. The eviction was pretty much the high point of the day. This morning was also kind of slow. That made me happy considering the way I'm feeling. Then we hit this afternoon/evening. I had an appointment to rekey a doctor's office. Just three locks. All three are Sargent locks. I had no problem with the Mortise cylinder on the back door. But it is nearly impossible to get those bloody doorknobs off. I said before, the last one I came across had to be cut off the door. So, I call dispatch. 'Look, I just need someone to get those knobs off the door while I rekey the mortise.' The other guy who's supposed to be in Gainesville has been sent out of town. The only way to get the guy who knows these things here is for me to go there and take over the job he's working on. He's in Wildwood. It's an hour and a half, one way. That's not going to work. THEN the doctor seems to think that he has hired James Bond or something. I got there at 3:00, or so. At 3:30 he's wanting to know if I'm going to be done in the next fifteen minutes. Um...No. Long story short, I did rekey the one door. Didn't touch the other two. The other guy will swing by later this week and finish the job. All arranged with the lady on dispatch on speaker, so everybody knows what was said. Doctor pays for completed work, all is cool. I thought.
After that I had another job sort of like that later. Simple. Rekey locks on two doors. The customer is bringing a keypad deadbolt from her old apartment to her new home this weekend and will have us out to install it for her. So, I get there and ask the lady is she knows what kind of deadbolt it is.
"I have a picture of what I ordered on my phone."
I look and it is a Smart Key keypad. The doors in her new home are Schlage. They can't be keyed the same. Now I have to explain the problem and offer solutions. I told her that there was absolutely no reason the replace the existing locks. They are good locks and look almost brand new. But if the Kwikset is installed on the front door, that means carrying two keys. What do you want to do? Change the locks. Ok. I go to the van, and we don't have one of the locks I need. Not good. I tell her I can run down the road and pick one up and then install it. She then decided to put off the job. 1 The painters are coming. 2 It makes more sense to have all the locks done at once. Call dispatch. Arrange a different time and day to do the job. Everyone knows, right? Don't hold your breathe.
By now it is time to go across town and pick up the guy who works tomorrow. It is 7:59 when I get a call to go to an apartment much closer to where I live and open a car. We are on call until 8 P.M. I am literally two minutes from his house and have to turn around. Twenty minutes later I open the car and head back for the other guy. I get a text from the boss. He wants to know why I had two jobs that were delayed today.
Now understand. The only way he could know I had the delays was by going over the dispatch records. Well, he's the boss and he should do that. But that also means he listened to the recordings that are made when dispatch is called. So, why am I, the guy who is sick, had a light breakfast, skipped lunch, and am already late for supper, explaining to him all the details that he has already heard?
Needless to say, I'm not feeling very good right now.
day late
money? whats that?
Just dropping by for a moment. Very strange day. I checked in at 8 A.M. as usual. I was immediately told that late last night changes had been made. Instead of working 8 to 8 today my shift is 9 to 5. Starting today, the company is going to 8 to 6. Well, that cuts a few hours. Shortly after this, I was notified by the manager that a husband-and-wife team we had, him in the field and her on the phone, just quit. No explanation why, no nothing. AND it wasn't sent as part of a 'sorry to see them go, but...' kind of group text. This was sent privately. Again, why? I don't know.
The other strange thing is that I've been sitting here all day long without a single call. It's shortly after 4:30 and they only have a half hour left, if they are going to send anything. I know I'm not in trouble. I had to run to the boss's house earlier to pick up something. If he was upset with me, he would have said something. Strange day.
The other strange thing is that I've been sitting here all day long without a single call. It's shortly after 4:30 and they only have a half hour left, if they are going to send anything. I know I'm not in trouble. I had to run to the boss's house earlier to pick up something. If he was upset with me, he would have said something. Strange day.
feralferret
Veteran Member
Day late, thanks for the update.
day late
money? whats that?
