safecracker at large

Estate Safe Openings   A common type of job that people in my industry get hired to do is opening a safe at a home or business after the owner has died.   Usually we're contacted by the person or people handling the affairs of the deceased.     Combination Available, Not Working Sometimes it's as simple as "Before my father died he gave us the combination to his safe, but we can't get it open."   This is (usually) an easy one: You're probably dialing the correct numbers, but dialing incorrectly. If you know the combination is correct, chances of this are very good. I know, I know, you're not a fool, you know right from left, and you've been dialing slowly and carefully. But the chances are nevertheless very good that you've been dialing slowly, carefully, and incorrectly.   Most people who don't operate safe dials on a regular basis misinterpret simple dialing instructions, then proceed to apply incorrect dialing ...

Think a little bit before hiring a safe technician to come and work on your safe. (In case you're keeping track, I've already written about what follows here.) He or she isn't a furniture mover or a garage and basement organizer. Typically we need some space in front of and around a safe in order to work comfortably. The more, the better. I know this isn't always possible, but if the safe is buried in a garage or surrounded by a lot of other stuff that has to be moved before I can go to work safely and/or comfortably, think about getting it out of the way before, not when the safe technician arrives. If your safe is hard to get to or buried under other belongings, and you don't make this known before getting price for the needed work, think about paying more for the work. Even if you opt to move the stuff for me, it means I have to wait around while you do it before I can get to work. The time I have to wait wasn't really factored into the price I gave...