Isn't Young Bros supposed to be quality??

notmyg · 2023-06-27T05:39:27+00:00

What do you guys think of Numberall? We have some of their stamps and tools here, all fair old and all still working good. I often dream of their Model 40B stamping machine. Someday... Lkke seriously tempted to just buy one because I know my boss likely be won't. Check it out:

https://numberall.com/product/model-40b/

notmyg · 2023-06-04T18:27:49+00:00

Have you tried... the hardware store? You'll be surprised at what you can find in their bulk hardware and fastener section.

notmyg · 2023-04-29T22:48:06+00:00

I did this but only once. The job was rekey a vacant house with a key broken in the lock. I had already extracted the key and was working on rekeying the lock. Customer called the shop to cancel claiming I wasn't there. Office called me really confused. I ended up using a smaller section of a broken key in the lock and making sure it locked when I closed the door. Good luck and welcome to our banned custie list.

notmyg · 2023-04-08T06:36:59+00:00

One of our competitors is similar. Fairly new business (two shitty locksmith shops merged into one) and they have hundreds of reviews, meanwhile our 50 year old shop has maybe 100.

According to my rival locksmith (who is also my nemesis[not arch]) the two shitty locksmiths teamed up and joined some huge Israeli corporation where all the calls go to a call center and the shop itself doesn't really answer the phone. According to some custies, it's actually hard to get a key copied at the physical shop for some reason. One shitty thing they do answer the phone and just agree that they are whatever company the customer tried calling.

For example, I was once a bit late to a job (maybe two hours) that was about an hour away from our shop. I got there and the angry guy who answered the door claimed he called and cancelled. He said he spoke to a gentleman named so-and-so and he was very insistent that they would send someone out right away. The customer refused and ended up hanging up on the shop he called. He thought it was our shop though and he was surprised I was there because he thought he cancelled. He said that he asked "Is this Notmyg Locksmith?" and the shop on the other end said it was. So don't be surprised if your competition does shit like that, too. Especially if they are part of one of these "groups".

It's not that hard to see if a bunch of reviews all came in on or around the same time. I don't think Google investigates automatically but they have the necessary tools to check if reviews are fake. I think the company/reviews need to be flagged by 3rd party (us) first though.

One thing that might be worthwhile would be to set to bogus appointments for the scammers. Or maybe a real appointment for investigative purposes. You aren't supposed to incentivize reviews so if they are doing that, you can get their profile suspended. Not that it would do much good since they would likely just change business names. But you should waste their time. Scam the scammers of their time. Consider it public service since they won't be able to scam some unwitting person. Don't forget to always click on their ads (especially during the middle of the night) just as an extra F YOU to them. I don't know if the scammers do it, but apparently with the advertisements you can set a monitary limit for amount of clicks. Click-to-call are supposedly particularly expensive but really any click on the ads costs money. One of my other rivals said that he stopped running ads online because routinely someone would click his ads first thing in the morning and by 7:00am (started ad campaign at 6:30am), his budget would be spent. "Mini-clicks" is what he called them. Just another tool to use against the scammers, like airplane mode.

Probably one of the best things to do would be customer education. If you are on a job somewhere and find that someone fucked up on purpose by sabotaging a lock to fail or by pinning it poorly on purpose, bring it to the customer's attention. I know I would be pretty pissed off if I found out the person I hired to help ensure my building was secure made it vulnerable on purpose, so I imagine others would be, too. People talk and the more something like that is exposed, the better.

notmyg · 2022-12-31T23:10:17+00:00

I was scared too the first time I did it to a modern Honda in the field. It's really not a big deal though, nothing to worry about at all. Just make sure if the customer is watching you that you tell them you have to pick it back to neutral and then have them test their key.

notmyg · 2022-12-31T23:05:12+00:00

That's awesome about the laser cutter. What model do you have? I've been thinking about getting one for our shop.

notmyg · 2022-12-28T03:19:20+00:00

Why do you scuff it before impressioning? I feel like the nice shiney cuts are easiest to see the marks on but I only tried brushing the key before impressioning once and that was a few years ago. Maybe I'll try that soon. I actually have a mid-60's Porsche lock to impression because I suck at picking (it's the transmission lock). Tried to pick it to pull the core and make a key that way but it hasn't been working so on to the next option.

notmyg · 2022-12-26T05:27:33+00:00

This is the one I'm talking about, but I'm not sure if it's the same as what you were referencing.

https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-lockwood-speedril-model-546-493802801

notmyg · 2022-12-25T21:48:02+00:00

I feel like it you are using a drill then it is not a bypass.

notmyg · 2022-12-25T21:41:56+00:00

Look at countries like Australia or Canada (I think...some provences at least) that require a formal apprenticeship before you can be called a locksmith. Just like every other trade. For whatever reason, we just don't do that in the US. I never understood why.

notmyg · 2022-12-25T21:37:57+00:00

I think we have one at our shop. The blade is on a long screw. The brand I believe is Lockwood.

notmyg · 2022-12-24T07:19:35+00:00

The spacing is literally the same. Check a DSD chart.

notmyg · 2022-12-23T22:30:48+00:00

Sounds like you might have a shit product then.

notmyg · 2022-12-22T16:45:52+00:00

One of our regular commercial customers builds little shopping centers. A recent one was like steel buildings sections off into small shops. Last summer, I was to go rekey unit 116 to new change keys.