I knew it. I posted the above at 4:31 P.M. Got the one and only call at 4:39. How did I know? "The Locksmith's Curse". Just when everything is going right, things always take a wrong turn. Things like 'slow day means busy night'. It's been a long hard day. I've spent hours on the road. I just pull in the driveway with 5 minutes on the clock and get a call to head 20 minutes out of town. This wasn't as bad as usual, but still a head scratcher. The guy is in a shopping area with lots of stores and roads put down by a drunk. ZERO sense to how the parking lot is laid out. To top it off, the guy is new in town. I've mentioned it before.
"I don't know where I am."
We finally found one another. He told me the name of the store he was parked near, and I found it after 15 minutes of cruising the lot. Now we start the new schedule. I still have about 40 minutes before checking in and get off at 5. Going to be fun seeing how this is going to work out.
"I don't know where I am."
We finally found one another. He told me the name of the store he was parked near, and I found it after 15 minutes of cruising the lot. Now we start the new schedule. I still have about 40 minutes before checking in and get off at 5. Going to be fun seeing how this is going to work out.
day late
money? whats that?
Looks like I'll finally get an idea of what's going on at 6 on Sunday. From time to time the boss and manager like to do one-on=one's with all of the smiths and phone ladies. Sunday is my turn. I really don't expect much to come from it, but I should get a few answers. The nice thing about being the 'old guy', either in age or time of employment, is that you can get away with some things that others can't. Like asking the questions that everyone wonders about, but nobody asks.
I did hear about one of our delayed jobs. The guy I swap the van with got it. He asked and so I explained everything about the job. Basically, it's just installing three deadbolts. The customer is supplying the one for the front door. (Smart Key keypad from the old place.) Then two more Smart Key locks for the two other doors and keyed all the same. A milk run. I don't know about the other delay. The doctor's office with the Sargent doorknobs. Honestly, I don't want to hear about it again.
(Sargent doorknobs...YUCK, YUCK, POOIE!!!!)
In the meantime, my wife has been visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby for the past three weeks. I'm SOOOO jealous of her. But she comes home Monday evening. That gives me a couple of days to clean up the mess, so she won't go too far through the roof when she gets back. I only lost one of her plants and we did have a freezing cold snap. Hopefully I'm not in too much trouble.
I did hear about one of our delayed jobs. The guy I swap the van with got it. He asked and so I explained everything about the job. Basically, it's just installing three deadbolts. The customer is supplying the one for the front door. (Smart Key keypad from the old place.) Then two more Smart Key locks for the two other doors and keyed all the same. A milk run. I don't know about the other delay. The doctor's office with the Sargent doorknobs. Honestly, I don't want to hear about it again.
(Sargent doorknobs...YUCK, YUCK, POOIE!!!!)
In the meantime, my wife has been visiting our son, daughter-in-law, and grandbaby for the past three weeks. I'm SOOOO jealous of her. But she comes home Monday evening. That gives me a couple of days to clean up the mess, so she won't go too far through the roof when she gets back. I only lost one of her plants and we did have a freezing cold snap. Hopefully I'm not in too much trouble.
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
he comes home Monday evening. That gives me a couple of days to clean up the mess, so she won't go too far through the roof when she gets back. I only lost one of her plants and we did have a freezing cold snap. Hopefully I'm not in too much trouble.
-----------
DL,
Take your DW out to eat which normally helps.
Texican....
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DL,
Take your DW out to eat which normally helps.
Texican....
day late
money? whats that?
She's already telling me what to take out of the freezer for her when she gets back. One of the things about Mrs. late. She will complain that we never go out for supper. I tell her to pick a place, we'll go out my next day off. The day before, I ask her where we are going. She hasn't made up her mind. Comes the time to get in the car and go, and it's...
"My food is cheaper, and it tastes better anyway."
AND she's right. So, we don't go out. Then later, she complains that we never go out for supper.
Texican
Live Free & Die Free.... God Freedom Country....
My DW and I do not go out to eat very often except when we go to Paris Texas to shop or the docs and we either have a meal at Arby's or Chester's Chicken (fried gizzards and livers) at Loves. When we go to Sherman Texas to shop or the docs, it is hotdogs at Sam's or QT. The cost of food is reasonable and satisfies our appetites.
