ASAP Lock and Security, LLC  In Locks We Trust
(480) 380-2080

The Locksmith and The Lock Out

Ok this one is for the locksmiths.  I know you’ll understand. I received a lockout call from a guy REALLY needing me fast (sometimes customers plead) to get him back into his house.  His dog supposedly had jumped on the door and locked the deadbolt.   Kinda funny.  So I give him our lockout fee on the phone, he said fine and I head to Gilbert.  I arrive and the guy is on his phone talking about auctions and looking frazzeled.  I ask for his credit card information and he tells me  it’s in the house.  He does, however have a drivers license on him and I write down all of his information.

So…I write up the invoice ask again if this is going to be on a credit card.  He says yes, or cash okay?   So I set to work.  As he’s talking non-stop (this is always fun for concentration) I pick open his lock and get him into his house.   And the story begins.

Frantically s,huffling around his messy cubicle area in the kitchen he says “Oh I hope it’s here.”

Even more so…as I glance around, I see  he has stuffed animals in his foyer.  Attention Locksmiths in Gilbert, Mesa, Phoenix and wherever.  NEVER and I mean NEVER trust a 47 year old man (obviously a bachelor) who decorates his home with stuffed animals.   Something wrong there.

And wouldn’t ya know it.  “Oh it’s in my Mercedes.’ He says . ‘And they took it. “

I’m like “huh?”  ‘Took it?’   He mutters something about his receptionist..blah blah.

I really don’t care at this point and I’m starting to become very suspicious  and frankly,  irritated with this guy.

So…back to the story.  I inform this guy, that we usually do not accept personal checks for lock outs, but I guess I’ll have to for this situation.  He says “Oh I don’t have a  check book, everything is in my briefcase in the car and I’m going to get it as soon as I take a shower.”  I mean.  What’s a locksmith to do?”  I’m still thinking well, this guy ‘looks’ legit…well, except for the stuffed animals.

And  I’m not a real estate agent, I’m a locksmith in Gilbert, AZ but I’d say this guy’s home was in the mid-400K range with a hefty HOA fee to pay for the green water on Val Vista Lakes.   He was in work-out clothes from the country club, and he said he just bought the house four months ago.

So he is even going to tip me for my trouble because I was so fast and proficient (okay well THAT was true) and THANK YOU SO MUCH.  And so, I leave and expect him to phone the office later on  and give us  his  credit card information.  So I drove away.  Yup. I love to wishful think.

He took the dead beat customer award of the year.  Lying in saying our office wasn’t open, imagin telling me when our drop office is open or not?  “I can’t read my credit card information, my eyes are bad” “I he couldn’t drop off the cash I had meetings.”   “I was going to stop by your office. My car wouldn’t start” Uggh. JUST MAIL IT!  Of course then it would have been “Check’s in the mail.”  Check?  I’m not going to deposit your deadbeat check and then get a bounced-check fee!

Then I’m asking myself.  How does this guy,  and in the mass course of conversations with this deadbeat,  I find out HE’S A CAR DEALER!   How is it that this con-artist , dishonest guy,  get to live in a nice gated community, in a beautiful home (with his stuffed animals)  on Val Vista Lakes in Gilbert?  No money. Bounced Checks. Maxed out credit cards.  And he told me he just bought the place and moved in?

Well, I don’t get it.  And probably never will.  He was probably lying about EVERYTHING.  All he had to do was tell me that he was broke and I’m sorry but it will be a week.  I still would have been annoyed, but…none-the-less not feeling taken advantage of.  I mean TELL THE TRUTH.  Uggh.  I mean, who are you?  A member of Congress ?

Sometimes, the things that can happen to locksmiths in Phoenix valley, or any other service company like plumbers, A/C  companies.  We can be victimized.  This story?  This guy gave us the runaround for a simple lockout fee like you wouldn’t believe!  I personally stayed with him for it.  Phone calls and tag your it bulls**t  and all.  And I didn’t do it for the lockout fee.  I did it becase it’s immoral to steal.  PERIOD.    Legally,  it’s called “Theft of Services”   And the judges here in good ole Arizona do NOT look kindly on people who don’t pay their bills and try to scam companies.  It’s STEALING.

Locksmiths deal with enough criminal activity issues on a daily basis AND we work hard to provide a much needed service to the residents of the valley.

Now,  ASAP Lock & Security has newer, more strict policy about our lock out calls. And it goes like this:

For a lockout, if you don’t have a credit card to give to us ON THE PHONE before we depart to come help, you can have  someone you know who can call and have them give us their credit card information,  or you can have cash with you when we arrive or we are NOT going to provide lock out service.

I wish I didn’t have to tighten it down like this, but it’s too much stress on me and my locksmith team, too much time away from other jobs and customers we could be assisting.  And too much aggravation to be chasing after payments and feeling ripped off.  So…that’s the end of it.  Attention local news channels, don’t Blame it on the Locksmith.  Blame it on the used car dealer.