Locked Out?

 Ok, so you are locked out of your home, business or vehicle. Time is ticking and you need to re-gain access to your property as soon as possible with the least amount of damage possible. What do you do? Here are some things to help you through this process and to make sure that you have the best possibility of getting back in.

To start find a locksmith before you need one! The locksmith industry is not regulated in every state and there are a lot of people that are calling themselves locksmiths that are not. If you are out of town and your local locksmith you have worked with before can't help you, see if they know of someone in the area that you are currently in. If you can not reach your go to locksmith, or you don't have one, look up findalocksmith.com. This site is set up by ALOA (The Associated Locksmiths of America). Any locksmith on this site has been vetted by the leading organization for training locksmiths. The locksmiths on this site are members of ALOA and using one of them will give you the best opportunity to get the job done correctly.

The next step is to make sure you have the proper documentation to prove that you have the authority to gain access to the property. A LEGITIMATE locksmith will require some sort of proof that you are who you say you are. They will also go through processes to verify that you have the legal authority to gain access to the property you are requesting into. It is very important to make sure that if you move that your drivers license is updated with the correct address. If you just purchased a property keep a piece of mail with your name on it that ties you to that address. Take a picture of the closing agreement and keep it on your phone until you have a chance to update your license address. In the case you lock your keys in your car, keep a copy of your insurance card in your wallet that has your vehicles make and model on it. 

Some "locksmiths" will open anything up as long as you have a form of payment. Let that sink in, it only takes a couple of calls from a google search to find someone that is willing to open anything up as long as you have a form of payment. Scary huh? These people are not locksmiths and deserve whatever legal consequences that will eventually come their way. I will make a future post that will go over things to consider to reduce the risk of this.

There are so many reasons you want to make sure that we as legitimate locksmiths require some sort of proof of authorized access. What if there is a domestic abuse situation? What if there is a nasty divorce revenge scenario? What if there is an estate dispute where one of the parties is not wanting to play by the rules? What if someone knows you are out of town and wants to to gain access to your house to perform a theft of your property?

As you can see there are many reasons you would want your locksmith to make sure before they open something up, that they are making sure they are opening for the right person. So when you are locked out and panicking, please understand why the locksmith is requiring different forms of proof before they open something up for you. If you do find someone that is willing to just open up a property for you on your word alone, I would not use that service provider. I have had many people say to me "It's my property and I would not lie to you!" Well in response to that, I don't know you and I can't be 100% sure of that without knowing you.

Another thing you can do is make sure there is a spare key in a secret hiding spot on your property in case of emergency. This also comes in handy if you are out of town and have someone coming over to take care of the pets. I get this call quite frequently and it is a much more difficult process getting all the the things verified to be able to grant access.

In closing be as prepared as you can for when this happens to you. It happens to all of us. It may be a little inconvenient in the moment having to jump through all these hoops just trying to regain access to your own property. To be honest though, the more questions that are asked and the more strict the policies are of the person that has the ability to bypass your locks, the better.

New Home Buyer

 NEW HOME BUYER? 

    If you just recently purchased a new home, congratulations! I'd like to take a moment and go over a few things you might want to consider about your locks on your home. There are some things that you might not have thought about and some things you might have not known could even be an issue. Your home is the number one place where you want to feel safe and comfortable. Here are a few things to consider to make sure that it is.

    First of all, anytime you purchase a new home you want to get it re-keyed. How many times in the past have you given a key out to someone to take care of things while you were away? Everyone has. How can you be sure that when you purchased this house that all copies ever made of the key are accounted for and in you possession? Unless this is a brand new home just built for you, you probably can't. Also if this house is a new build there is another issue we need to go into. When the home builders come through and construct these homes, they almost always CONSTRUCTION MASTER KEY them. Construction master keying is a way to manipulate the lock so that the workers have access to all the homes until they are built and possession is taken over by the owner. At that point when the home owner inserts their key into the lock and turns it, a process happens that voids out the contractors key and the contractor should no longer have access to the property. This is a common practice and does function as intended. The only caveat to that is any time master pins are inserted into a lock it exponentially adds to the number of keys that inadvertently work the lock. Even though the contractor's keys won't work it and your neighbor's keys won't work it, there are quite a few other keys out there that will.

    Secondly, is there one key that currently works all the locks or is there multiple keys? Do you want to have just one key or are you ok with the possibility of multiple? There are many reasons why the house could currently be on multiple keys. In fact when Hood's Locksmith Service goes out to rekey a home it is more time than not that there are multiple keys to the house. Maybe a lock broke and the previous home owner just went to the hardware store and grabbed a new one. Maybe they had a lockout situation and the person that came out to let them back in drilled out the lock and replaced it with whatever they had. There are quite a few scenarios to explain it, just don't automatically assume that they are all on the same key. It is not a common occurrence that I have seen. A locksmith can advise you on what needs to happen to make sure all of your locks operate the way you want them.

    Lastly, maybe you don't want to have to always use a key to access your home. Well there are options for that also. Keypad locks are the new thing everyone seems to want these days. They do offer quite a bit of convenience but do sacrifice a little bit of security. There are many options from Smart Home Wi-Fi enabled, stand alone, audit trails, multi user, and so on. They are very convenient if you are a techy person, but do have some draw backs. Anytime something is hooked up to the internet there is a possibility, even though in most cases a small one that the lock could be accessed by someone you did not give permission to. There are locks that are stand alone that do not hook up Wi-Fi that are more secure, but you need to make sure your pin code is something not easily guessed. You also definitely want to make sure that they have a key override in case the battery happens to die. These locks do have a lot of benefits for certain people and can simplify a lot of would be issues for the on the go person of today.

