Comments The Locksmith Journals

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money? whats that?
Just goes to prove, you never know. I thought the new guy Mike was okay. A little on the "it's about me" side. But he is competent and knows his stuff. Then again, I didn't work with him a lot. This morning I was talking with the manager about a few things and the subject of Mike came up. The manager is not happy. Mike and I were talking about schedules and who gets the van when, along with where to pick up the van. It seems that the boss wants the van I drive to be dropped off at his house for the next smith to pick up. A pain but it's his van, so okay. It seems that one reply he meant to send to me he sent to the manager. Nothing bad in it, but it was his idea of how things should work. He thought that the best way to do it was in a way that was to his advantage. I told him to just sit back and let the guys who make the big money work it out between them. I mean if I'm supposed to drop off the van at 8 with the boss and he has to give me a ride home, I'm good with that. Of course, if I get a call at 7:45 that takes me an hour out of town, then half an hour to do the job, followed by an hour to get back so he has to bring me home at 11 at night, I don't care. But I don't see it happening more than once. Well, the manager told me this A.M. that he is going to speak with the boss and then to Mike. One of the conditions for working with us was living in Gainesville. He still lives twenty minutes away in High Springs. AND the manager described him as a "whiney little bi*ch. and I'm going to fire his a**."

It seems my future employment has just become a little more secure for the time being.
 

day late

money? whats that?
I have always believed there are five kinds of people on planet Earth.

1. Children. As The Bible says, they think like children, they speak like children, they act like children. Nobody in their right mind expects them to be anything except what they are, children.

2. Adult males. More on them later.

3. Men. See above.

4. Adult females. See above.

5. Women. Once again.

Since I have never had a problem identifying my gender and have always been the same gender, I will restrict my comments to my gender. However, I notice many of the same traits I will speak on go for both sexes. (YES, I believe there are only two.)

It is quite easy to tell the difference between an adult male and a man. Take any social occasion. It could be a wedding, a party, a business meeting or even a funeral. The adult male walks in the room, people turn, see him and say in a depressed voice, "Oh, it's him." The man walks in 30 seconds later people turn, look, see and say in an enthusiastic voice, "OH! It's HIM." Same three words, two totally different meanings. At the same social occasion, when the adult male gets ready to leave people can't wait to see the back of his neck as the door closes behind him. When the man gets ready to go, people try to talk him into staying longer. Failing that they want to know how soon he will return. The adult male will give his word six times before breakfast and break it twelve times before lunch. Each time he will have some kind of 'justification' for breaking his word. The man doesn't often give his word, but when he does you can take it to the bank. Because you KNOW he will keep that word or die in the attempt.

With that said, I've never understood why some females want a male that will kow-tow to their every whim and then complain that he isn't a man. In truth they never wanted a man in the first place. I've also never understood why any male would want to be married to such a woman.

As to Mike, I can understand how someone is so self-centered that they believe the world revolves around them. I've seen it many, many times. What I can't understand is how such a person (male or female) can believe that whining and crying like a spoiled 5-year-old is going to positively affect anyone around them. That doesn't even work on those like them.
 

day late

money? whats that?
It's either over or under. We had the weekly meeting tonight. Some things were said the make me wonder. Mike is still working he was in the meeting. But for the past week or so the schedule has been ever changing. That's ok, I just need my hours. However, the most recent schedule is all fouled up, or maybe not. It has been known for some time that I needed this Sunday off. Mom's 90th birthday party. No way I'm missing that. When I got the schedule last Sat. it said I was working yesterday, Friday and Sat. When I got the updated one today it says I'm not working until Sunday and then not again until 3/5. Needless to say, I brought that up. I was told it was a boo-boo and I would have Sunday off. Here's the thing. I was also told that I'm only working one more day this week and then not again until 3/5. Then I was told, "Well you're semi-retired and these new guys need full time work."

So, either I have overestimated my value to the company, or they have underestimated it. Other things were said that also make me go Hmmm. The manager didn't name names, but he did say that one or more of the smiths have been flirting with the ladies who run the phones and/or the customers. I am polite to the ladies and try to keep them up to speed on what is going on, but I don't flirt. That was borne out by the report from the ladies that on a scale from 1 to 5, with 5 being the best, I'm the only smith who gets perfect 5's every week. And I certainly don't flirt with the customers. 39 years with the same woman is too much of a price to pay for something as meaningless as that. So, they like the way I work. The customers like the way I work as evidenced by the reviews I get online. But they want to cut my hours to next to nothing. Well, my first fulltime job was washing dishes in a restaurant and I'm not too proud to go back to that, if that is what it takes. I don't know. But this much I do know, if I have to cut ties with the company, there is no going back. If one of the new guys screws up or quits, don't bother calling me and ask me to come back. As Joni Mitchell sang years ago,

"Don't it always seem to go, you don't know what you've got til it's gone."

