Price Gouging - Is This The Norm For Auto-Dealerships?

A March 2017 article in New Zealand's Business Day website shows the displeasure many consumers face today, especially regarding the super-high cost for car keys, compared to years gone by.

The article (in the source below) tells the story of a consumer who decided to sue their dealer and Toyota New Zealand after the said dealer charged him NZD$525 for the remote plus an additional NZD$50 to program said remote.
The outrageous cost for OEM parts ticked off the consumer enough to file suit and the New Zealand consumer agency The Dispute Tribunal agreed.

The tribunal found Toyota guilty of price gouging.

Similarly, in other parts of the world, car dealers in some towns charge exhorbitant prices to provide their customers with duplicate keys and new remotes also,

Interestingly, the cost to produce the internal components is staggeringly miniscule and many auto dealerships and some after market dealers are continuing to take advantage of the consumer by massively inflating prices.

Auto locksmiths around America and other parts of the world, provide key origination and duplication services for many consumers at significantly competitive costs when compared to dealerships. Many of these auto-locksmiths have spent many years honing their skills and purchasing the unique equipment to enable fast duplication, creation and programming of modern electronic keys and fobs.

Specialist tools that are the cornerstones of the auto-locksmith industry, make significant light work in picking and decoding automobile locks but they do have a learning curve. There are a number of different brands who manufacture all sorts of differing programming equipment because "one size does not fit all". Many professional auto locksmiths have their own preferences and some may be better than others (machinery) for wide range of vehicles offered.

In recent years, the locksmith industry around the world has been infected by growing numbers of fraudulent operators, posing as professional locksmiths. Typically these sheisters will offer a very cheap estimate over the phone or online and dramatically increase the price when they arrive on site (often after completion of their task). Most of these fraudsters are untrained butchers who have never deliberately learned how to use the tools correctly and quite often cause more issues than they fix.
Another issue recently found with locksmith fraudsters is that some of them are making duplicates of their customers keys, leading to an increase in theft of vehicles. Insurance companies were originally responsible for the automobile industry requiring security systems and chip keys, in an effort to reduce the growing quantity of vehicle theft. The effort certainly had it's desired effect, reducing the insurance companies payout costs by many millions of dollars. Unfortunately, the original savings envisioned soon turned to those same insurance companies hiking the costs of auto insurances.

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Our Directory Of Locksmiths From Around The World Is Slowly Taking Shape... A Locksmith In...

We developed a directory for locksmiths, a while back and are pleased to see some excellent page-rank results in search engines across the world.

New enrollments continue to trickle in to our directory with a difference.

We include links to our colleagues sites too.

New features are on the drawing board too.
Plans are underway to include a blog roll and a featured page of the month.

The latest sites to enroll are featured on the navigation menu at the top.

All sites featured within include 1 page free, with copy designed in-house at our discretion.

Check out http://www.alocksmithin.com/

Internet-Connected Garage Door Operator Disabled In Retaliation For Bad Review

The Internet-Of-Things (IOT) is the new age for many consumers today. The increasing desire for "connected" technological products, raises privacy and security concerns especially when a disgruntled customer leaves a stinging negative review about their purchase.

As is the case with a particular customer who had purchased Garadjet - An Internet-Connected Garage Door Opener, designed to let you see the status of your door and control it via an app.

The customer installed the product he purchased on Amazon and  left a nasty support message on the company's support forum and then one minute later posted a nasty review on Amazon.

That prompted the Garadjet management to retaliate by denying the ID Unit server connection.

All being played out online, the exchange went viral through a twitterfeed that attracts a wide following among the #hacking community. Check out the commotion in the source below

Our Most Popular Products Include...

 The Bilock Deadbolt Lock. Our signature product, from when we first opened our business here in the USA, a little over 10 years ago is still Bilock. The Bilock Deadbolt is the most popular of the Bilock products repeatedly requested.
Concerned consumers request Bilock due to it's superior resistance to picking and bumping. The color coded keys help in easily identifying correct operating keys. Our signature authority system prevents unauthorised key production. Often, we can provide just the Bilock cylinder and keys that can be installed in many existing leading brands of hardware too, minimizing the cost to the homeowner and maintaining the existing ambience of the trim on the door.