The last restaurant that we dined at was Cracker Barrel in Sherman Texas. The food was mediocre and not worth the $$'s. Complained to Cracker Barrel Corporate and received one free meal which we used before the certificate expired and the fried catfish was a little better.
The meals that my DW prepares are better than what we can purchase from a restaurant.
Texican....
The last restaurant that we dined at was Cracker Barrel in Sherman Texas. The food was mediocre and not worth the $$'s. Complained to Cracker Barrel Corporate and received one free meal which we used before the certificate expired and the fried catfish was a little better.
The meals that my DW prepares are better than what we can purchase from a restaurant.
Texican....
larry_minn
Contributing Member
Find decent home cooking places. $12-18$ ahead without drink. Nice at times.
Or senior early bird, military, specials. $11-$15.
Or senior early bird, military, specials. $11-$15.
day late
money? whats that?
day late
money? whats that?
Well, as of now you can call me the SLOW emergency guy. Not surprisingly, Sunday and Monday are our slowest days. Sunday everyone is home, watching the game or whatever and not running here and there. There is no need for two smiths to cover that time. So, I get it. On Mondays, everyone is still recovering from the weekend and are a bit more careful of where they leave their keys and such. So, I get Monday. For whatever reason, the boss had decided that he needed to cut back on hours. We've dropped from 12 hours a day to just 9 hours. (That beats the 24/7 we used to work.) I know the boss is playing with numbers right now because, we had stopped working on Sunday a while back due to a lack of work. There just wasn't enough to justify having two ladies on the phone and two smiths in the field, so we dropped Sunday. Then he realized he was losing a bit more work than he wanted to. So, now we are taking on Sunday again, but with just one lady on the phone and one smith in the field. I get Sunday to go along with Monday. The slow days. Taking it easy on the old man, I guess. Unfortunately, that leaves four smiths to cover the other five days. I say unfortunately because we only need three smiths to cover that time. Someone has to go.
Did I mention that two of those four smiths are my boss's sons? The third guy is about equal to the guy I swap the van with, but he's not quite as far out there. I won't say the guy I swap with is crazy. He's just questioning. One week he is trying to explain that humanity was seeded on this planet by aliens, and the next we are all just batteries being used by machines in the matrix. Always interesting conversations. (This is the same guy I had to convince that Christians DO NOT worship stars. We acknowledge the Star of Bethlehem pointing the way to Jesus, but we don't worship the creation. Only the Creator.) Never any way to tell where the talk is going to go. The other guy is a bit more conventional. The boss and manager called a short time ago to let me know the conventional guy is the one that is staying.
Honestly, I think the boss is making a mistake, I check Google and I see far, far, more positive reviews for the strange guy than I do for anyone else. Including me. He knows what he is doing, the customers like him, and he always comes through. True, he sucks at restocking the van. I always end up doing that. The other guy is good too but doesn't get anywhere near the same number of good reviews. And in our line, when someone is looking for a locksmith, they want two things. The people on Google with the best reviews and/or the guy who is going to get there and bail them out the fastest. (More than once, I have been working when the second locksmith showed up. They forgot to cancel or thought of him as back-up in case I couldn't do the job.) Price is always a major concern, but speed is quite often more important. Folks will pay more to have the door open in the next 20 minutes, even if it means paying less in an hour or so. ESPECIALLY during those hot, humid, Florida summers. At any rate, the guy we are losing has a higher positive review rate than the guy we are keeping. That may just bite the boss in the butt in the future. Time will tell.
Did I mention that two of those four smiths are my boss's sons? The third guy is about equal to the guy I swap the van with, but he's not quite as far out there. I won't say the guy I swap with is crazy. He's just questioning. One week he is trying to explain that humanity was seeded on this planet by aliens, and the next we are all just batteries being used by machines in the matrix. Always interesting conversations. (This is the same guy I had to convince that Christians DO NOT worship stars. We acknowledge the Star of Bethlehem pointing the way to Jesus, but we don't worship the creation. Only the Creator.) Never any way to tell where the talk is going to go. The other guy is a bit more conventional. The boss and manager called a short time ago to let me know the conventional guy is the one that is staying.
