ADVICE ON FINDING A LOCAL LOCKSMITH IF YOU DON'T KNOW ANYONE LOCAL

If you look in the Yellow Pages (and in other places) for a locksmith (or plumber, etc.) you will find a whole series of adverts. These are mostly adverts of/for the “nationals”. These guys will place multiple adverts, all looking quite different, to net in the customers(YOU)Think about how much money they’ve spent on those adverts all over the country: how are they going to recoup that money? From you.

Ask yourself if they are going to employ a large workforce of locksmiths ready to get to anywhere in the country in a reasonably short time. No they’re not. In fact they’re not going to employ any locksmiths (or plumbers, etc.) at all. They will either be franchises or they will be call centres. And in the case of locksmiths they won’t be franchises, they’ll be call centres. Ask yourself how they’re going to recoup the cost of the call centre. From you.

These national call centres are simply going to farm the work out to their list of local locksmiths. And that will be a local locksmiths only if you’re lucky; it could very well be the nearest botcher with a nothing but a drill if you’re unlucky. The “nationals” themselves won’t be at all unhappy if “their” locksmiths tend to drill everything as it increases their margin. Some nationals, although not all thank goodness, even get cross when locksmiths pick locks open to resolve lockouts and lock sales are lost. Also the Nationals take 40% - 50% of the value of the job and the government take another 20%, not leaving the locksmith with , thus giving that locksmith an incentive to up his costs to re-coupe something for themselves.

So why take pot luck on which local tradesperson or botchers are called? Why pay a margin to a call centre? Call a local locksmith directly yourself.

How can you tell they’re local? Look at the phone number. Or if it’s an 0800 number look at the fax number. If you’re considering a locksmith that appears to be called local, but the telephone numbers are Essex, 087, 0845 etc… numbers you could be forgiven for suspecting they’re not really based in your local area. If the prefix number after the code match a pattern all look slightly similar, be wary. If you get a girl/guy with background sound then you are talking a national call centre, or you are asked a dozen questions and money up front, again you are through to a call centre...Just put the phone down and try again. A local person will sound down to earth and in most cases will be the one who you will meet to carry out what you want done.

I will list some of the nations later on to help people identify who is what and so on.

Goldi-Locksmith, A Family Run Local Locksmith.

Locksmith Wareham, Locksmith Poole, Locksmiths Bournemouth, Locksmiths Poole

What is "lock bumping" and are you aware of it.

Lock bumping might be referred to as lock picking’s lesser known cousin.  It’s an unfamiliar term at best. It is, however, at least as big a problem as lock picking, and perhaps even more sinister for what it entails. Bumping is a type of lock picking.  Instead of using typical lock picking tools though, all that is required is the use of a bump key.  It has, for this reason, the potential to be much more sinister than lock picking.

One of the biggest problems is that few locks are immune from lock bumping.  This is because most locks work on the same principle.  The most common type of lock, found on every home and business in the world, is the pin-and-tumbler lock.  To understand how lock bumping works, it helps to understand how a pin and tumbler system functions.

Inside every pin and tumbler lock is a cylinder (or key cylinder.)  Within the cylinder is a chamber (the plug) containing stacks of pins.  The pins it contains vary in length.  When the correct key is inserted into the cylinder, the ridges or teeth on the key match the pins inside.  Rotating the key causes the pins to spring apart and the plug to rotate.  This rotation releases the latch from the door jamb.

Trying to insert the wrong key will produce one of two results.  Either the key will not enter the cylinder at all, or, it will enter the cylinder, but won’t be able to rotate the plug because the match is incorrect.

Old-school lock picking usually requires a broad range of tools.  Lock bumping, in contrast, requires only one special key.  A lock bump key looks like an ordinary door key.  It would be unlikely to draw any suspicion, were it to be used to gain illegal entry to a home.

To the untrained eye, a bump key might pass for a regular key.  A closer inspection, though, would reveal that the teeth (or ridges) and the notches are even.  All of the cuts, in fact, are made to maximum depth.  They may also be referred to as “dummy keys” or “999″ keys.  The number “999″ is derived from the fact that the cuts are all made to a depth of nine.

Opening a door lock with a 999 key isn’t as simple as simply inserting and turning.  It does take a particular feel and a certain degree of practice, just as old-fashioned picking does.

What is alarming about lock bumping is that only two tools are required: a 999 key and a small “bump tool.”  A would-be criminal will draw much less attention to himself with a bump key than with a set of locksmithing tools.

Two other major factors increase the likelihood that home and business or commercial property owners will become the target of a lock bumper:

1) Lock bumping can be learned from the Internet.  Unfortunately, the World Wide Web is rife with how-to video teaching this practice.


2) Bump keys can be purchased relatively easily over the Internet.  It’s almost as easy as finding how-to videos.
Home and business owners are left in a vulnerable position.  However, there are things property owners to can do to protect themselves:


* Use a deadbolt lock in addition to a cylindrical or other type of door lock.  Deadbolt locks are much harder to bump than other types of locks.  Using both types has long been advised by locksmiths and security experts anyway.  This is just one more good case for doing so.


* Use an after market product.  Anti-bumping products can be purchased at hardware stores and online.  They are almost always worth the expense for the extra protection they provide.


* Purchase anti-bump locks.  Many lock manufacturers have come to recognize the magnitude of the problem.  They have begun to produce locks with extra anti-pick and anti-bump features built right in.
By employing one or more of these methods, property owners may decrease their chances of becoming victims of lock bumping by fifty percent or more.

Goldi-Locksmith, A Family Run Local Locksmith.

Locksmith Wareham, Locksmith Poole, Locksmiths Bournemouth, Locksmiths Poole