The Pigio 1 by Serrature Meroni, is quickly rising as one of our popularly requested products because it allows the user to easily operate the push pull mechanism without the need to grip and turn the knob

The Pigio 2 by Serrature Meroni is also seeing increased popularity for similar reasons the the Pigio 1.  

The Combina by Serrature Meroni is the modern version of the unique Premiapri mechanism and is available in so many color options to suit varying tastes of consumers. 

The Cowdroy P697 Keyed Pocket Door Lock (now discontinued by us) was the first of our popular lock systems for pocket or cavity doors. It was pulled from our inventory for not meeting ADA/Building codes. (Key operated both sides)

The enormously popular best seller, The Lockwood 7444 Keyed Pocket Door Lock exceeds the requirement of the many pocket door owners across the USA and Canada. The unique design, combined with a 5 pin tumbler that is identical to a Kwikset Keyway, complements this product. The Lockwood range of picket and cavity door locks, also includes privacy (bathroom/bedroom), passage and passage latching versions. 

 The Serrature Meroni range of furniture and cabinet lock systems, mechanisms, electronic control desk lock systems, drawer hinges, door closers, electric strikes, door handles, mailbox locks, etc are second to none worldwide for their quality and vast product range. This fine Italian company is on the cutting edge of design, that many other brands look to, for improving their offerings too. Still the best and still the worldwide leader in intelligent and ambient locking systems.

The Meroni Nova is the flagship of the Serrature Meroni line of door handle hardware. Easily our second most poular selling product.

The Combina Anti-Bacterial handle system prevents the spread of unwanted pathogens or diseases by dissipating germs on contact. Perfect solution for child care centers, hospitals, aged care facilities.

 The Bilock Grade 2 Light Duty Commercial/Heavy Duty Residential entrance set comes with a 15 year warranty on the hardware. Unique keying system and bump proof/pick resistant mechanism makes this product complement the Bilock Deadbolt written about above.

 Hooply, a Chinese range of specialty handles and locking systems aimed at residential markets that are prone to hurricanes or brash weather systems are a popular product found most often in New York City or Florida. We were once the dealer for this product line, but found demand too small to continue. We still have contacts with the manufacturer and their catalog. We are happy to prvide the company contact to enquirers.

 Sliding Patio Doors are one of our most common service requests by customers. We service and lubricate a great many of these doors across the greater St Louis Region, often without requiring to replace wheels or rollers.

A Simple repair usually takes about an hour (average) and costs about $99, including attendance and lube.

The Lockwood 002L is a rim mounted lever deadlatch that is one of, if not the strongest in it's class of secure locking hardware products. Not cheap. Expertly designed and demanded by those who demand the ultimate security.

Lockwood's flagship product for over 50 years is still the best.

Yale Conexis L1 - A New Smartphone Enabled Access Control Locking System

Yale, the ages old company and inventor of the modern day pin tumbler principle, the same name for which the world reknowned university was named, in recent years has seen it's original premise and products be modified and expanded to encapsulate more diverse fields, including (but not limited to) trucks, forklifts, golf-buggy's, etc.

Yale, once known as the leader in residential, commercial and institutional security products, are continuing to press the boundaries of the digital revolution with the introduction of the Conexis L1 electronic, wireless access control product.

Part of their Real Living genre of products, Yale have decided that their foray deeper into the modern digital era involves eliminating the very product for which their name was made famous.
The Key.

While many consumers agree that the convenience aspect of modern day access control products is most likely the primary aim, statistical analysis conducted by many agencies using multiple surveys and other data gathering techniques, reveal that the humble mechanical key is still a highly sought after feature desired.

Removing the mechanical key component does help to produce more competitively priced products, but can be an impediment to sales because electronics failure or electronic malfunction cannot be mitigated using a mechanical key, in an emergency or urgency.

Yes, battery technology continues to improve and the long term future for electronic wireless - battery powered products is intriguing. I do suggest that companies need to continue to include high quality mechanical key overide systems with their new products, to offer the consumer the continuing benefits mechanical brings.

The video below shows typical installation for the Yale Conexis L1 in the UK.