Honestly, I think the boss is making a mistake, I check Google and I see far, far, more positive reviews for the strange guy than I do for anyone else. Including me. He knows what he is doing, the customers like him, and he always comes through. True, he sucks at restocking the van. I always end up doing that. The other guy is good too but doesn't get anywhere near the same number of good reviews. And in our line, when someone is looking for a locksmith, they want two things. The people on Google with the best reviews and/or the guy who is going to get there and bail them out the fastest. (More than once, I have been working when the second locksmith showed up. They forgot to cancel or thought of him as back-up in case I couldn't do the job.) Price is always a major concern, but speed is quite often more important. Folks will pay more to have the door open in the next 20 minutes, even if it means paying less in an hour or so. ESPECIALLY during those hot, humid, Florida summers. At any rate, the guy we are losing has a higher positive review rate than the guy we are keeping. That may just bite the boss in the butt in the future. Time will tell.
feralferret
Veteran Member
So many people do indeed look at online reviews such as Google. I suspect your boss may have indeed made the wrong choice.
larry_minn
Contributing Member
You can often get the early bird with senior. Likely military and early bird. But not military, & senior.Which one, or can I claim them all?
feralferret
Veteran Member
Just so I don't have to take a worm with the early bird.
day late
money? whats that?
I got my answer last night. I still think the boss made a boo-boo. I traded the van with the boss's #1 son. I asked, why him and not me? After all, I'm part time, the other guy has gotten a ton of positive reviews on-line. The customers like him, he's a good locksmith and I know in the past year he has made a lot more money for the company than I have. So, why? The answer? Financial. I'm part time. I don't cost as much. (Yeah, but I don't do as much.) More importantly being semi-retired I'm more flexible on hours. I don't know. I keep hearing about the boss rearranging things to make us more efficient. That seems to mean using a razor to match people to hours. But I just work here.
day late
money? whats that?
I must say that last Sunday/Monday shift was different. Sunday morning I sat around doing absolutely nothing until after lunch. A little before 1 dispatch calls me and as we were speaking, I learned why it had been so quiet. Someone forgot to turn on the phones. By that I mean during off hours the incoming calls go to voicemail. At the appropriate time they are switched to whichever lady is on duty. I don't know who, but somebody forgot to switch them over. (I was given the impression it was the manager but can't say for certain.) As for the rest of the day, weird. The reason for the call was,
'Since you are friends with the guy we just let go, can you go by his place and pick up the company phone and credit cards?'
I started for his house, and then got a call. Call him and put off the pick up, so I can get the call. FOUR TIMES I'm on my way to his place to get the stuff. EACH TIME I tell dispatch I need X number of minutes to get to his place to get the things, depending on where I was at the time. Every time I was told O.K. To top it off, AFTER I finally get his things, I'm heading for the boss's house to drop them off. Nope. Turn around and go to Hawthorne and get a guy into his car. Thirty minutes or more, one way. We close at 6 now. I got the call at 5:30. It is getting close to 7 by the time I drop off things with the boss. At which time he says he wants to sit down sometime this week for our one-to-one. It's nearly 7:30 by the time I get to shut off the van and eat supper.
With Monday being the day after the SuperBowl, I expected a lot of calls first thing in the morning. That didn't happen. I guess everyone just sat home to watch the game. Monday afternoon was wash, rinse and repeat from Sunday. I couldn't stop moving long enough to do anything. And of course, 5:30 I get a call. Go to Reddick and open a house. 35 minutes later I pull in the driveway. The lady tells me it's an Air BNB and she never locks one certain door. But she had the place pressure washed and the guys who did it, locked the knob on the door she never locks. Every lock on the place is a Smart Key lock. I check all the windows, all locked. It is starting to look like I'm going to have to drill when she shows me a side door that is a Smart Key, but only the doorknob. Doorknobs can be bypassed. I finally manage to get her in, and as she is filling out the paperwork, I'm gathering my tools. Then the bottom falls out. A real gulley washer. I have to race out to the van and to put everything away. Yeah, right! I just threw the stuff in and got out of the rain. Got home about the same time. Turned over the van to the boss's son and later found out that my lock blade knife is missing. I asked the son to check the van for me. I tore apart the garage and the tool bags I carry. No knife. I'm guessing somebody in Reddick is now the owner of a pretty nice knife. I hope they are careful with it. I tend to keep them at or near shaving sharp.
