A Phoenix Locksmith Blog

93 Toyota ignition

Friday, August 14, 2015

So we went on a job pretty late in the afternoon/early evening to replace the ignition on a 93 Toyota. The customer had called us a few days ago for a quote and Andrew explained over the phone that he might be able to repair the ignition but it might also need to be replaced. He gave the customer a price quote for both services. The customer called back today to have us come out and get her car back on the road.

After the customer explained to us that the ignition was completely locked Andrew got to work. He explained to me on the way to the job that those ignitions work on a split wafer design and sometimes one of the wafers will wedge it self on top of another stopping the ignition from being able to turn and that was probably what was going on. He also explained that if he could get the ignition to turn one last time he should be able to repair the ignition rather than replacing it. Potentially saving the customer a lot of money.

Andrew hopped in the car after talking with the customer and tried turning over the ignition. He spent a long while trying to get this ignition to turn, used several different tools and little tricks he has picked up over the years but it just wouldn't move. At that point he let the customer know that her old ignition was irreparable and that he would need to replace it. He gave her the price before starting any work, explained to her what he was going to have to do to the get the old ignition out, the customer agreed, so he grabbed a new ignition we had in stock and started rekeying it to the customers original key.

The customer was worried she might have another key to keep track of but Andrew reassured her that her original key would work and he would even make a few extra code cut keys back to the factory specifications. While Andrew was in the van working on the new ignition it got dark really fast. After he got the new ignition keyed we hurried to get the ignition in, tested it a few times, put everything back together and got on our way. The customer was stoked that we were able to get her back on the road and that we didn't charge her more than the prices Andrew originally quoted her over the phone.

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Society of Professional Locksmiths (SoPL)

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

So today Andrew got accepted into the Society of Professional Locksmiths. It is an organization dedicated to promoting real locksmiths around the world. They offer training and certificate programs as well as help with expanding your business. Andrew had to interview with the owner of the organization and they had a long conversation about the locksmith industry and ways they could work to improve it. As you can imagine a popular topic of conversation among locksmiths is the scammers. They are a problem every where and this organization got started as a way to help distance legitimate locksmiths from the scammers and to try and help educate the general public. We look forward to working with SoPL in the future.

YouTube Channel and Website changes

Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Over the last three or four days (I have kind of lost count) Andrew and I have been hard at work making improvements to the website. Getting this blog live was a big one. We also added a few more pages to the site outlining our service area. We still have more to add there but it is coming along. We added a section with a short bio of both Andrew and my self with links to our social media sites (Facebook, Google+, Linkedin, etc.).Another big thing we accomplished was launching the Andrews Lock and Key YouTube channel. We have one video uploaded right now going over how to decode and cut a Schlage key on the new Ninja Laser made by Bianchi. We have a few more videos we are editing including some introduction videos, so soon you'll get to see the ugly mug behind the blog. I have been doing a ton of writing and web site research trying to get the information out there to our customers. It has been a long few days but very informative. I hope some of this information helps current and future customers.

Dont fall victim to the Scammers!!!

Sunday, August 09, 2015

So one of the biggest problems locksmiths face day to day is having to compete with the hundreds of locksmith scammers that are out there. You might have heard of them but what are they? When you google locksmith you will be flooded with results claiming $15-$20 service calls. You think that sounds like a good deal so you call them up.

When they answer the phone they typically greet you by saying "locksmith" and when they are pressed to provide a legitimate company name they fall short and are unable to do that. They tell you over the phone that it is $15-$20 for the service call, then $50 for the first hour of labor "on up" or "at minimum". Say you called them because you were locked out of your house.

Any legitimate locksmith is going to try and pick the lock first. They are going to try your door to figure out if both locks are locked or just one. When a scammer arrives they are going to give you a higher price and tell you that they need to drill the lock right away. If the technician that arrives goes right for the drill with out trying to pick the lock then you need to decline the work and ask him to leave. When you call a legitimate locksmith they should greet you with the company name or give you the company name right away when asked.

They should be able to give you a fairly accurate price quote over the phone. When they arrive they should greet you and ask about your problem right away. They should try and assess the situation before beginning any work. If the quote they gave you over the phone needs to change for any reason up or down in price they should tell you before starting any work. These are the signs you're dealing with a true professional locksmith. Please save our number in your phone and give us a call any time, day or night, and we will be there to assist in any way possible.

Robbed!!!

Thursday, August 06, 2015

So about two weeks ago I got sent out on a re-key for a customer who just had his home burglarized. I got to the house and the customer was a younger guy that just moved from the east coast to Arizona to go to ASU. His girl friend broke up with him after they got out here and he was left with nothing. It was really clear just by the look on this guys face he was burnt out. The re-key was pretty quick, it was only one lock. I ended up spending almost 2 hours at the house talking to him about security measures he could take, the laxed gun laws in AZ, some good sources for fire arm education, and some pointers on how to properly secure his house.

He showed me how the burglars got in. He didn't close his back door all the way. He was in a hurry, didn't slide it closed all of the way, and so it was left unlocked and open. Right as I grabbed my phone to call Andrew he was already calling me. He had been speaking to the property owner about installing a charley bar. For those of you that don't know what that is, it is a bar that installs on to the sliding door that stops it from opening. It sits about mid door and has a locking pin that keeps the bar secure when it is in the down position. The customer also had his spare car key stolen and was worried about the thief's coming back in the night to take his car so I recommended buying a wheel club.

It was a pretty good feeling helping this kid out. Part of me felt really bad for him. When I was a kid someone broke in to my childhood home and made off with a ton of my moms jewelry as well as my music collection and stereo. I remember how my family and I felt that day and wanted to try and make this guy feel a little better if I could..