safecracker at large

It's not uncommon for me to get a call from someone who wants me to come and open a safe after another company has visited, tried, failed, and left. The safe owners often tell me that the first outfit sent someone who spent anywhere from fifteen minutes to half a day or more in a futile attempt to get their safe open before giving up. It's really none of my business, but sometimes I can't help asking if the first person charged for the failed effort. Surprisingly, plenty of people tell me that they did pay something for the failed effort. When I ask why, a typical answer is, "Well, I had to give him something. He did spend time on it, and he worked sooo hard . . ." Unbelievable . . . did they ever consider that maybe he worked so hard because he didn't know how to do the job and shouldn't have been there in the first place? Worse, far too often the person who tried so valiantly and worked "sooo hard" did something that left the safe ...

  Costco Mentality   No matter where you bought your safe, no matter who you bought it from, if you need to have it opened, you're going to need the services of a safe technician unless you do it yourself. People are often aghast at the prices they hear for such work . . . "$$$! That's more than I paid for it!"   Maybe it is, but why should I apologize?   The opening price rocked you, and probably because it's more money than you imagined it would be. But I'm not in charge of your imagination, am I? Where did you get your pricing ideas in the first place?   Also, what do think will have to be done in order to get your safe opened?   Blast or burn? C'mon, willya . . ? Do you seriously think that's how it gets done by legitimate technicians? I'll bet the only ideas you have about safe opening are what you've seen on TV and movies. Am I right? And do you think those types of media are dealing in reality or entertainm...

Several months ago I had a call from an outfit that subcontracts me. The usual: Call a man about getting a safe opened. I had trouble contacting him at first, but finally one of his minions made contact. It seems lots of people have "personal assistants" who handle mundane "stuff" for them. If I could afford it, I would too. The assistant said the owner was selling his father's house. The safe needed to be opened and the contents, if any, inventoried before he cleared out. I said I needed to see emailed or texted photos of the safe. The photos were of a safe I'm quite familiar with. My record of opening this model without drilling is almost perfect. While it's true I never guarantee opening without drilling, I was nevertheless confident that I wouldn't have to drill that one (not that it's the end of the world). Later I did reach the owner, and quoted him $495.00. He said okay, and we made an appointment to do it a day or two later, first...

Seems like I'm hearing it more lately . . . "you want more to open it than I paid for it!" Mostly this comes from people who bought their (now broken or forgotten combination) "safe" at some big-box store. Often enough, they're right. No apologies from this quarter, however. Some companies currently making and selling what pass for safes have their products made in other countries where the labor costs are very low in comparison to what Americans have to earn to keep their families fed. Couple that with the ferocious competition among safe makers to sell products in quantity. The only effective way to do it is by selling cheaper. It becomes the race to the bottom, in both price and quality. Case In Point: Last week I was hired by a safe maker to repair a gun safe. The owner bought it at a discount house, but discovered a problem with it as soon as he tried to use it. He found his way to the safe maker's help line. A company rep told him he thought h...

It's been a while since my last post. Other stuff has been eating the time. The safe work has been same as ever, from spotty to busy, with no clue as to why it goes one way or another, but that's entertainment, I guess. The latest news of note is that last week a man called me from somewhere in the East, introduced himself as a producer, then asked if I would be interested in being in a reality TV show. It went to voicemail, where every call from unfamiliar out of state numbers goes --- too many human and robot phone solicitors these days. After I heard his message, I texted back, thanked him for asking (always flattering to be asked), then told him he probably wasn't interested in paying my rates, but offered to put him in touch with other industry people who might be more amenable. Mentioning "my rates" usually throws cold water on things like this. I learned earlier; other independent producers have contacted me in the past with grandiose plans...

A man called about a problem with one of his safes. The combination worked fine. He told me that after he unlocked the combination the next step was to turn the handle that controls the door bolts and the safe would be open. The first part of the problem was that after he unlocked the combination, the handle that controlled the bolts wouldn’t turn. After multiple unsuccessful attempts to open the safe as he normally would, he decided to help the handle turn. With a large hammer. The handle that wouldn’t turn was now in his hand, with the shaft that connected it to the bolts inside door sheared off below the surface of the door. The owner wanted to know how much I would charge to open the safe. He also said he wanted it done as soon as possible. After asking some questions I had a good idea of the safe’s make and burglary rating. The owner was a jeweler. When I hear “jeweler,” I have a better idea of the safe’s rating. Insurance companies stipulate minimum acceptable alarm and s...

Safe Lock Problems Electronic/Digital Safe Locks At least once a week, but usually more often, someone calls and tells me their safe's push-button combination lock won't open when they enter the combination. When asked, they're positive they have the correct combination. The Most Common Solution: Try a new battery first (or batteries, if your lock uses more than one). The best and perhaps most easily available batteries for electronic safe locks will be Eveready Energizers or Duracell. Other battery brands might be just fine for plenty of other battery-powered items, but trust me on this, in a safe lock you want to use either the Energizer or Duracell brands. Did I say "new" battery? I'm pretty sure I did. Don't be a dummy, okay? Quite often after telling a caller to try a new battery they call back and report that a new battery didn't do the trick, can I please hurry over and get their safe open? When I arrive, it often turns out that...