'Since you are friends with the guy we just let go, can you go by his place and pick up the company phone and credit cards?'
I started for his house, and then got a call. Call him and put off the pick up, so I can get the call. FOUR TIMES I'm on my way to his place to get the stuff. EACH TIME I tell dispatch I need X number of minutes to get to his place to get the things, depending on where I was at the time. Every time I was told O.K. To top it off, AFTER I finally get his things, I'm heading for the boss's house to drop them off. Nope. Turn around and go to Hawthorne and get a guy into his car. Thirty minutes or more, one way. We close at 6 now. I got the call at 5:30. It is getting close to 7 by the time I drop off things with the boss. At which time he says he wants to sit down sometime this week for our one-to-one. It's nearly 7:30 by the time I get to shut off the van and eat supper.
With Monday being the day after the SuperBowl, I expected a lot of calls first thing in the morning. That didn't happen. I guess everyone just sat home to watch the game. Monday afternoon was wash, rinse and repeat from Sunday. I couldn't stop moving long enough to do anything. And of course, 5:30 I get a call. Go to Reddick and open a house. 35 minutes later I pull in the driveway. The lady tells me it's an Air BNB and she never locks one certain door. But she had the place pressure washed and the guys who did it, locked the knob on the door she never locks. Every lock on the place is a Smart Key lock. I check all the windows, all locked. It is starting to look like I'm going to have to drill when she shows me a side door that is a Smart Key, but only the doorknob. Doorknobs can be bypassed. I finally manage to get her in, and as she is filling out the paperwork, I'm gathering my tools. Then the bottom falls out. A real gulley washer. I have to race out to the van and to put everything away. Yeah, right! I just threw the stuff in and got out of the rain. Got home about the same time. Turned over the van to the boss's son and later found out that my lock blade knife is missing. I asked the son to check the van for me. I tore apart the garage and the tool bags I carry. No knife. I'm guessing somebody in Reddick is now the owner of a pretty nice knife. I hope they are careful with it. I tend to keep them at or near shaving sharp.
223shootersc
Veteran Member
Thanks!
day late
money? whats that?
Just a short ditty this time. I wish I had more days like this. I got a call to re-key a home for the new owner. I'm told six locks. Not a problem. I figure front door, back door, and the one leading into the garage. Nope. A total of five doors and nine locks. Still, not a problem, just a little more time consuming than six locks. So, I'm off and running. I get the five deadbolts first, that way we are sure the doors stay shut and keep the cold outside. Then go back and get the four doorknobs. Everything went fine. No problems to speak of. But after I had finished and we were settling up the bill, the customer told me he was surprised. He said he had read the reviews on google (Not all. There's over 800 after all.) and thought to himself,
'No way! Nobody is that fast to arrive, that polite, or that knowledgeable and professional.'
But we also had the highest number of reviews and the highest number of stars. So, he decided to give us a chance. By the time I left he said he had to change his mind about us. It was nice to hear.
'No way! Nobody is that fast to arrive, that polite, or that knowledgeable and professional.'
But we also had the highest number of reviews and the highest number of stars. So, he decided to give us a chance. By the time I left he said he had to change his mind about us. It was nice to hear.
day late
money? whats that?
It's been awhile, but I wanted to see how things were going to shake out. The most recent manager has left us. For personal reasons that I know of but won't get into. Just say family matters. I wish her well and will miss her. The guy they have gotten to replace her, well.... I'm not so sure how he is going to work out. I think this is his first shot at managing people, and he's not off to a bad start, but needs some seasoning. It's hard to put my finger on it, but sometimes he's very politely, unhelpful. I get the feeling he's okay with listening to your problem. But getting him to DO something might require a little effort. I don't know him very well, but he seems like a nice guy. I hope things work out for him.
