DurfBarian
New member
* grabs madly at stack of cards *
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- Thread starter Shade
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The locksmith business is pretty close to organized criminality. They are also sabotaging each other by making fake calls, raising false alarms, producing computer-generated spam etc.
If I lose my keys and cannot enter the car, house or whatever, I would rather throw a stone into a window or spend a night in the garden shed than feed these vultures.
Edit: Oh, hello Durf, I didn't reckon with you right now! Aren't you terribly busy in the UK, with being blamed for as much as possible?
Edit 2: Double sentence removed.
If I lose my keys and cannot enter the car, house or whatever, I would rather throw a stone into a window or spend a night in the garden shed than feed these vultures.
Edit: Oh, hello Durf, I didn't reckon with you right now! Aren't you terribly busy in the UK, with being blamed for as much as possible?
Edit 2: Double sentence removed.
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@DurfBarian: Sadly some cards had already disspeared, in my drunken stupor I have no idea where they went and what i did with them, they'll turn up at some point though. Some others might also have grabbed some cards.
I don't know how old the lock was. It was in there when i bought the house, which is 10 years ago in a few weeks. So at least 10 years.
It broke because i put the key in and turned it to unlock said door. Didn't even put any real pressure on it so i think it was just metal fatigue on the key. I got the part that was in the lock out, so if i had my spare key with me i could've gotten in. Unfortunately that was safely locked away inside my house.
I will have that key duplicated sometime soon because the lock on the backdoor uses the same key. Also i'm now carrying 2 copies of my new frontdoor key just in case. But yeah in hindsight i might've been better off breaking a window. On the other hand you could say i would've also been better off if i had called guy 2 first. Would've also been 100 euros cheaper since i wouldn't have had to pay the evening tariff.
Somewhat related story: When i was young i had to rescue the neighbours once because they locked themselves out. They had left the bathroom window open and i was small enough to crawl through it to let them back in.
While looking after someone's pets while they were away, I was given the same set of keys that I had used previously during their last trip. I arrived at their house in late afternoon, and for whatever reason, the keys didn't turn. They were the same keys, but at some point, the key had changed shape or lost some form, and just didn't work. I spent well over an hour trying the keys, trying different locks and doors, jumping fences, and finding hidden sets of keys that weren't actually for the house, calling the owners, and back and forth messages.
They had a friend with another set of keys, but she had to drive 25minutes one-way to drop them off. The option if that wouldn't work was for me to break through one of the back windows and they'd get someone to fix it the following day.
They had a friend with another set of keys, but she had to drive 25minutes one-way to drop them off. The option if that wouldn't work was for me to break through one of the back windows and they'd get someone to fix it the following day.
Last time I had to do something that was 5 years ago. The door fell shut and nobody had a key. It's one of those with this damn immovable knob outside. Luckily, the toilet window was in a tilted position. So there we were, my mother, my father and I, being 75, 82 and 47 years old, so it was obviously me who had to do it.
All I had to do was climb a ladder, kind of unhinge the window, open it, grab the frame with the hands, enter with the feet first (did I mention that it's just just 30cm x 40cm wide?), without losing the grip and breaking my skull, and then land on the toilet seat while breaking nothign if possible.
I also did that a few times when I was in school, forgot the keys and came back early, so nobody was at home. Not with a ladder, but using the trashcan in order to reach the window. That was in the 1980s, however.
jonny5
New member
When I was a child I once had to climb into the family home through the kitchen window - my mom was not happy that I stepped in the sink with dirty shoes. My dad was just happy because we didn't have to break any windows. Fun to see their differing concerns in that moment.
Perhaps i should start writing a book. The lock saga continues...
When guy 2 installed the lock 2 days ago he made my try it to approve. Worked like a charm. Yesterday when i came home i had trouble opening it, but i did get in. So i was already cautious. This morning i was like: if i have trouble getting in again today i'll have to give them a call. Guess what happened. I didn't even get in. Tried for 10 mins. Didn't work.
Called again. Lady i got on the phone was like: Do you have the billingnumber so i can find the guy that helped you last time? Me: If i can get in my house i can because that's where the bill is. So she would try to figure it out anyway and call me back. After 10 mins sitting in front of my house i called them again. Got same lady. She was still searching (or so she claimed at least because it didn't really sound like that). She'd call me back in 5. It was a bit more than 5, but at least she called back.
Got called by guy 2. He was on his way to someone else and could help me after that. Which would be in about another hour and a half. I bet you can imagine how enthusiastic that message was received. But again: what you gonna do? After hanging up i was ready to bang my head against the wall. Only silver lining seemed to be that both Tuesday and today the weather was good, while yesterday it was raining.
Anyhow, since there was nothing more to do but sit and wait i decided to give it another go. Even though my fingers already hurt from trying. Another short 5 mins later somehow i finally got it to open. Eureka. I would not have to wait out the hour and a half outside.
