I thought I would take time out to talk about some of the "big reliable national companies", what they are about and how they work.

These are call centres and they are popping up all over the country, there are literally hundreds now. They advertise in your our directories and on the internet targetting areas as "your local company" they are also also taking advantage of google maps (I have another locksmith round the corner from me, or rather I don't. Its a 0800 number diverting somewhere else in the country).

This is how it works in the few steps below;

1. False advertising using a bogus local address, phone number or an 0800 number to get your call.
   
2. A call centre will then gather your details to know what area of the country you are in and then tell you a price which will be quite inflated. Most want to take your credit card details at this point before any work has been carried out, and to your satisfaction.
   
3. They will then try to contact a real local company such as ourselves (we DO NOT sub - contract for these companies) to carry out the work for them at a % of what you are being charged usually 30-40%.
   
4. A tradesmen not employed by the company you have called will arrive to carry out the work. Most are not CRB checked and will have not been skill assessed (more often than not they are part skilled DIY / handmen) by the company you contacted. Now for most of the cowboys that do work for them, they can work out that if your bill is higher their peice of the pie gets bigger too. So more broken parts must be replaced that were not originally quoted for, again usually broken by the un-skilled tradesmen that doesn't know what he is doing.
   
5. You are now left with poor quality parts and workmanship. Parts that may have not been needed, and with a bill of normally double what a reliable local company would have charged. Some of their charges are nearly as much as having a new door fitted! They have billed you for your phone call and for their time to find a local tradesmen in your area, most real tradesmen won't work for these companies but alot of cowboys will.
   
6. If you have any problems with the work carried out by a national company, they will say its the sub- contractors fault and not theirs, passing the buck.
7. 7 Is where we get a phone call from you to put right the mess that the last so called tradesmen has carried out on your property, being billed twice for the one job. So why not make calling us step number 1.
   

You really have to be careful who you choose to carry out work on your home especially when it involves the security of it. But these companies will pedal their plumbers, electricians ect ect and all at your expense.

With the recent big freeze there has been alot of problems with UPVC doors and them contracting. The door moves away from the edge of the frame towards the hinge side, this makes the locking points slightly further away than usual, this can be felt by stiffness in the handle. If your having problems like this, your door needs to be adjusted before too much force is placed on the mechanism. This adjustment can keep your door serviceable for longer.

Another note, keep your doors locked when you are home. There has been alot of opportunist theives trying doors to see if they are unlocked.

I thought I would take some time to talk about the locksmiths industry at present.

With the recession alot of people have found themselves unemployed and with redundancy money to help them for their future.

Although a lot of people have seen adverts in national papers for locksmith training and earning potential of over £1000 a week after only 4-5 days of training. I must be doing something wrong as I have never seen that kind of money.

These fairy tale stories are just that, stories. They come from somebody who wants you to part with your hard earned money for a dream of success. These people have no concience, and many of them having only completed a 2 day course themselves have found it impossible to earn a living. So now they sell training for large sums, but have little if any experience within the locksmithing industry to pass on.

These basic skills are not enough to become a competent locksmith, as this takes many years of learning and experience.

Many will go on to work for national companies that you will only get paid a percentage. Its your time, your locks and only being paid 30-40% of the total job cost is not going to help keep you afloat.

If you are considering this industry, I would think again before parting with your money. Times are hard and many good experienced locksmiths are struggling and thats with their contacts, so what chance does a new start up now have. Going on figures over the last year or two a 5% chance of success.

Its July and its summer, things should be great but, the weather has been poor and the ammount of burglaries this month is a bad one.

There have been a number of thefts from properties after the theives have been targeting UPVC doors because of their vulnerabilities. I can not divulge too much, but these vulnerabilities are know by criminals and it is really easy for them to get in and take what they want.

They target a house at night and take possessions such as laptops ect, but the most common item they are after, are car keys. Many vehicles are later found, but burnt out.

In some instances the door are not shut and locked properly. Check you house is locked properly before heading to bed.