I was accidently told why things are so slow for me lately. I got a call about a door in a dentist's office. It had been acting weird for some time and now no longer worked at all. It's a storage room, so, no big rush to get it taken care of. Then the lady on dispatch said something interesting to me.
"I know you don't get commercial jobs, but you're the only one on right now and we hoped you could just get it open for them".
When did I stop doing commercial jobs? Now it's true the boss prefers to send the younger, and I hate to say it, faster guys to some of these big jobs we get. Last month one of our guys spent three days re-keying a motel. But I've been doing commercial stuff since early on. I was sent to one particular office three times in one year to change the locks when they had a staff turnover. Now it seems I'm not doing it anymore. At any rate, I went there. Had the door open in about thirty seconds. The screws were very loose, and the handle was flopping all over the place. I took it apart and looked. It was a simple no lock, interior lever handled doorknob. The latch hadn't completely worn out, but it wasn't long for this world. I replaced it, put everything back together, had the customer check it to make sure he was happy. He was. I left. A couple of hours later I get a text. 'Did you fix that door or just open it?' I fixed it. 'Perfect. Thank you'. No idea of what that was all about, but being a doctor's office, it would be considered a commercial job. Maybe some re-think is going on?
I did have one job that, honestly, I wish I could get my hands on the guy. Dad has a daughter going to UF. Daughter has an ex-boyfriend that has turned stalker. Boyfriend bought some picks, watched some videos and taught himself how to pick locks. Not a good situation. Long story short, it was no problem selling him on the Smart-Key locks. I DID tell him about the only person I know who ever did pick one and how much it cost in equipment, service providers, and time for him to pick it. $400 in prep, 45 minutes picking, in the office with perfect weather and lighting. So, yeah. You CAN pick them. It would be faster and easier to break a window. They liked that. Here's one of the odd things about manufacturers. I sold them two deadbolts. One was a double cylinder, because the lady didn't want the dog locking her out by jumping against the door. Seems he's done that once before. But she wanted a second one since the door of the apartment already has a hole drilled for it. Since it's higher, we don't worry about the dog, just put in one with a handle. Dad didn't know about that. I pointed out something.
"Let's say that for some reason this lady has to get inside and get the door locked in a hurry. Do you want her fumbling for a key?"
Daughter: "I like that."
The strange thing is I was able to sell a slightly more expensive lock. Most deadbolt faceplates are just a thin sheet of cheap aluminum. I can use a drill and defeat the lock pretty quickly. THIS Smart-Key lock is my nemesis. Under that faceplate is a layer of case-hardened steel. It will take between four and six drill bits, and between 30 and 45 minutes for me to drill through it. LONG before Mr. Stalker gets the first hole drilled there will be flashing red and blue lights in the parking lot. The thing is, they don't sell that lock in the double cylinder. Go figure.
I was accidently told why things are so slow for me lately. I got a call about a door in a dentist's office. It had been acting weird for some time and now no longer worked at all. It's a storage room, so, no big rush to get it taken care of. Then the lady on dispatch said something interesting to me.
"I know you don't get commercial jobs, but you're the only one on right now and we hoped you could just get it open for them".
When did I stop doing commercial jobs? Now it's true the boss prefers to send the younger, and I hate to say it, faster guys to some of these big jobs we get. Last month one of our guys spent three days re-keying a motel. But I've been doing commercial stuff since early on. I was sent to one particular office three times in one year to change the locks when they had a staff turnover. Now it seems I'm not doing it anymore. At any rate, I went there. Had the door open in about thirty seconds. The screws were very loose, and the handle was flopping all over the place. I took it apart and looked. It was a simple no lock, interior lever handled doorknob. The latch hadn't completely worn out, but it wasn't long for this world. I replaced it, put everything back together, had the customer check it to make sure he was happy. He was. I left. A couple of hours later I get a text. 'Did you fix that door or just open it?' I fixed it. 'Perfect. Thank you'. No idea of what that was all about, but being a doctor's office, it would be considered a commercial job. Maybe some re-think is going on?
