We got called out to a late night lockout in Bundoora this week, our new client had snapped his key off in the front door lock. Unfortunately instead of thinking ‘if the key’s not turning, there must be something wrong’ this customer decided to use excessive force to try and open the lock and, snap went the key.
After finding us online and making the call we were there in under 20 minutes.
I had the broken key out in record time. As with any lockout I began the process of advising our new client that he’d need to provide evidence that this was his residence before I could let him in. During this explanation he was fiddling with his keys. Suddenly, looking rather sheepish he spoke up. “I don’t think you need to let me into the house, I think I have another front door key on my key ring”.
His key ring had roughly 15 keys on it and sure enough, after a bit of fumbling around he slotted a key into the front doorlock, it turned and he was inside. It was then he admitted he must have put an old key in the front door. Usually the lock requires a bit of effort to turn and he thought it was just more stubborn than usual so he tried to force it. It didn’t occur to him that he had the wrong key.
Some tips and advice
Don’t keep old keys on your key ring – If there is a chance you might need your old keys, keep them on another key ring that you don’t carry around. You will save your pockets, carry less weight and there’s no chance of using the wrong key in current locks. You can also damage your car ignition by having a heavy key ring dragging down on the ignition key.
Try pliers if you break a key – If you break a key off in a lock barrel you might be able to retrieve it yourself with pliers, It just depend on the break point of the key and how much grip you can get. If this is not possible we have specialist locksmith tools to quickly and efficiently remove the key without any damage to your lock
Don’t try and push the broken key in – If you think the key will fall out the other side, it won’t. Chances are you’ll guarantee the need for a barrel replacement.