Time will tell. Right now, I'm concentrating on Mom's birthday party.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Well, after a number of things, they've finally decided what to do with me. I'll be driving the big van on Sunday and Monday. Which brings up communication problems and having the pleasure of hearing the manager go 'Oooppps'. Those are the 'things'. At least a month before this last weekend, I told the manager I wasn't missing this party. All arrangements have been made. About three days before I'm set to get off, I get a new schedule from the boss that shows me I'm working on the day of Mom's party. No way! I call the manager, he assures me it's a boo-boo, no problems, you're off that day. I told him the schedule I had gotten shows me off until 03/05. So, does that mean I'm off until next Sunday? I'm told yes, that is true. This morning as I'm climbing in the shower, I get a call from the guy with the van wanting to know if he should drop it off or am I picking it up? I'm supposed to be off today. I tell the guy so and suggest to him he call the manager. I get a call back from the manager and he is madder that a wet hen. Wants to know why I'm not on duty. Uhh, you told me I'm off. Then he gets all over me about not checking the schedule. He got so mad at one point her hung up on me. He called back after 1/2 hour and asked me to send the boss's e-mail to me over to him. I did. I heard him clicking this and that and mumbling to himself. After a couple of minutes he tells me,

"No wonder you couldn't check the schedule. He sent you the file (for March) but not the link to access the schedule. Let me call you back."

It was a while after that when he did and making a long story short, after spending close to 45 minutes clicking this and that, I can now access the schedule. Now having him use the e-mail the boss sent to me and having him prove to himself I'm not the dummy the thought I was, just helps to keep him honest. After what was said, he's a bit behind the eight ball with me right now. Also getting him to admit there was nothing I could do is probably the closest I'm going to get by way of apology.
 

day late

money? whats that?
I think I've figured it out. What I know for certain, just by listening, is the boss and manager want to give these younger guys full time work. I'm semi-retired, I don't need as much. So far I agree. I have noticed that even on the days I'm working I get very few calls if one of the new guys is also working. I'm thinking that they get as many jobs as they do, so they can make commission. Even if I did the same number and type of jobs they do I'm limited in how much I can bring home. That commission must be aimed at them. Not fair, but I understand it. The guy who said life is fair was a liar. But now I'm down to two days a week, totaling 24 hours. That cuts back a bit on what I was looking for. I'm not really happy about it, but I'll wait for the moment. What I'm thinking is that I've become something of an insurance policy. We've had new smiths last six months and then either get canned or just walk away. We have two new smiths in Gainesville and the manager doesn't like one of them. BUT he's been getting good reviews on-line. This could go either way. I'm being kept in reserve in case one of these guys doesn't stay around. More on this later.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Sorry, had to duck out for family stuff. As I was saying. I'm insurance in case one of the new guys doesn't work out. I can at least fill in part of the gap until a new smith can be found, trained and given his baptism of fire. Minimum of two months from first want ad to first solo job. Being down one smith, the boss has enough guys to cover and me to help take some of the overload. But that gets me to that 35-hour line that I can't cross. If he loses two smiths close enough together, that would put a real crimp on things. Funny thing is, if he had brought me back to work after lockdown under the same conditions I left employment under, I could have held off on retiring until Sept. 2022. Ah well. If he wants to pay me to sit around and do nothing for two days a week and the rest of the bills are handled by SS, I'm not going to complain.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Had to make another duck. One last thing that I learned. I mentioned that either the boss or the manager is going to be having a one-on-one conversation with each smith this week. My turn is tomorrow. When I got the van last night, from the boss's son I asked if he knew anything about it. Turns out that they want to talk about the scores the ladies on dispatch are giving us. It's probably related to the comment the manager made about flirting. From what I've been told, all the ladies like me. The son said he got 3's across the board. If what I've heard is true, it should be a short phone call.
 

day late

money? whats that?
We had an interesting meeting tonight. At least parts of it. Some they were talking about things I don't do. But when it got to the whole gas issue the manager came up with a simple solution. Every smith fills up the van before he turns it over to the next guy. A reasonable way to handle it, I think. But what has me curious is the way the boss and manager are starting to go really into the whole ID thing. I mean, yeah, sure in a lot of cases you really should get ID before you even start. But there are just as many times you don't need it at all. Like the time I was warned I needed to get ID first because the customer just didn't sound right on the phone. Before I can even ask for ID the lady pulls out her phone, starts punching buttons and says,

"Wait a minute. Let me turn off the alarm for you."

OK. I don't think I need to see a driver's license. Or the lady with one or more kids in the Publix parking lot isn't there to steal a car. And then there are the jobs where the baby is in the car seat. The keys are under the car seat. All of the windows are up, all the doors locked, and Mom is on the outside looking for a rock to go after one of the windows. No, I'm not wasting time asking for ID on one of those calls. But there are times when you need to see it because things aren't that quick and clean.

