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We know that most newer vehicles today have remote keyless entry fobs designed to do a number of things from locking and unlocking your doors, to popping the end gate, to starting the engine from a distance away. If your vehicle is newer than 2006, this is likely your reality to one degree or another depending on the make, model, and extravagance of your vehicle.

Let us take you back to the mid-1800’s at which time, for a brief time, there was something akin to “perfect security.” This was a much sought after state of existence where one’s valuable things could be safely contained behind a lock that could not be picked or broken. And for just a moment in time (about 70 years), perfect security was a reality.

Hiring a professional to help with something as important as the locks on your home, property or business should be pretty easy. All you need to do is look up “local locksmiths” and you should be quickly be able to put your finger on one qualified and ready to do what locksmiths do – provide legitimate and quality services as advertised. After all, the locksmith profession is one of the oldest and most trusted lines of work around, right?

So you need a locksmith right away and you haven’t found time to do your research. That’s okay, because all locksmiths are upstanding professionals, right? What are the chances you’ll find that one bad apple in the bunch if you just pick one out of the phone book or call the first one to show up in a Google search?

Unfortunately, the odds of finding that bad apple are pretty high these days. Locksmith scams have become increasingly more prevalent across the nation and the metropolitan area around Omaha is no exception.

As if being a property manager or landlord isn’t hard enough, there is always the matter of the many ways renters can find to lock themselves out. Of course, anywhere there are people, doors and locks, the chance that someone will get locked out at some point in their tenancy is a given.

Any responsible landlord will make time to respond to their renters’ pleas for assistance before the renter break a window or door to get themselves out of their predicament on their own. Many landlords do charge their renters a fee for responding to lockout calls, but most would rather not have to deal with this kind of hassle in the first place.

A reputable locksmith doesn’t like surprises any more than you do. When a job is considered, you should be well aware of the total cost involved including in locksmith services such aspects as: fees associated with the service call; labor charges; the cost of replacement parts; mileage or after-hours fees. At Big Red Locksmiths, we recommend performing research for locksmith services and identify a company to use before you experience a lockout. This helps you establish a relationship that could put your nerves at ease if, and when, you experience the unexpected lockout. 

Uh oh. It looks like it is going to be one of those days. You’ve locked your keys in your car and have no access to a spare. If calling your roommate to bring your second set of keys isn’t an option, you may be tempted to try some extreme measures to get back on the road quickly.

Chances are you haven’t even heard of lock bumping, and it you don’t know what it means, first be glad you haven’t personally experienced it; and second, it’s time to learn more about a growing problem which allows criminals to breach your locks, oftentimes without even causing damage to the lock itself or any sign of forced entry.

When assessing your keying and security requirements, another option to consider is Master Keys. Put simply, a master-keyed lock is one that is designed to be opened by individual keys but can also be opened by using a higher access master key.

“Do Not Duplicate” keys can be easily reproduced leading to businesses feeling concerned about the security of their locations as well as the safety of their employees entering the location without authorization. While, in an earlier blog, we discussed the subject of how easy it is to actually duplicate these “DND” keys, and the absence of laws prohibiting it, there are a couple key alternatives for business owners in keeping the business location secure and keeping intruders away.