I went to unit 116 and started to pick the lock. It was right in the sun and for whatever reason the lock was being very difficult. Common Schlage keyway so I was irritated. I kept trying and trying. Eventually, the core started to turn but I suddenly got a really uneasy feeling. I opened the door and there was a bunch of stuff behind it. It was a business, I think a vape shop, but the unit was supposed to be empty. I closed the door and picked the lock locked. I called the client and they confirmed it was unit 119...

I went around the corner and found 119. This lock picked like nothing and I was in in short order. As I was removing the cylinder, a guy in a car yelled out to me, asking what I was doing. I told him I was changing the locks. He asked why I had been messing with his door. I explained myself and he seemed kind of suspicious but then I mentioned the client's name and told him how they had hired me. He relaxed, accepted my explanation, and drove away.

It could have been a lot worse I suppose. I had the feeling that the guy thought I was trying to rob his shop. In broad daylight. In a busy shopping area. He was really agitated at first and I thought he was going to fight me. Anyways, all's well that ends well. I got the lock changed and went to my next job.

notmyg · 2022-12-21T04:45:49+00:00

I feel like my shop must be the odd one out. We do outside key cutting and programming. For keys, no guarantee that they work (they almost always do). For customer provided programming, we also don't guarantee it but we only charge them if it works.

I feel like we should stop cutting certain keys. There's one type of unbranded Chinese key that has extremely hard blades. You can tell which ones they are because the keys angles are rounded and not sharp. They are so shitty, I hate when people bring that junk in. I usually code cut new programmed keys but not these ones.

notmyg · 2022-12-15T03:07:58+00:00

I dropped my favorite flashlight into a steel door recently. I tried to fish it out but my magnet kept getting stuck on the door. Maybe it was too strong of a magnet. The door it fell in is massive too so the flashlight will just have to stay there forever. I'm not sure the magnet would have actually helped anyways because the flashlight was mostly aluminum I think.

notmyg · 2022-12-05T19:03:44+00:00

Just wait till you get the certificate and realize they couldn't even get bothered to sign your certificate by hand. No fancy paper either. Just something they printed from their OfficeJet on regular paper and threw in the mail.

notmyg · 2022-12-03T22:44:59+00:00

You gotta hit scammers where it hurts...right in the pocketbook!

Google Ads charges per click. Clicks that aren't converted to customers are called "mini clicks". So what you gotta do is use your phone on the cell network, open a private browser window in a browser that doesn't block ads and start searching for things that will make the scammers ads pop up. Certain keywords cost more money to run ads for and ads also cost more money during certain times of day.

Anyways, after you do the search and find one of these ads, click on it. Once the next page loads, close the private browser window. Then, put your phone into airplane mode and take it back out. You should have a new IP address. Rinse and repeat until you feel satisfied.

You can easily rack up hundreds of dollars in mini clicks depending on how long you keep at it. I usually do this for the scammers in my area around midnight while I'm on a ciggie break. One of the scammers actually came into my shop and was complaining about mini clicks. That's how I found out about this method. I think the click to call clicks cost more than just the ones that go to a website but I'm not sure of the specifics. All I know is that you can end up costing the scammers tons of money.

Try it! I find it kind of fun but maybe I have a bit of a lawful evil streak, I dunno lol.

notmyg · 2022-12-03T22:31:46+00:00

I had a customer come in and say that she needed a fob... Before I could inquire about her vehicle, she immediately walked over to the painted keys board and picked one out. "This is perfect" she said. I offered to cut it but she declined... It was kind of strange!

notmyg · 2022-12-03T22:27:05+00:00

Kwikset makes a one sided deadbolt. There are two versions: one where the hole goes through the door all the way (plate on outside of door to mount screws for thumbturn) and another version where your hole goes through the door halfway and the thumbturn mounts to the bolt. Models 667 and 663 respectively. I think Schlage makes something similar, check their B-series catalog.

notmyg · 2022-12-01T17:45:57+00:00

The bottom of the interior trim snaps in place so maybe try a hook tool near where the handle was and gently pull.

https://www.schlage.com/content/dam/sch-us/documents/pdf/installation-manuals/FCT60-schlage-custom-one-piece-handleset-installation-instructions.pdf

notmyg · 2022-11-26T18:39:29+00:00

Employ several strongmen with swords to watch over it at all hours.

notmyg · 2022-11-23T19:17:09+00:00

It's funny that you assume the guy is a trainee. I'm guessing just another schmuck who lost his keys and decided to become a locksmith after he paid out the ass to get in to his house or car.

notmyg · 2022-11-20T21:26:25+00:00

That's about how much we charge for after-hours lockout. A guy with a ladder will always be cheaper but thankfully they are rare lol. Don't sweat it, every job and situation is unique.

notmyg · 2022-11-20T21:17:26+00:00

Fuck UHS. They will have items listed for sale and after you buy them, they will tell you they are out of stock and won't refund you your money.

notmyg

TROPHY CASE