The boss once sent us all a copy of a story about a locksmith, in London, who was called to open a jewelry store. At 2 A.M. With a customer who pays cash and doesn't want a receipt. Matter of fact he hasn't been very talkative at all. The next day the police in London paid a visit to our locksmithing friend and they wanted to know what he could tell them about the man he let into the jewelry store, who then made away with over 2 million British pounds worth of gold, silver, jewelry and other items. I mean OK, the guy should have shown some sense. If I've got someone who looks like he just stepped out of the hood wanting me to open a luxury car, I want ID up front. But the manager isn't thinking clearly. I know what he means, but what he said was all wrong. He wants us to witness the key turning the engine. That's no big deal. Usually, that's the first thing that happens as the customer tries to shut off the alarm. His idea is that the key that opens the door is the one for the ignition. That is true. If the key for the door doesn't work in the ignition, then at some point the ignition has been replaced. This could be a hot car. All of that is true. But the chances are the key sitting on the front seat are the ones for the ignition anyway. So, what he has said makes no sense at all.

My method of solving the problem is have the customer close, lock and then unlock the door, with the key. That shuts off the alarm. Then the first thing they do is jump in and start the car to make sure it still works. Problem solved. I don't know. It just feels like there is something more going on than we are being told. I'm wondering if our boss hasn't gotten a call from local LEO's about something going on. With the price of gas, and the way the price for both used cars and car parts has been going lately, I could see someone trying to pull a scam.
 

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money? whats that?
Oh yes, I wanted to mention. This is one of the ways I get the customer to think I'm such a great guy. The car is open, the alarm blaring and the customer is wondering 'What Now?' I tell them to close the door and lock it with the key, then unlock it. When they do it resets the computer and tells it that you are permitted to drive. That shuts off the alarm. I now put on the best face I can and request the driver start the car to assure themselves that everything is okay. They are doing what I need them to do, and I get them to do it while educating them on their cars.
 

day late

money? whats that?
It's not going to take much for me to get used to this semi-retirement thing. Between SS and the part time income, we get along nicely. Ain't gonna die rich, but we ain't going hungry either. I'm supposedly working two days a week now, but during the most recent meeting the manager had a few things to say to the new guys about padding their time. Also about response time. He was pointing out how the wait time the customer experiences affect the reviews on-line. Privately, earlier today, he let me know one of the reasons he really wants to let one guy go. He told me this guy has really been hitting up the company on overtime. It appears that not all of it is ligit. I was told he spent five hours on a re-key job. Now that is all I was told. But I know this, if you are re-keying a lock, with no key so you have to pick it first and have only experience to go by in selecting pins, a single lock should take no more than 30 minutes tops. How many locks was he doing? No clue. Without better information I won't venture a judgement. However, I was also asked if I could pick up an extra shift on Friday, just so the guy racking up overtime doesn't get the chance to run up any more.

The funny thing is as it always was. You never know what's going to happen. I was working last Sunday and Monday. On Sunday I had four calls. All house lockouts. Two of them I picked the lock and got them in. One I used the air bag method of getting them in. The fourth, well some days The Good Lord just smiles on you. The guy had a glass door that was locked over the front door, which had both the doorknob and the dead bolt locked. So I've got to pick three locks to get in. I look to my left and the window next to the front door isn't locked. I told the customer that the way it is designed the screen is supposed to be removed from the inside, but if I bend it a bit, I can get it out, open the window, crawl through and open the door. He tells me, "Go ahead." Once the screen is out and the window open I ask if he wants to crawl though or should I and he says,

"I've got someone smaller."

He signals his girlfriend and she gets out of the car, runs over and goes inside. Everyone is happy and I got the screen back in place with almost no sign it was ever removed.

Sunday was a bit different. Only two jobs, but each one had a big price tag one it. It the first one a lady was just fed up with her key-pad deadbolt. She and her husband had recently put fresh batteries in it, but the thing just refused to work right. They couldn't even turn the handle on the inside to lock it. I opened it up as I was removing it and the problem was right there in front of me. At some point in the past the batteries had been forgotten. They had started to corrode before they were replaced and the corrosion had gotten into the electronics. No wonder the thing didn't act right.

Batteries are a locks worst friend. As long as they don't get a chance to corrode or to run down, they are great. But once either of those things happen, all bets are off. I once had to get a lady into her house because of dead batteries. I had to drill the lock to get it off the door. (Smart Key) When the part on the inside hit the floor, it started working. The stupid thing just sat there and buzzed and the handle turned, but being on the floor it couldn't unlock the door. Don't ask me why it didn't want to work before hitting the floor, but it didn't. And then again a large part of the inside of the battery compartment was a most obvious shade of green.

The second job was one that you don't see to often, but it happens. I guy decided he was going to remove a messed up doorknob, take it to the store, find a replacement, and then bring it home and install it himself. Did I mention the knob was messed up? The reason he wanted to replace it was because he could no longer open the front door. The latch had died, so the door didn't come open. He got the knob off with no problem. But those latches are made to be installed from the edge of the door. They don't come out through the hole where the doorknob is. By the time I got there he had ripped out about 70% of the latch and then given up before causing any serious damage. It took a couple of minutes to get the latch open and then replace the whole thing. I guess I worked about 30 or 40 minutes total and made close to $500 for the company. I guess that's why he wants to keep me around.
 

day late

money? whats that?
The past couple of days has been from one extreme to the other. Let me start with the saga of the manager and Mike. More info has come to light. It seems the five hour re-key the manager was upset about was a bigger job than what he said. As a matter of fact, Mike got the boss's son to come out and help him with the job. When it got to be around 11 P.M. Mike called it a night and then went back and finished it in the morning. I still haven't heard the son's side of the story yet. Don't know if I want to know. Sounds like the manager is looking for a reason to get rid of Mike. One thing he has said is that there is no way that Mike takes the van home at night. When I dropped it off, last week it was AT the boss's home, he was there, and it was clear that Mike was leaving his van parked at the boss's house for a couple of days. Time for this guy to just step away and let the people involved sort things out.