I did have one job that, honestly, I wish I could get my hands on the guy. Dad has a daughter going to UF. Daughter has an ex-boyfriend that has turned stalker. Boyfriend bought some picks, watched some videos and taught himself how to pick locks. Not a good situation. Long story short, it was no problem selling him on the Smart-Key locks. I DID tell him about the only person I know who ever did pick one and how much it cost in equipment, service providers, and time for him to pick it. $400 in prep, 45 minutes picking, in the office with perfect weather and lighting. So, yeah. You CAN pick them. It would be faster and easier to break a window. They liked that. Here's one of the odd things about manufacturers. I sold them two deadbolts. One was a double cylinder, because the lady didn't want the dog locking her out by jumping against the door. Seems he's done that once before. But she wanted a second one since the door of the apartment already has a hole drilled for it. Since it's higher, we don't worry about the dog, just put in one with a handle. Dad didn't know about that. I pointed out something.
"Let's say that for some reason this lady has to get inside and get the door locked in a hurry. Do you want her fumbling for a key?"
Daughter: "I like that."
The strange thing is I was able to sell a slightly more expensive lock. Most deadbolt faceplates are just a thin sheet of cheap aluminum. I can use a drill and defeat the lock pretty quickly. THIS Smart-Key lock is my nemesis. Under that faceplate is a layer of case-hardened steel. It will take between four and six drill bits, and between 30 and 45 minutes for me to drill through it. LONG before Mr. Stalker gets the first hole drilled there will be flashing red and blue lights in the parking lot. The thing is, they don't sell that lock in the double cylinder. Go figure.
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kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
Inquiring minds want to know, is there a double key deadbolt version? If so where do I go looking? Because double key deadbolt is mandatory on my front door. And I really like the idea of it not being drillable easily. Everything else on that door is reinforced to the nth degree but the locks ........
And of course, a regular version for the back door. Please.
day late
money? whats that?
Kwikset SmartKey double deadbolts are available just about everywhere. They don't come in the undrillable version as far as I know. All colors that are normally available.
There is no back door. She's on the third floor.
kyrsyan
Has No Life - Lives on TB
So I need to contact a locksmith for the undrillable version? I don't really care about being able to rekey my own locks. I do like the difficult to pick/bump and difficult to drill. And I'll be willing to pay locksmith price for one if needs be. Probably even be willing to pay them to install if that is required. The locks on the house are one of the few weaknesses, mainly due to how the house was built. But I'll take it.
day late
money? whats that?
Turns out they do make them in double cylinder. Please note the shape of the housing around the lock. NOT just smooth edges.
day late
money? whats that?
Doofus, doofus, doofus! One thing that really pushes my civil skills to the limit is a customer that doesn't know what they are talking about, and then changes their mind after they have made their final decision. Such was the last job of today. I don't blame dispatch for not getting the call right. They do get them right most of the time. But calls like this....GRRRR!
The original dispatch told me I was going 40 minutes out of town. Once I got to the job I had to re-key two doors, both doorknob and deadbolt, drill two doors and install deadbolts. I also had to re-key two sliding glass doors. It is very unusual for a slider to had keyed locks, but it does happen. We don't carry anything to re-key them, it's so rare. I'm on the way when I call dispatch about this. The lady calls the boss. The boss calls me.
"We don't re-key sliders."
I know that. Dispatch has said that I will. We have a problem. More calls going on and the final choice was,
"Take measurements and then go to Home Depot and buy what you need."
Great! I get 2/3's of the job done and then leave to find a store in a strange town and get back to finish up, all in 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! So, this is what is on my mind when I arrive. The job is a little different.
The front door has a deadbolt and a handle with a thumb button. No lock, no keyhole. No re-key. The door leading to the garage has one deadbolt, and a knob without a lock or keyhole. The sliders on the back DON'T EVEN HAVE A LOCK. The couple has just moved in and are unsure what key goes to which. Finally, it is decided that I am to just re-key the two deadbolts. Then the lady came by.
"You know that lock is new, and the handle is old and weather stained. Can you wait a few minutes while I go to Home Depot and get a new one?"
