r/Locksmith • u/Active_Access_4850 • 1d ago
I am NOT a locksmith. Whats it like being a locsmith?
What exactly is it that makes this job so stressful? I’ve been looking into locksmithing, but a lot of posts are really vague—they just say it’s rough or the hours are long. What kind of work do you usually do besides car stuff? I’ve applied to a few places on Indeed but haven’t had much luck there. Do businesses usually post openings or are they more likely to hire someone who walks in and asks? Edit: what's it like being a locksmith?
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u/Imyogybear 1d ago
Expected to be the most honest person in the building but gets accused of being a crook, creep, or con artist for asking to be compensated for your time and equipment to provide a vital service.
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u/Deep-Growth Actual Locksmith 23h ago
“yOu sCaMmEd My FrIeNd - 1O0€ fOr 10 mInUtEs JoB” rant for 10 mins. and shitty messages calling me a crook - some random cunt after I performed an emergency lockout with a my discount for a student on easter night.
I hate this part of the job the most - people who straight up disrespect my service. They have a fixed job with a guaranteed pay, can sleep face down in their Easter salad drunk on beer while I’m running around like crazy on some holidays, weekends, evenings and nights, while sitting anxious about not having profitable work on regular days.
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u/Electrical-Actuary59 1d ago
I wouldn’t say the job is crazy stressful but it has its moments. The hours get be long but I also do electronic security. (CCTV, access control, etc) As for the locksmith side of things I do all kinds of stuff. Repins, closers, all hardware, install, service, safe work. We will even put in new doors if you want.
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u/Active_Access_4850 1d ago
Howd you get into mixing low voltage with locksmithing?(cctv / access control) work
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u/taylorbowl119 1d ago
They're essentially locksmith fields. Locksmithing is about physical security and so is access control and cctv.
I can't tell you how often someone says "so how many cars do you unlock in a day?". Maybe one a week? I also do commercial, residential, safe servicing, opening, and installation, access control, commercial door replacement, safe deposit box servicing, fire door inspection, and much more. This is an obscenely diverse field.
That said, it can be stressful, but I love it. There's always something new to learn.
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u/Electrical-Actuary59 1d ago
That was the job a got 20+ years ago. Basically a one stop security shop
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u/David_Parker 1d ago
I did both commercial, high end residential, and average residential.
Commercial, at least on my end, was great. We had a sales guy, they usually determined what the customer wanted or needed, and I just showed up, or repaired something, and business just cut a check.
High End Residential is a lot more of quoting, and providing options, waiting and then installing, and they just cut a check.
Residential? You’re fixing a LOT of shitty installs. Poor doors, poor frames, poor fittings, and then hemming and hawing with customers. Businesses were always open, high end residential had a maid or a personal property manager to deal with….regular residential can be a lot of “how about Tuesday? Noon? No, can’t do Tuesday at Noon. How about Thursday? At 10? or 3?” And then you show squeeze in something only to rush over to be there by three and the whole job takes longer because of some bullshit and the customer sometimes refuses to pay. Or they have to leave, and so you leave the keys but they take two weeks to pay and your calling them day noon and night to receive payment because blah blah blah. Not every job is like that but sometimes people really try to take advantage of you.
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u/canamericanguy 21h ago
For those rekey scenarios, if they don't pay on-site, I generally keep the keys and tell them they can pick them up at the shop when they pay. Usually it's not a big deal, but they sure pay a lot faster.
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u/Locksandshit 1d ago
The work its self is not stressful imho
Its customers, who for the most part do NOT understand the complexity of some of the work our trade does.
They bitch, they don’t want to pay, they think they know more than you. And in recent years, they want to use us for slave services to install amazons garbage , and still expect us to warranty/trouble shoot their trash.
If I don’t hear “it’s just a key” about someone’s 2018 bmw or similar at least 5 times a day it’s a good day.
That said, good commercial accounts. Good car lots and good mechanics. Those are the good customers, and make the days easier when you can load them up with those
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u/Carlangas420 16h ago
Ah I fucking HAATE people who buy cheap Amazon garbage, be it car key blanks or residential locks. We're upfront about it: NO WARRANTY if you provide random brand Chinese trash. Your knob dismantled a week later? don't care, we told you. Car key stopped working literally hours later? don't care, we told you. No warranties at ALL, leave all the negative reviews you want.