After a good while guy 2 showed up. Not an hour and a half, but another 15 mins added to that. So i was really glad i got to sit on my couch while waiting. Turns out the inner workings of the lock (or however that's translated to English) was also broken. Apparently that's pretty much the most expensive thing that could break on a door so once again i was overjoyed. But not really. Seems like guy 2 took pitty on me because he only made me pay for the material costs which were still 250 euro's. Since it was already outside his regular working day (he said if it were for someone else he would've come tomorrow) and he did a great job in helping me i slipped him something extra because i felt he didn't need to work for totally nothing.
And in case you're curious about guy 1. Never saw or heard from them again. I bet they never even send someone to help me.
When guy 2 installed the lock 2 days ago he made my try it to approve. Worked like a charm. Yesterday when i came home i had trouble opening it, but i did get in. So i was already cautious. This morning i was like: if i have trouble getting in again today i'll have to give them a call. Guess what happened. I didn't even get in. Tried for 10 mins. Didn't work.
Called again. Lady i got on the phone was like: Do you have the billingnumber so i can find the guy that helped you last time? Me: If i can get in my house i can because that's where the bill is. So she would try to figure it out anyway and call me back. After 10 mins sitting in front of my house i called them again. Got same lady. She was still searching (or so she claimed at least because it didn't really sound like that). She'd call me back in 5. It was a bit more than 5, but at least she called back.
Got called by guy 2. He was on his way to someone else and could help me after that. Which would be in about another hour and a half. I bet you can imagine how enthusiastic that message was received. But again: what you gonna do? After hanging up i was ready to bang my head against the wall. Only silver lining seemed to be that both Tuesday and today the weather was good, while yesterday it was raining.
Anyhow, since there was nothing more to do but sit and wait i decided to give it another go. Even though my fingers already hurt from trying. Another short 5 mins later somehow i finally got it to open. Eureka. I would not have to wait out the hour and a half outside.
After a good while guy 2 showed up. Not an hour and a half, but another 15 mins added to that. So i was really glad i got to sit on my couch while waiting. Turns out the inner workings of the lock (or however that's translated to English) was also broken. Apparently that's pretty much the most expensive thing that could break on a door so once again i was overjoyed. But not really. Seems like guy 2 took pitty on me because he only made me pay for the material costs which were still 250 euro's. Since it was already outside his regular working day (he said if it were for someone else he would've come tomorrow) and he did a great job in helping me i slipped him something extra because i felt he didn't need to work for totally nothing.
And in case you're curious about guy 1. Never saw or heard from them again. I bet they never even send someone to help me.
@Cyrax - Do you not have a form of warranty there? In this case, you bought something that was damaged, faulty, loose, or ineffective for its purpose. It should be replaced by them, otherwise they can just install faulty locks everywhere that break within a short time-span, and get further payment to "fix" their mistake/dodgy products or materials.
It doesn't sound like you could have done anything to break the lock in such a short time (improper use, such as using the wrong key or screwdriver,) which would void the warranty.
It doesn't sound like you could have done anything to break the lock in such a short time (improper use, such as using the wrong key or screwdriver,) which would void the warranty.
Which bit did they replace first time? If they only changed the lock barrel bit then the rest of it was broken a double charge is not that unexpected alas. I have changed the lock barrel before on my own doorbecause one side was broken.
Depending on the length of the lock barrel too and even if the key has broken, provided it is the right way round for sticking a key in its possible to stick the spare key in the other side to push the first key out enough to get back out. Or in the case i have had before push the key on the inside out enough so i can open the door from the outside cos my gran had left the key in door and being part deaf wasn't answering the doorbell
Depending on the length of the lock barrel too and even if the key has broken, provided it is the right way round for sticking a key in its possible to stick the spare key in the other side to push the first key out enough to get back out. Or in the case i have had before push the key on the inside out enough so i can open the door from the outside cos my gran had left the key in door and being part deaf wasn't answering the doorbell
.At first i was really like: I'm not gonna pay again because you can't fix things properly. But the guy convinced me that it was a seperate issue. So me: Ok, if you can show me it's NOT the thing you did two days ago i'll pay. Otherwise i won't. But it was a different thing. Although i still find it highly suspect that two seperate things break within two days after working fine for at a minimum the 10 years i live here.
I'm having bad luck for over half my life now. I doubt i'll suddenly run out.
Frankly there may be more on the way because for the last six months or so i'm having a feeling that there's something wrong in my chest near my heart. Most of the times i just feel it. Sometimes it hurts a bit. Probably should've had that checked out by a doctor already.
I'm having bad luck for over half my life now. I doubt i'll suddenly run out.
Frankly there may be more on the way because for the last six months or so i'm having a feeling that there's something wrong in my chest near my heart. Most of the times i just feel it. Sometimes it hurts a bit. Probably should've had that checked out by a doctor already.