I'm being paid by the hour. And I still haven't installed the new deadbolts yet. Go ahead, run to the store. That way you get what you want. Just before leaving the lady says, she is reconsidering the knob on the door to the garage. Do I have one that matches what she has and what I am installing? Yeah, I do. But do you want me to install it? I'll let you know when I get back.
I install the deadbolts while she is gone. A trip the husband said should have taken 15 minutes, took 35. He can't call her. She forgot her phone. She comes back with two different doorhandles, and askes what I think.
"Well, this one matches what you have."
"OK. Put that one on."
AFTER it is installed, she tells me,
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I want two locks on each door."
Now I have to remove the keyless handle I just put on and install the other one. I also find out that the keyless knob on the garage also must be replaced with a locking knob. Oh yes, they all need to be keyed the same.
What should have been a 45-minute job was over 2 hours. There are times in this job I just want to hurt somebody.
The original dispatch told me I was going 40 minutes out of town. Once I got to the job I had to re-key two doors, both doorknob and deadbolt, drill two doors and install deadbolts. I also had to re-key two sliding glass doors. It is very unusual for a slider to had keyed locks, but it does happen. We don't carry anything to re-key them, it's so rare. I'm on the way when I call dispatch about this. The lady calls the boss. The boss calls me.
"We don't re-key sliders."
I know that. Dispatch has said that I will. We have a problem. More calls going on and the final choice was,
"Take measurements and then go to Home Depot and buy what you need."
Great! I get 2/3's of the job done and then leave to find a store in a strange town and get back to finish up, all in 1/2 hour to 45 minutes. NOT GONNA HAPPEN! So, this is what is on my mind when I arrive. The job is a little different.
The front door has a deadbolt and a handle with a thumb button. No lock, no keyhole. No re-key. The door leading to the garage has one deadbolt, and a knob without a lock or keyhole. The sliders on the back DON'T EVEN HAVE A LOCK. The couple has just moved in and are unsure what key goes to which. Finally, it is decided that I am to just re-key the two deadbolts. Then the lady came by.
"You know that lock is new, and the handle is old and weather stained. Can you wait a few minutes while I go to Home Depot and get a new one?"
I'm being paid by the hour. And I still haven't installed the new deadbolts yet. Go ahead, run to the store. That way you get what you want. Just before leaving the lady says, she is reconsidering the knob on the door to the garage. Do I have one that matches what she has and what I am installing? Yeah, I do. But do you want me to install it? I'll let you know when I get back.
I install the deadbolts while she is gone. A trip the husband said should have taken 15 minutes, took 35. He can't call her. She forgot her phone. She comes back with two different doorhandles, and askes what I think.
"Well, this one matches what you have."
"OK. Put that one on."
AFTER it is installed, she tells me,
"Maybe I didn't make myself clear. I want two locks on each door."
Now I have to remove the keyless handle I just put on and install the other one. I also find out that the keyless knob on the garage also must be replaced with a locking knob. Oh yes, they all need to be keyed the same.
What should have been a 45-minute job was over 2 hours. There are times in this job I just want to hurt somebody.
feralferret
Veteran Member
You have to think that the only reason that some of these people are still alive is because you don't have to think in order to breath. If it required conscious thought, they would have suffocated years ago.
day late
money? whats that?
I SAID customers like the one yesterday test my level of civility. This morning, she called to complain about the 'disaster' that happened yesterday. She has no complaints about the work, just about me. I finally figured out how to describe it. She is the woman that hires movers and thinks she got interior decorators.
"Put the couch against that wall. No. A little to the right. Wait a minute, move a little to the left."
After it is where she wants it, other things are brought in.
"I've changed my mind. Move the couch against that other wall."
NONE of this is, of course, her fault. I just didn't anticipate what she was thinking before the thought even entered her head.
"Put the couch against that wall. No. A little to the right. Wait a minute, move a little to the left."
After it is where she wants it, other things are brought in.
"I've changed my mind. Move the couch against that other wall."
NONE of this is, of course, her fault. I just didn't anticipate what she was thinking before the thought even entered her head.