I am the KeyMaster!! (bit long)

[PepperElf]

My landlord told me I shouldnt have made myself a spare set of keys... considering I've already lost the original set AND one spare set... and already gotten HIS copy at one time to get into my apartment...

Well, I have another spare set running around I am cursed to lose one set as soon as I make another

at my old apartment their policy was that... you had to pay them for extra keys - thought you could also make your own copies. however if you lost 4 keys i think... you'd have to pay to get the locks changed.

at my bf's apartment... I think it's 20,000 ¥ to get the key replaced (about $200)... but that might be for the special key with the RF chip. Yeah, the apartments in this area use RFID for a few things, like the front door and elevator. I kinda wish the normal key would operate the elevator too, but with the chip it can restrict you to only taking the lift up to the floor you live on. (There's a stairwell at least for us people who only use the regular key)


for my old car... I had two options for getting into it if I was locked out... I could call a locksmith or get a wire coat hanger, pry the door back a little, & feed it down until it's looped around the handle and pull. (yeah my door would open, even if locked, if the handle was opened from the inside)

[RentalRacer]

As far as transponder keys go, check out your local Ace hardware or similar. Howard's Ace here in Phoenix does some transponder keys, prolly the ones the makers have released so far as too old to continue milking, but you might get lucky.

Even if you get a transponder key via a 3rd party, you will have to take it to the dealer to get programmed if you have lost ALL your keys to the car.

However, if you are going to get one just to use as a spare, if you have the orig. key most cars have a programming process you can use to program a spare key yourself.

In my line of work, people lose their keys/lock themselves out all the time...and somehow it is always our fault. I have had customers break windows to get back into the car then try to get out of paying for the damage...because it's "not their fault".

[MTNLaurelPoacher]

FW: My registration and ID are locked in the car!!!

If she could have had the car remotely unlocked, then she could have obtained here id and registration so Jadedcarguy could have made her a new key. (then duck taped it to her arm so she would not loose it.)

Some of the guys I play Airsoft with on the weekends lock their keys in the car. They use Onstar to unlock their car with their cell phones, or they put in the code on the door to enter. It is easy to loose a key, it is pretty hard to loose track of a parked car. ( Oh lord... now that I have typed that there are going to be 1000 stories of people loosing track of parked cars.)

*thinks about going out and getting a spair key cut*

[Decker]

I've never LOST my keys before, but I have locked my keys in the car while I was on a road trip to Connecticut and stopped at a rest stop in Massachusetts. Luckily, I had a AAA card and they sent someone over to get it open for me.

[Javarod]

My building has a security lock for the front door, so that key cannot be duplicated unless either the company does it, or they give me a signed "statement" to the effect that I am authorized to do it; I've been trying since I moved in to get that done. I have duplicates of all relevant keys except that one...to get into my apartment I first need to get into the building, spare set's kind of useless then if it doesn't have the main key.

Ah, I think I know what type of lock you have, the key is just a straight rectangle with a bunch of holes drilled into, but not through it, right? I lived in one place that had one of those, expensive, and so were the keys, something in the order of $75 each for duplicates, and required a special mastering piece that the owner had.

[Javarod]

for my old car... I had two options for getting into it if I was locked out... I could call a locksmith or get a wire coat hanger, pry the door back a little, & feed it down until it's looped around the handle and pull. (yeah my door would open, even if locked, if the handle was opened from the inside)

Heh, bit of trivia for you. Back about ten years ago, friend of mine locked his keys in his parent's Taurus. I walked down to a strip club I knew (get your mind out of the gutter, I delivered pizza at the time), and one of the guys working there was an ex tow truck driver with his tools. According to him, at least at that time, the two easiest car makes to break into were Ford... and Mercedes.

However, if you are going to get one just to use as a spare, if you have the orig. key most cars have a programming process you can use to program a spare key yourself.

True, but you must have a key with a chip to start with, their price is the whole package, cutting and programming a key for you.

[Emrld]

does it count as a lost car . . .if you forget which car you drove?

