No, not a post about the perils of using the wrong lube on your locks, this is about three things all at once.

Firstly, when talking to a customer and agreeing a time, make sure you ask for more than the postcode! I actually did this once before, but that time there were only three possible houses. This time, it was 29 possible houses! Oops.

Secondly, people need to look around for better quotes, and, argueably, better behaved locksmiths. This customer was very happy with my charge, which was less than half what they paid last time. And, I feel it is morally wrong to fit a £2 lock to someone’s door, a lock that can be picked in under ten seconds (as I showed the customer after I swapped it), that has no anti-drill protection, and in fact, has no redeeming features at all. Amazingly, for that utter stiffing on cost, the other “locksmith” didn’t even fit the right length cylinder!

Thirdly, I *only* fit CEN 4 rated locks. That *is* my cheap option. I can go far more expensive, but I won’t go cheaper. For my own comfort of mind, I know that all my customers are that bit (lot?) safer, and for an extra, to be honest, £3 in profit, I just couldn’t live with myself if a lock that I fitted was so obviously substandard.