Due Diligence

When I travel to a customer's house, apartment or business I go with the intention that I am going to help them with whatever issue they have with their locks.  There are times when a client just wants his/her cylinder changed, so they call a locksmith to go over and change it.  When I arrive to a client who wants their cylinder changed the first thing I do is ask them a few questions. One is the lock in working order? Do you want the cylinder changed to get new keys? or is the cylinder not turning that's why you want it changed?  Most of the time they tell me that they lost their keys and they want different keys that is why they are having the cylinders changed. Once I know that information I either go ahead and put in a new cylinder or I go and show them a few different quality cylinders they can choose from.  When I remove the old cylinder from a clients lock I make sure to pay attention to the lock it self because there have been times when I removed the old cylinder and the lock was broken from the inside. 


Heavy duty Apartment door bottom lock



Segal 900 Lock



Aerial view of New York City

Woodhaven Queens



Map of Queens

The normal set up on an apartment door in New York City is a jimmy proof deadbolt on top with a plate and a mortise lock on the bottom with knob set.  When I change cylinders on either one of the locks in an apartment I make sure to check the other lock also.  Clients appreciate due diligence.  When a locksmith observes due diligence they show the client that they are a professional locksmith and not someone who wants to do a quick job, collect money and leave.  Last week I went to a service call out in Elmhurst Queens for bottom lock cylinder change.  I got to the location ask the client what they needed and they told me to change the bottom lock cylinder.  I went ahead and asked the client why they wanted to change the cylinder.  So She tells me that sometimes when she wants to unlock the lock and open the door she can not.  Once she told me that I knew right away that it is not just the cylinder that should be checked out.  I informed the client that in order for me to diagnose the problem I have to take the complete mortise lock out. I told her that if I take out the lock and am able to repair it, that it would be $125 for the repair but if it is not repairable than the replacement would be $225, she agreed and I went ahead and took the lock out.  Once I opened the lock up it became apparent that the bolt spring was broken.  In a mortise lock once the bolt spring breaks the lock never works right.  So lucky for the lady I make my own bolt springs, so I went ahead and made one for her lock.  After installing the bolt spring inside the lock I reinstalled it back in the door, without changing the cylinder.  Checked all the other locks in the apartment, lubricated her hinges and wrote out a receipt. Another satisfied customer.  Abba's locksmith in Queens we always work with due diligence when it comes to fixing lock problems, feel free to call for your next home service call 718-820-2744