The next item of interest is one that actually makes me feel bad, but I just work here. I was sent to a lady to help her reprogram the key-pad on an interior door. (YES I said interior door. I don't ask, I just observe and report. But what could they have in that room that was so valuable they had better locks on that door than they do on their front door? Especially since interior doors are quite flimsy and can be kicked down in just a minute or two. But she said her husband had given the code to someone who turned out to not be as honest has they had thought. Now the key-pad needs to be reprogramed. All she needed was an allen wrench and she could have done the job herself. Take the battery cover off, follow the instructions printed there. Replace battery cover. I know she had the wrench. She said her husband had just put fresh batteries in it. So, I'm kneeling down on one side of the door, pushing buttons, while she is on the other doing the same thing. The lock is reprogramed, replace cover. That will be $86 Ma'am. Will that be debit, credit or cash? Seems like an overcharge to me, but she was happy to pay it. What can I say?

Then there was the out of town job that was pricey, but again the customer didn't complain. The thing is, if she could handle a screwdriver, she could save a lot of money. Another key-pad deadbolt, but this one had just given up the ghost. Fortunately, she was inside so I didn't have to pick anything. She says that this thing has been giving she and her husband trouble for some time now and she just wants it gone. She just wants a regular deadbolt in it's place. It doesn't even need to be keyed to anything else. Well, to remove the old lock from the door I have to take off the battery cover. I can see corrosion leaking from one of the batteries, going down into the electronics of the lock. Ummm, Ma'am I think I found your problem. Long story short. Instead of spending about $35 on a new deadbolt and putting it in themselves, they decide to spend over $150 for me to come out and do it for them. Well, I do have to make a living. I guess if they aren't complaining then I have no right to either.
 
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day late

money? whats that?
The veil has been somewhat lifted. I'm working tomorrow and Monday. I got the van from the boss's son earlier. Now I think I know why the manager is pi**ed with Mike. I had mentioned that the son had been called in on the five hour rekey. Turns out it wasn't a rekey. They had to travel a little way out of town to unlock an RV. The problem is that this thing will only pick into the locked position, not the unlocked. That sets the manager off because we shut down at 10. They didn't call a halt to the work until around midnight. With our pay structure I think that means Mike was getting triple time for two hours. Not to mention base pay for two hours before that. (Again, with our pay structure any job taken in the latest quarter of the day is time and half. So, is it double that for two hours longer after we close?) All of that just to unlock an RV, which couldn't be opened because the customer doesn't want the lock drilled. That's got the manager ready to give Mike the heave-ho. BUT...two hours of that job were done with the boss's son at his side. The son knows his stuff. If he worked on it for that long and couldn't open it, someone grab the drill. SO, the manager can't say Mike was incompetent and dump him. Also, Mike has gotten a few nice reviews on-line. The boss seems to be warming up to him. I mean on the same night the manager said Mike would never take a company van home for the night is the same night the boss chatted with Mike and I for a good 10 or 15 minutes before Mike took the van and dropped me off.

It sounds to me like staying out of the way of both manager and boss for a little while is in order. I don't see good things coming from this.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Well, good news and bad. Not too much of either. I now have an appointment for Monday evening. The boss has decided that we now need a 'human resources' director. A meeting has been set up for Monday evening for him to more or less meet all of us and then begin to tell us how we should do business. As for me, I see it this way. I want this new director to tell me how many irate customers he has had to deal with in the dead of night before listening to anything he has to say. I mean, if you are going to tell me how to do things show me that you've already done them. It's kind of like those endless e-mails offering to help me plan my financial future. I say if you want to plan my financial future, I want to see the balance on YOUR bank account. Then answer one question. If you have that much money in the bank, why are you still working? Or the other question. If you don't have that much in the bank, why should I listen to you about my financial future? Honestly I've had bad experiences with HR people in the past so it makes me leery of them in the future. We shall see. I'm reminded of the guy the boss hired for business advice once before. That guy advised the boss to treat all employees as if they are expendable. That is not true. Not everyone can pick a lock. Not everyone can repair a lock. Not everyone can look at the customer and tell them,

"Just spray the lock with WD-40 about once or twice a year and you should be fine."

Which is a lot cheaper than replacing the lock. We have gotten a number of repeat customers by doing things like that, or rescuing babies locked inside something at no charge. We are not just flipping burgers at Micky D's. There is a skill involved. That skill takes time to prefect. It's not like we can be picked up on any street corner.

