56 Keynotes May 2024 aloa.org BACK TO BASICS When Customers Are “Passionate in Their Ignorance” She had a Schlage deadbolt, and as I was unscrewing it to bring it down to my truck, she said, “I’m going down with you. I want to watch you do it.” I was annoyed, but whatever. She gave me the key when we got down there, and it turned out to be a low-level Primus key that I didn’t have blanks for. By this time, I was a little on edge with her, and told her I was going to put it back and leave. I did and made her try it, and I wound up putting it back on three times because it “didn’t feel right.” That’s when I left. Later, I mentioned it to my son-in-law, and he had been there before me as well as another locksmith I grew up with. The smart thing would’ve been for me to split like they did. Another Hack If you find yourself in a jam having to rekey a cylinder to an odd keyway with- out any blanks, here’s a way out. If the customer has a dire need to rekey, you can take an existing key and deepen two or three shallow cuts by several depth increments. First, explain what you’re doing to the customer, and get any working keys he has. Get the plug out of the cylinder and then deepen the cuts. Re-pin and reinstall. I’ve only had to do this three or four times, but it saved a wasted service call each time. A Few Pictures Figures 2 and 3 are shots of a Rubbermaid cart I saw while scoping out a job at the National Guard armory in Queens, NY. I didn’t know Knaack made these things, and they’re really kind of cool. The owner was nowhere to be found, and his stuff was safe. Thinking this setup would be kind of heavy, I tried lifting it up a bit by the cart handle, and it was dead weight. I felt sorry for the guy who owned it since it was at a construction site with no elevators. Tony Wiersielis, CPL, CFDI, has almost 40 years of experience and has worked in most phases of the trade throughout the New York metropolitan area. He was named Keynotes Author of the Year for 2016, 2019 and 2022 and serves as ALOA’s Northeast Director. Reach him at [email protected]. FIGURES 2 AND 3. The author saw this Rubbermaid cart at a job at the National Guard armory. ‘Oh. We don’t want you to come here because we’d have to pay you. We thought you could help us over the phone.’
