When is a locksmith not a locksmith?

So… i got called out to a job the other night to open a locked door where the customers mother had gone on holiday with the keys!

Obviously the customer didn’t want the lock destroying or changing as she had some keys inside the property and wanted to keep costs to a minimum.

What i mean with the above title is the customer called another locksmith prior to calling me and explained what was required and described the type of lock, this being a five lever mortice type. The other locksmith informed the customer that they didn’t ‘do’ mortice locks! This i find very strange, if your going to call yourself a ‘locksmith’ surely you should be able to open any lock?

So onto the lock in question. Non destructive entry! The lock was a ERA 5 lever BS3621 mortice sash lock, these have a hard plate over the case of the lock to prevent easy drilling, one option to drill the lock. This can be can be done and still keep the lock from being changed, saving the customer from paying for a new lock! It does take quite a bit of skill to be able to drill the lock and save it from destruction but any good locksmith can achieve this. I managed to open the lock in ten minutes by picking it open, no damage to the lock, customer very happy.

Mortice Sash lock

My first choice of gaining entry to any lock is ‘picking’ the lock open, this is easier to achieve on some locks than others, 5 lever BS3621 locks being the most difficult to ‘pick’ open. Luckily for me i have spent hours practicing and plenty of time on real jobs homing my skills to allow me to offer ‘non destructive entry’ as the first option to all openings. This saves any potential customer a lot of money by not charging for new locks. Obviously if the keys are lost the lock is made redundant and destructive entry is the quickest option for the customer wanting to get in their house.

So if you ever need a ‘locksmiths Sheffield’, locksmiths Huddersfield’ or a ‘locksmith in Barnsley’ give me a call, i pride myself in non destructive entry and don’t charge the earth for my services.

Thanks for reading.

Mike