    In conclusion, It is a really good idea to get those locks re-keyed when you take possession of your new home. Hood's Lock would be glad to assist with the process of finding what solution works best for you and then getting it done for you. Please feel free to contact us with any questions you may have.

    

Is it ok to drill a lock?

Today was busy for a Saturday! Saved yet another customer from being taken advantage of by the "scammer locksmiths". The guy told this lady that the lock could not be picked......without even trying and that it had to be drilled and replaced.

I had the lock picked within 10 min and had her back in her house. I will admit that not every lock can be picked easily. I will also admit that there have been a few times I have had to drill a lock. I ALWAYS try to pick the lock first, any legitimate locksmith will.

Sometimes locks just refuse to pick in a reasonable amount of time and drilling is necessary. At some point there comes a time when you just have to do what needs to be done to get someone out of the elements and back into their home.

You don't go to step B before you get done with A. If you hire a "Locksmith" out and he or she comes walking up to your door automatically with a drill and a drill bit, tells you that locks cant be picked that's only in movies, SEND THEM HOME.

Make sure your locksmith is local!

Don't get taken advantage of by phony locksmiths. These "scammer" locksmith companies have been giving the industry a bad name. Basically what happens is you need into your car or home, you go to the phone book or the online search engine of your choice. You type in locksmith from your phone and get a few of the local listings available in your area, or you start dialing from the phone book. If you are lucky you will find a legitimate locksmith, the odds are not in your favor though.  What happens is your call gets routed to a call center in some other city. You get quoted a rate that seems more than reasonable. When the "locksmith" shows up they might be able to actually do the job without damaging your vehicle or lock. Once again the odds are not always in your favor. Upon completion of services you receive a bill that has sky rocketed from your original quote. When you ask why there is a difference,  you will more than likely get some drawn out story about how the office quoted you for just the service call alone, and this and that had to be done to get you taken care of. There have been people that have been bullied into paying 3 or 4 times what they were quoted.

Ok, so who can you trust? How can you tell the good from the bad? Well the phone book or the search engine listing isn't always the best place to start. The best place to start is through a referral, call a friend or a couple of friends. We all know somebody who has locked themselves out at least once. Ask them who they used and how they thought the service was. Next thing you can do if you are going to use the internet is utilize services like Angie's List. Reputable services like this usually won't steer you wrong, and if there is a bad experience the company almost always tries everything in their power to make it right. Next thing you would want to try is check out local listings and see what people are saying about these companies. If the company has had a few good reviews from people that have used their service,  it is worth a shot.

Another thing to keep in mind is that if the price quote sounds too good, it probably won't stay that way. When the "locksmith" gets there, before he performs any service, GET THE QUOTE IN WRITING! A good locksmith will be able to give you an estimate and pretty much stick to it. The reason I say "pretty much" is that you don't always know what lies beneath the obvious, but they will confirm that you want the work done before proceeding. Legitimate locksmiths have been trained and had enough field experience to be able to predict worst case scenarios. So keep in mind that if you are getting quoted  an extremely low price, you running a risk of a hiring someone not very capable of doing the work right, or a final bill that looks quite different from the quote. Real locksmiths quotes will usually tend to be a little higher than the phonies, but you will be getting a competent technician. 

Make sure you locksmith is local and legit! Anyone needing service in the Indianapolis and surrounding areas give me a call. Click HERE for contact information to Hood's Locksmith Service. If  for some reason I can not solve your problem, I have no problems referring one of my capable competitors. I would love your business, but I am backed up or unavailable, I want to make sure YOU are taken care of professionally and promptly.

Who has the keys to your house?

I was talking with my friend Andy Corman from A.C. Trash Hauling, he gave me an idea for a question to ask of everyone. Do you know who has your house key? For those of you who have been living in your house for quite some time,  I am sure that you have a good idea. What about the new home owner, or those of you who have just been in the house for a couple of years? Did you have the locks re-keyed when you moved in? Most people's response is either "No" or  "I can't remember, why?" Here is some food for thought.  Have you ever given your key to the neighbor or a family member to let the pet out when you couldn't make it home on time? Have you ever left your key with someone to bring in the mail when you went on vacation? I know I have. When you think about it, most of us have. Some people still  the put the key under the doormat.  So that brings me back to the question of who has a copy of your key? Most people don't think of calling a locksmith out when they get their new home. Your home is usually your single most expensive investment that you make in your lives. Somehow the homes security seems to be in the back of everyone's mind. There could be dozens of people that have access to your home. Making that call to the locksmith can benefit you in a couple of ways. First you have the peace of mind in knowing that you are the only one who has the key to your home. Secondly most homes these days have a couple of  locks that don't use the same key, some people even have the infamous lock that has no key. The locksmith can  make you a fresh unique key to your house, but we can also solve that multiple key problem. Wow all the locks on the same key, even better a key for every lock. Keep this in mind if you are moving or have recently moved. There are a lot of expenses when purchasing a home. This is a necessity  that is often over looked. If you would like to find out what the cost would be to make your home more secure click  HERE and it will take you to the Hood's Locksmith Service website. Give me a call or email me.

Hood's Locksmith Service Blog

Hello all, Hood's Locksmith Service, LLC is now set up to blog. For those who do not know us yet we are a mobile  locksmith service in the Indianapolis area. We mainly serve the Northern Indianapolis, Noblesville, Carmel, Fishers, Geist areas. Our services include keys made and duplicated, locks re-keyed, locks installed and repaired, emergency lockout services, etc. We offer many services, to find out what we can do for you contact us @ (317) 698-0146 or visit us on our website www.hoodslock.com or email us at service@hoodslock.com. We look forward to doing business with you.