Locked out at night: what to do in the first ten minutes

Lockouts cluster after dark, and the difference between a bad hour and a manageable one usually comes down to the first ten minutes.

Get somewhere safe and lit

If you are outside a home, wait by a lit entrance or in your car with the doors locked. If you are at a business, the front of the building is safer than the alley. This matters more than anything else on this list.

Check the obvious before you call

• A second door, a garage side door, or an unlocked window on the ground floor.
• Whether a family member, neighbour or landlord holds a spare.
• For a vehicle: the trunk pass-through, and whether a fob in a bag is simply out of range rather than lost.

None of this is condescending — it is the same list our technicians run through on the phone, because a call we can talk you out of is a call you should not pay for.

What a legitimate locksmith tells you before dispatch

When you call us, you should get four things before anyone drives:

• A real arrival window, not "twenty minutes" said reflexively.
• A price for the call-out, including the after-hours rate if it applies.
• A clear statement that we will verify your authorization before opening anything.
• A name, so you know who is arriving.

If a company will not give you those on the phone, that is a signal. The most common complaint about locksmith spam is a low phone quote that becomes a much larger number once the van is in the driveway.

What happens when we arrive

We confirm ID and authorization, then open the door with non-destructive techniques wherever possible. If a lock has to be drilled we tell you before we start, explain why, and quote the replacement. Then we check the door closes and locks properly before we leave.