The Real Cost of the Twenty-Nine Dollar Service Call A lady came into my shop last Tuesday crying because a scammer drilled her expensive smart lock and charged her six hundred dollars for a piece of zinc hardware that I sell for forty. She had a lockout, found a sponsored ad on her phone, and … Read more
The Scam That Cost a Homeowner Five Grand A lady came into my shop last week crying because a scammer drilled her high-end smart lock and charged her five hundred dollars for a fifty-dollar replacement that did not even fit the bore hole correctly. She had called a number from a sponsored ad promising a … Read more
The Realities of Digital Entry: A 3 AM Wake-Up Call I once had a customer call me at 3 AM because they were standing in a freezing rainstorm, staring at a flashing red light on their front door. They had bought one of those budget smart lock starter kits from a big-box retailer, thinking they … Read more
The Psychology of the Entry and the Voice-Activated Illusion Most homeowners believe that adding a voice-activated lock makes their home a fortress. As a locksmith with over 25 years at the bench, I can tell you that a burglar does not care if you can talk to your door. They care about the gap between … Read more
The Reality of Smart Home Security I once had a customer call me at 3 AM because she was standing in a torrential downpour, yelling at her front door. She had just installed a voice-activated lock she bought from a big-box retailer, and after a night out, her voice was raspy. The software didn’t recognize … Read more
The Illusion of Security vs. The Physics of the Bolt Most folks walk into my shop looking for the latest gadget they saw on a tech blog, thinking a voice command is a magical barrier. I tell my apprentices that if you have to force the key, you have already lost the battle against physics. … Read more
I teach my apprentices that if you have to force the key, you have already lost. That bit of technical wisdom has served my shop well for over two decades. It applies to the old brass skeleton keys of the 1920s and it applies even more strictly to the voice activated locks we are seeing … Read more
The Hard Reality of Digital Hardware A lady came into my shop crying because a scammer drilled her lock and charged her six hundred dollars for a fifty dollar piece of zinc garbage. That happens every day in this industry because people trust the first result on a search engine instead of a brick and … Read more
Budget Fingerprint Locks That Actually Keep Intruders Out Most of the electronic junk you find at big-box retailers is nothing more than a fancy paperweight designed to give you a false sense of safety. I have spent 25 years behind a locksmith bench, and I have seen the same story repeat a thousand times. A … Read more
The Physics of Remote Security and the Solar Solution When you are fifty miles from the nearest paved road, security is not a matter of brand names or flashy apps. It is a matter of mechanical reliability and energy management. In my twenty five years at the bench, I have seen more smart locks fail … Read more