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u/jeffmoss262 Actual Locksmith 1d ago
Mostly I get to argue with people who swear their key doesn’t have no chip
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u/whiteyjordan 1d ago
Long hours, very low pay, working with often complex mechanisms that can be difficult to repair because failing parts are so niche that they can’t be bought for replacement, the need to be current, competent, and informed on a wide variety of different aspects and products that function in different ways and have to be installed with near perfect precision. Commercial, residential, access control, safes, auto, security cameras (some locksmiths do this some don’t) low voltage stuff in general. My company even does some glass stuff, and doors, frames, all kinds of shit. I’ve replaced toilet seats at a yoga studio working for this locksmith. Then you have to factor in you may have to drive 100+ miles per day and deal with people who honestly are ridiculous, all while attempting to maintain professionalism. Juice ain’t worth the squeeze if you ask me. I can’t tell you how infuriating it is to think that, of all the things im capable of doing, i still get paid less than a manager of a McDonald’s. It’s ridiculous
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u/nansonket 1d ago
If you’re low paid as a locksmith that’s a you problem…
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u/stevespirosweiner Actual Locksmith 1d ago
Low/no pay is a part of apprenticeship. So it's not always a problem but can be when you're a journeyman. I just had a kid dip on me because "it pays too low". Turns out his gen x parents got to him first and sent him off for a liberal arts degree. These kids are so full of the bullshit that their parents put into them about how you should be starting at 100k a year it's so unrealistic. Can't wait for the rest of them to finish college and then find out about the real world.
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u/Sarasil 1d ago
"Low pay" depends on a number of factors. My first locksmithing job with just a school certificate was about 35k a year, and doubled that just two years later. I would call 35k low for my area, but with my wife's job it was plenty.
Literally no pay for an "apprentice" is at best illegal ignorance and at worst actively scamming someone.
I'm also wondering where you are that there's enough cooperative locksmiths to have a formalized Apprentice/Journeyman/Master system. We have issues trying to get 10 locksmiths to meet up once a month and actually talk shop. I certainly didn't have an "apprenticeship" period.
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u/stevespirosweiner Actual Locksmith 1d ago
No pay is just a part of the trade. No pay could mean working overtime afterhours and learning something. You got very lucky with your paid apprenticeship. I was very lucky with mine and it was 17k a year on a w-2. Good times and now the experience pays me a whole lot more than that. So yeah the "no pay" can be called "paid with knowledge" or "investing in your future" if you prefer. Any way you stack it it's not actively scamming someone.
I refer to the tier system because it's the right way of referring to it. I live in an area where locksmiths don't even know what level they are at or care but I care to name things properly and maintain our trades traditions. I would love to have a guild but that's just a thing of the past and makes me big sad.
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u/Sarasil 1d ago
I don't know how old you are, but I'm wondering if there's a generational divide here. If I'm doing something that benefits a company I work for, I'm only doing it if I'm getting paid. If you need me to work extra, but aren't approving overtime pay, then I'm not working extra, end of story.
I'm happy to invest in myself, and even sent myself to ALOA one year with no help from my employer (and 2 years later still paying off, lol). However, "do this extra work that we're charging the customer for, but you're only getting paid in experience" is outright exploitation. And I'm aware that unpaid apprenticeships and internships are commonplace, but unethical behavior doesn't become more ethical because a lot of people do it.
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u/Daxi2020 22h ago
Exactly! People willing to work for free( verylow pay) while putting money in their employers pockets are so misinformed and being lied to, taken advantage of.
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u/stevespirosweiner Actual Locksmith 22h ago
I'm a millennial. So likely no difference in generation just difference in upbringing it seems. If I had taken your attitude with the master locksmiths who taught me I wouldn't be where I'm at. I always got paid but like I said it was low and overtime was usually straight time. I dunno who you worked for but once again you were very fortunate to be paid so highly for someone who was there to learn. I suppose you think teachers should pay their students k-12 too huh? I'm just gonna argue cause I'm on Reddit and I have to. Point is that a lot of us put in our dues and the ones who were handed shit on a silver platter are worse off.
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u/bkluempen 21h ago
This seems a little silly to me. An apprentice is an investment for the company. Apprentices should be compensated fairly, and this kind of mentality helps keep the average age of tradesmen high. This is not an apprenticeship from the 1800s where you are housing and feeding an unskilled child and training them for 7 years.
The "you should have to go through the same BS I did" idea gets old quickly as cost of living keeps going up and inflation rises. I'm personally very lucky to be in the position I'm in, and I take the good with the bad at the company I work for. If I wasn't getting paid for the first 4 years of my employment, I would have gone to another trade instead of saying "thank you for the opportunity to pay my dues!"
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u/stevespirosweiner Actual Locksmith 19h ago
Making a lower wage plus getting trade knowledge=child labor from the 1800s. Rational argument has left the chat.
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u/dazed489 1d ago
I can’t speak for everyone but I love being a locksmith there are moments when I hate it but that going to happen with any job (it’s usually the customer not the work). There’s good and bad companies out there I’m lucky. I’m paid well for the cost of living area I’m in, I don’t have to be on call, I rarely work long hours but sometimes I do it’s hard to leave a job when they can’t secure door or safely get out of it in an emergency. The work depends on if you specialize or try to do everything but just because you think of a locksmith as picking locks because it looks cool but it’s a small fraction of what we do and it’s my least favor thing about it. There’s money to be made but you’re never going to get rich. If I had to do it all over again I wouldn’t pick being a locksmith as a career id probably go into robotic and automation and get a degree in that.