The good news isn't really all that much. BUT being the red neck that I am, I don't care how slick and polished something is. My question is does it work? Well, the boss has recently discovered that I can duplicate certain tools we need at a fraction of the price he pays on Amazon or whatever. Since I'm on SS these tools can be made, but payment must be under the table.
 

day late

money? whats that?
Two offices. One in Gainesville, one in Ocala. In Gainesville we have four smiths, one (me) part time. In Ocala there are three that I know of. And you are right. There is no need for HR. But the boss has dreams of a future empire or something like that. It is good that a person should have dreams. But they should also be realistic.
 

summerthyme

Administrator
_______________
Two offices. One in Gainesville, one in Ocala. In Gainesville we have four smiths, one (me) part time. In Ocala there are three that I know of. And you are right. There is no need for HR. But the boss has dreams of a future empire or something like that. It is good that a person should have dreams. But they should also be realistic.
If he wants an empire, paying a salary and benefits to a person who doesn't generate any income for the company is NOT how to start!

Summerthyme
 

day late

money? whats that?
If he wants an empire, paying a salary and benefits to a person who doesn't generate any income for the company is NOT how to start!

Summerthyme

Don't get me wrong. He pays a decent wage. And while I understand what you are saying, the boss doesn't. This is the guy who once paid someone $2,000 a month to advise him on how to run a profitable business. The advice he was given is that all employees are expendable. If you have a problem with someone, dump him/her and get somebody else. The manager pointed out the fallacy of that argument. We are highly trained professionals. That isn't easy to come by. The advisor was canned. BUT the boss still believes that others have a better idea of how to do things than he does. Hence the un-necessary expense. The pity is that I ran my own business for over 25 years. There is a lot I could teach him, but you can't teach someone who isn't willing to learn.
 

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money? whats that?
Just a short ditty to last until later tomorrow. It is going to be quite the day, I already know. I'm supposed to start tomorrow at 10A.M. No I'm not. At that time I'm going to have the joy of getting a tooth fixed or pulled depending on what the X-Rays say. The manager has arranged for me to not start work until 1 P.M. Then at 8 tomorrow night we are having a video conference with our spanking brand new HR Director. You may be able to tell I'm not really fond of those types. To me it always seems that what they want to do is rearrange the world into what they want it to be. I decided long ago I'm better at managing my life than other people are. Kind of like those people who want to help me plan my financial future. The first thing I want to see before telling them ANYTHING is their personal bank balance. If you ain't rich, how are you going to make me rich? Since they aren't inclined to show proof of what they say they can do, how can I believe anything they promise me?
 

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money? whats that?
Oh boy. It's worse than I thought. On a personal level, the tooth is beyond saving. Extraction is on Friday. OH JOY! And it turns out the guy the boss hired isn't a Human Resource manager. He is some kind of "expert" on human relations. As I understand it, he is here to 'help' the smiths and the ladies who handle the phones on how to communicate better with each other as well as how to deal with customers. Excuse me! Any problems we have had in communication has always been the same kind of misunderstandings everyone has from time to time. You know, the kind where the driver needing directions says; (Think Abbot and Costello)

"We turn left up here, right?"

"No. You don't turn right. You have to turn left."

"That's what I said. We turn left, right?"

"I told you we turn left."

You know how it goes from there. But when turning over the van to the boss's son tonight we had a chance to talk. I must say I'm flattered. He was telling me that all the ladies on the phones love dealing with me. I make things clear and to the point. That means they know what's going on. I figure that if they know what is happening they aren't going to hammer me with calls. Easy. I keep them informed and they keep me out of trouble. It works quite well. Other smiths seem to have a problem with that, and by his own admission, so does he. It seems some of them have a problem with communicating with the customer. And I admit, this is a BIG boo-boo. They tell the second customer they will arrive at the location in, say, 20 minutes. Then things happen and it becomes an hour. They fail to contact the next customer and so the customer is upset by having to wait as long as they do. And sometimes it isn't even the smith's fault. Imagine that GPS says if you take the interstate it will take 16 minutes to get to the location. When you hit the super slab, it's a parking lot. Somewhere down the road has been an accident and traffic is backed up for five or ten miles. You ain't gonna make it on time and that is that. My answer to that kind of thing is simple. I don't call the second customer until I'm done with the first. I ALWAYS start by apologizing for the delay in contacting them and explain I was helping someone else, but I'm now on the way. Because I communicate with dispatch, they inform the customer when they first call that I'm helping someone at the moment so it may be 45 minutes or an hour before I can call or reach them. Normally each job takes only a short time, so when I call in about 15 minutes to say I'm on my way, they are happy that I managed to get to them sooner than promised. The other smiths don't do that. They call as soon as they get the dispatch and if anything happens to delay them, they make the company look bad by being late.

"Turn left here, right?"

