Josh-the-Locksmith
25 Years Experience
Austin, TX
Male, 46
I've been a locksmith since 1998. I did automotive residential & commercial work from 1998 to 2008. From 2008 to 2018, I did some residential, but mostly commercial work. I have been project managing & estimating since 2018. I used to locksmith in the Chicago area, now the Austin area.
1- it's impossible to truly know who the owner is. The best we can do is take as much information as we can just in case things go south. So we get a drivers license, plate, year, make & model, location, time, name, address, & phone number. If it's a home, the drivers license or a piece of mail has to have the address on it. 2- if you don't have money, we don't do the service. If you don't have ID, we prob wouldn't do the service unless it was a special circumstance. 3- to my knowledge, there aren't any laws i know of that saw you can't over-charge people. But in many states it's illegal to operate as a locksmith without a permit or license. A lot of these guys are contractors & do not have one. I tell people all the time that everyone should have the name & phone number of a reputable locksmith in their phone. It's your job to research the company you're hiring. There are a LOT of crooked companies out there, & the only thing that can stop them is smart & knowledgeable customers. Leave reviews on Yelp & Google, report them to BBB. Ask for a quote before they do the work. If you don't like it, call someone else. You should never feel pressured or threatened.
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Glad to hear and you’re welcome.
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Well you have 2 options then. Take the lock off & take it to a locksmith, or call a locksmith to come out and make a key. Obviously the cheapest option would be to take it to a locksmith.
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I'm not familiar with strong box. A google search brought up quite a variety of different things. I would say see if you can order one from the manufacturer, otherwise if it is a fairly simple design, I'm sure a cylinder could be modified to work.
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Lifeguard
Are most public pools just gross lakes of bodily fluids?
Court Reporter
If your special keyboard lets you type 200+ words per minute, why doesn't everyone use them?
Firefighter
How can you tell if a fire was arson?
The drawer will need to be in the unlocked position to get the plug back in (usually). Put the paper clip all the way in the back of the plug and as you gently push in on the plug, push the spring-loaded wafer with your paper clip positioned all the way in the back.
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If you don’t have chip in your key, which I don’t believe you do, you should be able to. Passenger side would be your best bet for a few reasons. If a car manufacturer puts a code on a lock, it’ll be the passenger door lock (not all do). If you damage anything while taking it out, it won’t effect your every day use since you rarely open your passenger door.
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I got started in this field because my uncle is a locksmith. The easiest way is to apprentice for a locksmith. The pay would obviously start really low. There is also schooling you can do. Depending on the state, many require registration with the state with fingerprints, background check, & yearly continued education credits to keep your permit active.
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