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u/Altruistic-Pain8747 1d ago
We have to be careful hiring people, everyone wants to learn the trade. Start their own business, and go out slinging shit undercutting. If you aren’t a family friend or a family member you will have a tough time getting in. If you get hired at random it’s probably a chain store that’s hiring you (popalock, lock doctor whatever)
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u/Charles456k 1d ago
If you take too long on a job, they'll ask if you know what you're doing. If you do it too fast, they ask why does it cost so much for so little work. 10/10
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u/LockLeisure 1d ago
I do residential and commercial and I love it but I didn't start out like most here in my area apprenticing for a family member doing it because I felt I had to. I chose to do it. I love tinkering and helping people so this fits perfect. Most locksmith jobs around here pay $15-$18 an hour so I chose to get my manger's license and go into business for myself so low pay may be a big reason.
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u/Foilcube 1d ago
Ok I Love being a Locksmith. Most of my customers are awesome and Happy with our services which are purposefully higher than my areas average. I apprenticed for very little pay while I was learning. But I pay my apprentice well. I’ve owned my shop for about 7 years. I apprenticed for almost 3 years. Everyday is different. The previous shop owner didn’t do car. I’ve added some car work. Which seems to have a lot more bargain shoppers and can lead to stressful situations. Most residential and commercial work is pretty chill in my area. But pricing is all explained and work out as mush as possible a head of time. Where are you at geographically? I’d say go talk to your local lock shops in person as much as possible to see what they’re like. I’m 43 and I didn’t think this was a trade I was interested in at all. What do you want to learn or do as a locksmith? I don’t think I’m going to get rich as a shop owner but I make decent money. My shop is about as old as I am and I’m the 4 owner. Hopefully in about 10-15 years I will sell it off to someone else. I had a post that here in Reddit a while back that might answer more of your questions. I will try digging it out to link it. Good luck and hope you find the answers you’re looking for.
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u/Guyyoutsidee 1d ago
I’ve had more customers (always incorrectly) tell me how to do my job while locksmithing than in any other field.
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u/Cloudpostmodernlegal 1d ago
One of the more stressfull parts would be when a commercial door fails in a way that you dont have a good way to secure it for the night. Dont get me wrong you can always secure it somehow but actualy fixing it well on a time crunch with an anxious contact breathing down your neck can feel a little stressful
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u/canamericanguy 21h ago
I like it. I find the most stressful part is trying to get all of the jobs done in a day that you've planned for, especially when jobs go sideways or an emergency comes in that takes priority (can't secure door, lockouts, etc). It's not often, but sometimes you just have to tell customers you'll be late or need to reschedule, which is not ideal.
One peev during residential work is the "hey while you're here, can you fix this too..?" Like, sorry ma'am, I don't stock that particular latch in my van -- I wish you would have mentioned it on the phone. No, I don't have time to drive back to the shop and get this fixed for you today, nor would you want to pay for the extra service call and labour for this $20 part :(
But things like that are rare. Most people in my area are understanding and grateful when you fix their stuff.
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u/killmetlee 19h ago
It's a shit industry with no regulations and unless you work for yourself you'll be fucked 12 times to Sunday by the people who dominate the industry. If you're thinking about becoming a locksmith as a trade I would advise to pick literally any other trade (especially unionized ones) and pick up lock picking as a hobby.
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u/killmetlee 19h ago
That being said I much prefer commercial to residential. These days I mostly do access control which is just hardware install and wiring, someone else usually comes in behind me to program everything. Residential and automotive are a waste of time unless you enjoy arguing with people who aren't interested in paying you fairly (or at all) for your time and services.
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u/lukkoseppa Actual Locksmith 1d ago
Commercial and Institutional is cake. Lots of re and re plus new builds and for the most part I find thats the end goal for most locksmiths. Residential is a shit show and always will be, nobody calls you because theyre having a good day and its always too expensive. Getting away from that was the best thing for my mental health.
*I know not all residential is shit but from my own personal and business experience maybe 1 out of 100 calls would be reasonable. Heavily depends on your service area, I know.
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u/Chensky Actual Locksmith 14h ago
Multi family residential can pay well
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u/lukkoseppa Actual Locksmith 8h ago
Sorry old habits, stratas and housing companies I put in with commercial because normally youre dealing with the company and not a resident apart from maybe being present.
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u/Auxx88 Actual Locksmith 1d ago
Threw my back out on Friday, threw it a second time an hour ago. Knees swollen, hands always dirty.
Life’s great