In America we are getting to see many similar types of door locks offering the atrium type of mechanism. Companies like Pella, Anderson, Peachtree etc, have been bringing in these modern and stylish types of doors, in excess of 25 years now and the market for these types of doors continue to evolve. Many customers enjoy the quality and convenience offered by these styles and types of doors.
HOWEVER.......

Anyway Doors - Unique Pivoting Doors And Frames To Suit Minimalist And Modern Tastes

Anyway Doors, a specialty door manufacturer based in Belgium, manufacture a unique range of stylish doors and frames that modernize many applications.

Their unique looking doors and styles are highly sought after in the European market and are showing increasing interest in the North American markets too.

The unique center-pivoting doors option, provides a fabulous way to separate or partition a living or work space.

Beautiful designs aimed at discerning tastes, attract many modern interior designers, who like to offer nouveau and eclectic form and function to suit varying tastes.

After the break, view more pictures from their range as well as a 10 minute video of the installation procedure and options for different door sizes and styles.

Master "Made In Mexico" Padlocks Suffer From Inconsistencies Making Duplicating Keys Awkward

 Yesterday, one of our repeat customers contacted us to duplicate a bunch of keys for their new padlocks they purchased at Ace Hardware. They had tried to get Ace to duplicate these keys in store but none of the keys worked at all.

Many hardware stores are often understaffed or their sales assistants are poorly trained in the simple key duplicating field. Often a hardware store will rarely adjust their key machines to correct parameters so that the keys they make will be correct. To the angst of many a customer, whom have had to return time and again to the store because their keys continue to not work, even in products purchased from those stores.

The padlocks pictured here are Master brand, made in Mexico and keyed alike in a set of 3.

Here is a pic of one of the padlocks and it's key individually.

This customer had purchased 2 separate sets of 3 keyed alike padlocks and wanted an additional 10 keys for one set and an additional 20 keys for the other set.

Now, there is not much rocket science involved in duplicating keys. Trained locksmiths have been duplicating keys for well over 200 years in this country and even longer around the world. But being trained to understand the different parts of a key, understanding how to set up and duplicate a key appears to be somewhat daunting to the uninitiated.

Hardware stores and shoe repairers decided a long time ago to enter the lucrative key duplication market because they are services that make a good addition to their primary offerings. Unfortunately, due to the consistent amount of failures in duplication, many big box stores have decided to install automated kiosks like we mentioned here about 6 years ago.

We decided to video our attempts to cut these keys and show some of the inconsistencies of duplicating keys. Please be entertained by our novice videos below.

The first video is not so fabulous......but lets have a look.





The second video shows me in the foreground showing the process. I am in my worktruck at the customers site completing the project onsite...



This third video features me again (please excuse my candor) duplicating the final set of keys....




Okay....I am not the best videographer, but hopefully you will get the idea. I'd be interested in hearing about your issues with having keys duplicated and working or not. Maybe recommended locations for good duplicators in your region.

Thanks!

Meroni Combination Cabinet Locks - Perfect For Car Dealerships And Sales Offices

Meroni manufactures a brilliant yet competitively priced alternative to drawer and cupboard/cabinet security that operates easily for use in high turnover vocations, like sales offices, car dealerships etc, where sales people often move offices/desks sometimes more often than normal.

Enter the Meroni 10 series resettable combination lock system.

The product can be typically used to replace existing cam and file cabinet locks (with a little installation modification) or are fast becoming a sought after alternative to office furniture and cabinet/drawer manufacturers, where their customers are requesting combination locks on sales persons desks and cabinets/drawers.

This product uses a fully resettable mechanism to enable the manager to access a lost combination using an overide key and reset tool. This means that if a user relocates or leaves the position, the desk drawer/cabinet can be easily reset and used by the next occupant without the need to have new keys cut to code or locks replaced.
The obvious benefits include cost savings, time and convenience for managers and reduced down time.

The brochure in the source below is in Italian, but shows how the system is easily reset by the manager.

The products are available with operating keys too and can also be master keyed if desired.

Cost effective, unique products aimed at minimizing productivity down times and maximizing efficient management use, that actually save money while providing superior convenience.

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