I do feel for the woman who lost her keys. However that is no excuse to treat any employee like you and your manager were treated.
I admit I am not perfect and on occassion expect things to be done a certain way . . .but I do understand policy and safety.
For all you know this woman could be trying to get into the car her now ex won in a divorce settlement . . . .or sees her man's car and a woman's purse is inside so she wants to teach him a lesson . . .my creative side is getting carried away.

[Dreamstalker]

Ah, I think I know what type of lock you have, the key is just a straight rectangle with a bunch of holes drilled into, but not through it, right?

Looks a lot like a normal key except for the base (larger than normal and square). The locksmith told me they couldn't do that particular key and that the management company would need to do it (maybe a special master/blank). The spare set that I got from the management company does not include that key of course.

[PhotoChick]

And yes, in that mythical future in which I'm wealthy and own a block of apartments, I'm having locks-that-change installed.

Its pretty easy for a locksmith to rekey any schlage or kwikset (the big names in the US) but the newest thing is kwikset smartkey it allows you to easily rekey it by yourself

[sportsmom]

Its pretty easy for a locksmith to rekey any schlage or kwikset (the big names in the US) but the newest thing is kwikset smartkey it allows you to easily rekey it by yourself

Yeah, but Schlage and Kwikset suck, at least according to my hubby the locksmith. We're getting ready to buy a house and I'm trying to talk him into installing the remote locks in the door between the garage and the house so I can unlock it by remote when I'm bringing in the groceries and carting around kids and such.

Ah, I think I know what type of lock you have, the key is just a straight rectangle with a bunch of holes drilled into, but not through it, right? I lived in one place that had one of those, expensive, and so were the keys, something in the order of $75 each for duplicates, and required a special mastering piece that the owner had.

That sounds like Medeco which is ridiculously expensive for a lock shop to get into. Most mom and pop shops would not be able to do it. It's some stupid amount to buy in to deal in it and get the equipment.

[Javarod]

Yeah, but Schlage and Kwikset suck, at least according to my hubby the locksmith. We're getting ready to buy a house and I'm trying to talk him into installing the remote locks in the door between the garage and the house so I can unlock it by remote when I'm bringing in the groceries and carting around kids and such.




That sounds like Medeco which is ridiculously expensive for a lock shop to get into. Most mom and pop shops would not be able to do it. It's some stupid amount to buy in to deal in it and get the equipment.

Thank you, I'd forgotten the name and could only vaguely remember the symbol. I really wasn't impressed, sure, they came up with a new pin system that's likely harder to break, but the blanks seem to be aluminum or something similar, real soft and week.

As to Kwikset, I'd be surprised if they weren't easy to break into, heck, just walk down the block with your house key trying doors, bet you'll open a few. Back when I worked at K-Mart during high school, I worked in Sportomotive (yes, that was the department), KW-1, Dexter 7 and one other used the same key, and I graduated class of 90, care to guess how many millions of those locks are out there? Prolly several times more than there are different keys.

[sportsmom]

Thank you, I'd forgotten the name and could only vaguely remember the symbol. I really wasn't impressed, sure, they came up with a new pin system that's likely harder to break, but the blanks seem to be aluminum or something similar, real soft and week.

There actually used to be a "bounty" of sorts on Medeco, I'm not sure if they still do it or not. They used to have it out there that if you could pick a Medeco lock in some ungodly long time period then you got something like $10,000 I think. The amount is probably different, but you get the idea. Hubby likes their stuff and thinks they are worth it, and he's rather particular, so if he thinks they're good, then they're good.

[Javarod]

There actually used to be a "bounty" of sorts on Medeco, I'm not sure if they still do it or not. They used to have it out there that if you could pick a Medeco lock in some ungodly long time period then you got something like $10,000 I think. The amount is probably different, but you get the idea. Hubby likes their stuff and thinks they are worth it, and he's rather particular, so if he thinks they're good, then they're good.

I suspect they are, its a completely different design than any other lock I've seen. Mind you, as you've noticed, they're brutally expensive both to purchase, and to duplicate keys for, along with being complicated when it comes to duplication, Kwikset and similar are so popular because they're cheap and easy, not because they're good.

[Jadedcarguy]

The girls I date..........

.........are so popular because they're cheap and easy, not because they're good.

[myswtghst]

And the award goes to Jadedcarguy for best post taken out of context.