I just don't see the need of hiring someone to teach us how to untangle such simple misunderstandings. Just tell the ladies on the phone what is going on and they are going to look out for you. What's so hard to understand about that?
 

day late

money? whats that?
One last item I forgot to mention last night. On Sunday I had a car lock out. I called the guy and left a message. When I get there the job is easy and I'm doing my usual thing of keeping the customer both informed and entertained. He said something to me that I told the boss's son last night.

"Well, I saw you have about 20 reviews on-line. So when I got your message and heard that 'Bill' is on the way, I knew I was going to be alright."

(That isn't the only time something like that has happened.) The boss's son looked at me and said,

"So they DO read those reviews on-line".

I'm sure if the boss doesn't know about that by now, he will know shortly.
 
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Man, oh man. Am I glad I wasn't on duty today. And if people actually DO read the reviews, the one posted just a short time ago was scathing. It is normal to charge a down payment when we have to go out of town. That way if the customer cancels while we are on the way, at least we still get something for time and gas. (There have been a number of times I've been 1/2 to 2/3 of the way to a job, 45 minutes out of town, when I get a cancel. That's why the boss started doing it.) After getting the payment things went badly downhill. First of all, the customer needed a car key and according to the review, the smith was an hour late getting there. I have no idea why. Then he spent a great deal of time trying to get the job done. Nothing worked. So he called the manager for help. (The same manager who hung up on me when he didn't understand the schedule problems I was having with the e-mail.) The help seems to have gone on for around 1/2 hour and zilch. The customer got on the line with the manager. One of the things he said in the review was "arrogant". He wasn't happy, the whole thing lasted 2 and 1/2 hours and he still had to pay for a key that doesn't work, (PLUS the deposit.) and he claims the smith on scene damaged his car door. How, I don't know. The whole programing thing is done by computer. There was also mention of small claims court.

And to think I thought my day was bad since the doctor had to pull a tooth.
 
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One last thing I forgot to mention. The review also said that the manager told the customer some kind of story about a recall that prevented us from getting the job done. Now it is possible something got recalled and there is nothing more that we can do about it. But knowing the manager as I do, I believe the customer. The manager has been less than honest more than once with me, and then there is the matter of him hanging up on me.

I said before that I chat with the customer while working to gain information. I do similar with those I work for. I'm certain he doesn't recall it, but a few years ago we were talking and he made a comment on how he intends to one day own the company and run the show. I never told the boss and I never commented on it to him. I just remembered and adjusted my dealings with him.
 

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I get the van at 10 tonight, and go to work 10 A.M. When I reminded the boss's son about the changeover I asked if he knew anything about last night's bad review. We texted a bit about it, so I know the boss is going to see it. He would sooner or later anyway. His wife checks the reviews nearly every day. But what this brought to mind is that for some time now during the meetings the manager has really been pushing us to get the customer post a review about us. He's tried to get us in a contest with each other about getting favorable reviews.

"You need to say this to the customer".

"You need to do that for the customer".

On and on it goes. It's wasted on me. Something I learned long ago was that with any argument, my friends will believe me. My enemies will believe what they want. And the people who don't know me, don't care. I'm not wasting time worrying about what other people think. If you like me, fine. If you don't like me, fine. My sense of self-worth doesn't come from the adulation of the crowds.

When it comes to the customer. I'm taking their money. OF COURSE, they have every right to expect I'm going to do everything I can for them. They are paying me and I don't pay for failure, why should they?

It will be interesting to see if the subject of reviews even comes up this week.
 

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Short one for tonight.

Pets. They are always an interesting side to my business. I have faced dogs, cats, all kinds of animals, even ferrets. But this evening was different. This marks the FIRST time I was greeted at the job, when I arrived, by a pet turkey. Nice big fat turkey, I wouldn't mind at all putting him into the pot. BUT I was there to take care of a door, so the turkey still lives. When I was a kid, we had all kinds of pets. Dogs, cats, squirrels, lizards, and even an iguana at one time. But never a turkey. Just goes to show you never know what someone is going to pull out on you. I guess it proves we need to,

"Expect the unexpected".
 

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Goodness. You never know. The job I had with the lady with the pet turkey has caused me to get the second negative review I've gotten in the past seven years. And some things just don't make sense. I realized everything was a bit odd when I got to the job. The dispatch said I was to replace two deadbolts and rekey them to the existing key. Normally that isn't a problem. This time it was different. First of all, it wasn't two deadbolts. The latch on a back door doorknob and fallen apart. She had an off-brand doorknob, so I didn't have the parts to fix it. That means replacing it. Because it is an off-brand, the key she has doesn't fit the new knob I have to install. That means I install the new knob and rekey the deadbolt to match the knob. This in turn means she and her husband will have one key for the front door and another for the back door. The other choice is to rekey the front door to match the back door so one key opens both doors. But rekeying more locks means additional expense to the customer. I explained all of this to her and asked what she wanted me to do. Her husband was fine with the idea of one key for the front and one for the back. She also agreed at that time. The next day there is a review stating that she felt scammed. I didn't put in a new knob that was the same as her old one. AND she now has the burden of having one key for one door and another for the other. Believe me, if it had been possible to rekey the new knob to work with her existing key I would have done it. But each lock manufacturer has a different keyway to their locks than the other guys do. You can't carry a spare for every lock ever made. They don't make a van large enough for that and the cost in parts alone would put you out of business.

