Locksmith Stories You Won’t Believe

Robert Campbell, a locksmith who owns Advantage Locksmith in New York City, tells the craziest experiences he has had on the job.

In this business, you get all sorts of interesting calls from interesting clients in almost every conceivable scenario. Some of the things I have seen are funny, some are sad and some are unbelievable.

People call locksmiths most often when they are in stressful situations, so you get all kinds of attitudes and tones on the initial call. Sometimes, people with mental issues call locksmiths, but that is not easily or readily apparent over the phone because they sound very smooth and grounded. My wife is a clinical psychologist, so she has taught me many of the indicators. She says, “Robert, when people say this or that, they might be schizophrenic or they might have this or they might have that.” I have picked up tips here and there to help me make that determination on the phone, but of course people slip through the cracks.

One example: I dispatched one of our guys to change a lock for an elderly lady, and the locksmith called me from the site and was whispering into his cell phone that this lady seemed a little off and what should he do. We are not in business to take money from people who are mentally ill. So I asked him to let me talk to her so I could assess the situation and make the determination. Someone might sound like he is a little nuts, but if you refuse to change the cylinder in the lock and that night someone comes into his apartment, you have got a major problem. You have to go with your gut instinct.

I say politely ask her, “Ma’am, it is none of my business, but just so we do this the right way, why exactly do you need your locks changed?” Her answer immediately told me something was wrong. She said, “Well, I will tell you why: I have a TV and VCR, and I have a collection of video cassettes. My tapes are split into two sections: True stories and fiction. Now, someone got into my apartment and put one of the true story tapes in with the fiction pile and I would never do that!” So basically, she wanted her locks changed because she had felt that someone had gotten into her apartment, watched a movie and put it back in the wrong spot. We did not do the job.

Another client once told me he wanted his locks changed because someone broke into his apartment and had put one of the hardboiled eggs in with the raw eggs in the refrigerator, again insisting that this is something they would never have done. I said, “Hold on a second, did they take anything? ‘No, nothing is missing.’ Is anything damaged? ‘No, the front door is totally fine.’ So, nothing is missing, your jewelry is all there, there is no damage anywhere, why do you want locks changed?” And he said, “Because someone moved a hardboiled egg in with the raw eggs.” So peoples’ responses will give them away. We said, “Sir, we are very sorry to decline your business service, but the kind of help you need it not something we can provide. We recommend you call one of the city agencies, perhaps the department of consumer affairs or a city agency that provides for the elderly and the mentally ill. We don’t want to take your money; please call a city agency if you need assistance.” You don’t want tell someone straight out that he is crazy, but you also don’t want to take advantage.

A lot of fly-by-night, unlicensed and unethical locksmiths will prey on someone like that who is obviously mentally ill. These scammers will go to someone’s home and charge him hundreds of dollars to change his locks, and then go back a month later and do the same thing to him. We know about this because we go to the homes of some people and they show us these bills. There are people out there who just prey on these people and it is terrible. You would hope these peoples’ family would help them and provide assistance and care to prevent these types of things from happening again.