I will say that in the review she left she said I was a "nice guy" and I did do everything I could to help her. But not even I can change things like this. Parts are parts. If you have an off brand lock that dies, after twenty years, the question is, does the manufacturer even exist any more? Given that from time to time manufacturers change the way they do things, am I going to have parts for a lock that old? Anyway, the boss gave me a call to get the straight on things. I explained it and his comment was,

"This is the first bad review you've had in five years. Don't worry about it."

I had to correct him. It is the second bad review in seven years. Even so, that's not a bad average. He said that to satisfy her we may have to send someone out to rekey the front door to match the back door and do it for free. I told him I would do it if he wanted me to do so, on my day off, but haven't hear back from him. I guessing he got to a meeting of the minds with the lady and I probably will never hear about it again.

And that brings up the subject of reviews I've mentioned before. After the bad review the Ocala smith and the manager got he went lightly on the subject. He mainly stressed that when we finish a job he wants the customer to have one of out business cards in their hand before we leave the job. I can live with that.
 

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I did say I had that feeling. Now it is starting to be confirmed. The new HR director has sent out a survey for all the smiths to fill out. That's fine. But at this moment I've been answering the same questions for over three hours, and they don't even have the courtesy to even reword them to at least make them sound different. If this is the kind of help we can expect, Lord help us all. Sorry, I need to finish the survey so I can cook supper sometime tonight.
 

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Well, I did it. After four hours of answering the same questions over and over again I quit. Not my job, just the survey. I sent the boss a text explaining why I did what I did and have not heard back from him yet. But I mean really. How many times do I have to say I love my job? This thing got stupidly ridiculous. It was a total waste of my time and the boss's money. If I had been on call, who knows how many jobs we would have lost because I was repeatedly answering the same questions? This is the real world. This is not college where you might have days to respond to these kind of things. I and all the other smiths have a job to do. This whole thing was useless. Boss! If you have a question, ask me. I'll tell you what I think. If you want to know if I like you, I'll tell you. If I don't like you, I'll not only tell you, I'll also tell you why I don't like you. But if this is what we can expect, we are going to be out of business in no time.

Edit to add; I did send a text to the boss and the manager informing them I was done with this thing. The boss still hasn't answered, but the manager asked why it took so long to do the survey. I told him why and why I thought it was such a waste of time and why. I guess tomorrow will show the way they truly think.
 
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I am so happy that most days aren't like yesterday. I sat around the house all day long and had only one call. And that one came in at about 8:45 P.M. I get off at 10. Even so, it was a first. I'm sure everyone has seen those things people put on the inside of their door. It is kind of like the chain some install, but this is a bar shaped like a slightly opened bobby pin and it swings over a bolt that is on the door. That way, when the bar is in position, the door can only be opened so far and then stops. That was the kind of thing the lady had on her door. About 85% of the time, I can get past those. I won't tell you how, but it can be done most of the time. In this case I'm afraid it was a no go and I had to use bolt cutters to cut the bar off the hinge. The first surprise was that the lady wasn't upset at all about it. She then told me that the other locksmith she had called told her they would most likely have to break down the door. So, replacing that bar is much easier to live with, especially since she has the key for the deadbolt. My second surprise you may have already been wondering about. This kind of lock can only be put in place from the inside of the door. Normally they are much to high off the floor as this one was, about 5 feet up, for a dog to accidentally lock. So how did it happen? I've said the pets are a natural hazard in my job. It wasn't the dog. The lady doesn't own one. Somehow the cat got up there and locked it. I didn't go in, but I'm guessing that just inside the door is a shelf for keys and such. We all know how cats like to get up high and survey their domain. I'm willing to bet the cat got up there and while moving around hit that bar just enough to engage the lock.

I love my job. You see so many things.
 

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Since I'm working only two days a week now, when a good one comes along, I have to tell you about it. This is one of those jobs where I feel sorry for the customer. I'm told he is locked out of his house. I get there he shows me the door that doesn't want to open. He has a key, several in fact, but not one that will turn the lock. He also informed me that he had installed the lock himself less than two weeks ago. I go to work on it. I try everything, and nothing is working. Naturally I ask if there is another door to try. He says yes and leads the way around the side of the house. Now all this time he is telling me the history of the place. Built in 1928, important local landmark, ect. He's telling me that this door was hung in 1928 when he opened the screen door, grabbed the knob, turned it and the door opened. He stood there staring at the open door for a moment and then said some thing's I'll not repeat. I did tell him that since I couldn't actually charge him for a home lockout. But I would have to charge him for the service call. That's about $15 cheaper. He said he understood, time and gas, all that sort of thing and the paid up his bill.

What can I say? It cost this guy over $60 to learn to check all the doors and windows FIRST!
 
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Siskiyoumom

Veteran Member
Since I'm working only two days a week now, when a good one comes along, I have to tell you about it. This is one of those jobs where I feel sorry for the customer. I'm told he is locked out of his house. I get there he shows me the door that doesn't want to open. He has a key, several in fact, but not one that will turn the lock. He also informed me that he had installed the lock himself less than two weeks ago. I go to work on it. I try everything, and nothing is working. Naturally I ask if there is another door to try. He says yes and leads the way around the side of the house. Now all this time he is telling me the history of the place. Built in 1928, important local landmark, ect. He's telling me that this door was hung in 1928 when he opened the screen door, grabbed the knob, turned it and the door opened. He stood there staring at the open door for a moment and then said some thing's I'll not repeat. I did tell him that since I hadn't actually charge him for a home lockout. But I would have to charge him for the service call. That's about $15 cheaper. He said he understood, time and gas, all that sort of thing and the paid up his bill.

What can I say? It cost this guy over $60 to learn to check all the doors and windows FIRST!
I truly needed the laugh. Thank you. And yes I have done some silly things on par with your customer.
 

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Well, something has happened. The lady who put up the bad review took it down after someone else did the work she told me not to do, and they did it for free. Squeaky wheel, I guess. The manager was all praises about good reviews we've gotten recently. He was full of compliments about how the two teams in Gainesville and Ocala are pulling together as individual teams and, oh yes, but the way, Mike is no longer with the company.

Say what? That was it, no explanation, nothing. Just Mikes gone and the guy we are bringing in, in Gainesville is Daniel. Looks like the manager got his wish. In a way I do understand why the manager did it. Mike got a number of very good reviews. The customers liked him a lot. But he wasn't really a team player. He got things done, but on his schedule, not the boss's. That means while he's hung up on a job the other smith gets overloaded. Good for the paycheck, not so good on the nerves. I'm glad they got someone to take his place, before they let him go. They might lean on me to do max. hours until they DID get someone. I'd do it, but if the need came up I still can't go over the number of hours SS limits me to have.
 

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One other ditty. I'm kind of excited about this. We've all seen the tubular locks. The ones they use on soda and other vending machines. I recently saw some videos about how to pick them. Then I found out about a pick made just for them. I talked about it with the manager. He said he had tried them and never gotten one to work. I found out how to make something that would work as a homemade pick that seemed to do the job just as well. All I needed was a couple blank tubular keys. He mumbled something about thinking about it. One day while I was poking around inside the van, I found one of those picks. Brand new, still in the case. I have a cabinet with one of those locks on it, so I tried it. It took a little doing but I opened the cabinet. I'm sure you are all aware that these days if your trailer hitch isn't locked onto the truck, somebody is going to steal it. Sunday, I got a to unlock two trailer hitches and they were meeting me at the shop, to avoid the service call fee. Both locks were the tubular type. Both locks had the key. Neither lock would turn, and I was told to cut them off. I squirted them with good old WD-40, used the pick tool and in less than ten minutes had both locks off, undamaged, and was advising the customers that soaking these things in WD-40 and then locking and unlocking them several times, should clear up the problem. No need to buy new locks.

I'm so impressed with this new toy I've ordered a brand spanking new set for myself. I'll keep those in my bag and the boss can keep his in the van. I also mentioned this to the boss's son as I was turning the van over and he told me he'd never had a tubular lock to work on. Well, I have and before this the only choice was to cut them off. It's Gainesville. There are a lot of bicycle locks just like that. Not any longer will I have to cut them.
 
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Now the truth comes out. I handed over the van to the boss's son a little while ago and just asked him,

"What happened with Mike?"

Part of what happened next didn't surprise me. But the rabbit, and the grunt which I am, survive by noticing details. You may recall the manager didn't like the fact that Mike took five hours on one certain job. I think that caused the manager to take a closer look at Mike's hours. Doing that he jumped to the conclusion that Mike was dragging his feet to pad his time. He was pulling down a fair amount of OT. The son told me Mike is a nice guy but while he picked up picking quickly, he just couldn't seem to do it quickly. More than one source has told me that he would spend 2 1/2 hours on a job that should take no more than thirty minutes. He also refused to call for help when he ran into something new. That would throw extra jobs on whichever smith was working that day, and if it was busy, say the Gators are playing in the swamp, some jobs would have to be turned away because we had nobody to cover them. That is the reason given for letting him go. All of that is understandable. But what caught me from out of the blue was the way the son said it. Something along the lines of,

"It was decided that he was costing us more than it was worth."

This coming from a 23 year old kid who was sitting in the slam trying to come down off of whatever he had been doing that night, less than 1 1/2 years ago. And he arrived at the jail wearing nothing. Not even Fruit of the Looms. Certainly sounds like a corporate executive in the making to me. I'm going to have to keep an eye on this one. Not that he could possibly see me as any kind of threat. He's the boss's son and I'm just the old weird guy who has been around forever. I do my job, I'm always there when they call, so I'm dependable and only part time. No threat to him at all. But at some point I see conflict between him and the manager. After all the manager is the one who told me he plans on owning the company some day. Time to stay out of the way.
 
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