TIPS TO HIRE A GOOD LOCKSMITH

Do you need or want to hire a locksmith? If so, you want a GOOD locksmith; not just a mediocre one! You might be wondering how to hire and work with one of these professionals without paying too much or waiting months for an appointment. Chino Fast Locksmith has some helpful tips that can make hiring your next lock professional an easy and stress free task. There are many qualified lock and key experts in the greater Chino, CA area and after reading this post you’ll know how best to hire one of them!

Be picky about your locksmith!

Why should you be so choosy about your locksmith? It’s an odd thing but many people put more effort into selecting a landscaper or carpet cleaner than to picking someone that has complete and total access to their home, business or auto locks and keys! Sure, your locksmith is making security for you better but they also temporarily have that same access. Why NOT get the best?

Does having a license really matter?

Some say that having a locksmith license is just an excuse to charge higher prices. This is actually quite wrong! Usually the only people advocating hiring this type of worker are the ones that couldn’t get certification or any kind of credentials. Don’t fall for this line of thinking. At minimum your locksmith should be licensed, bonded and insured. He or she also needs to be experienced, skilled and trained. Don’t worry about price; a few phone calls will quickly get you shops that are both affordable and honest in their dealings.

You would never think of going to an unlicensed doctor, chiropractor or lawyer, so why consult with an unlicensed locksmith? Never make the mistake of thinking that all locksmiths are of the same quality or skill; they are not! Use your good judgement; if all you need are some keys cut or some door knobs changed, hire anyone you like that can do the job. No extensive training or professional licenses are needed for that. You can even go to your local mail center or hardware store for spare keys, but chances are that those same clerks will not know how to program your transponder key or install keyless entry.

Be ready for any locksmith need!

How do you do this? Simple; choose your locksmith early, before he or she is needed! Think about it – locksmith needs are sometimes planned and other times not. Emergency situations like break-in damage or lost transponder keys can happen after-hours or on holidays or weekends. The last thing you want to be doing is last minute scrambling for a locksmith to help in a moment’s notice. The funny thing about emergencies is that it’s hard to think straight when having them. It’s easy to be taken advantage of when a million things are going through your brain. Why not take the time to make a few phone calls and find a reliable and fully certified Chino, CA locksmith shop that you feel comfortable working with? If something unexpected arises, just grab your mobile device and tap to call!

24/7 coverage is essential!

Locksmith needs don’t keep regular business hours so you need to be ever-ready to handle them whenever they occur. Your locksmith of choice needs to offer and deliver 24-hour emergency service. Many if not most shops will claim to but hold them to their promises by calling them and finding out a few things. What kinds of response times are offered? How do they take after-hours calls? Do they use their own in-house technicians or outsource to part time handymen just looking for work? Here at Chino Fast Locksmith we use live answer telephone help on a round the clock basis. See if the shop you are interested in does the same. Remember; minutes count when having an emergency so it’s worth the time taken to find a responsive locksmith shop to help whenever needed.

Read reviews

Are online reviews always accurate? No, but they can give you an idea what the shop you are reading about is really like. Don’t expect glowing reports from everyone; that in itself is suspect! There will always be some disgruntled persons no matter how good or fast the service was. On the other hand, if you see a pattern of bad reviews, late or no-shows, rude behavior or sudden price changes, then cross that shop off of your list!

Referrals

People remember both good and bad jobs done for them and will talk about them both! Ask around and see if any of your family, friends, co-workers or close associates has used a local Chino, CA locksmith lately. How was the service, the hardware and the overall experience? You can learn a lot by asking for opinions and highly pleased or wronged folks are always eager to talk about what they went through.

Unresolved complaints

It’s completely natural to have one or two complaints on file with the Chamber of Commerce or the local Chino Better Business Bureau. Human nature, being what it is, will always produce a late show or a price dispute. It’s the unresolved ones that you should be concerned about. If there are several or a pattern that emerges, move on to the next one!

Insurance coverage and bonding

Your locksmith shop needs to be insured and bonded; period! Ask about this when you call and don’t forget to find out how much coverage is involved. An established shop with your best interests at heart will carry plenty of coverage and will not be afraid to discuss this with you. If they shy away from this or don’t know; move on to the next one on your list. Having adequate coverage protects you the consumer from possible sloppy work or even bodily injury if something goes wrong. While you have them on the phone, be sure to ask if the company previously operated under another name. This is important to know if the company was shut down by the authorities and has now re-opened as a new entity. Be choosy, be persistent and your locksmith experience will reflect your high standards!

Article source here: TIPS TO HIRE A GOOD LOCKSMITH

What to Do When Your Transponder Key Is Lost

Losing a key is always a frustrating ordeal, but it is something that can’t be helped sometimes. That being said, you seldom need to resort to getting a transponder key from a local car dealer. In fact, we would go as far as saying that this should be your very last course of action. Auto locksmiths these days have all the equipment and training required to program a replacement key for you – and will do so a lot quicker than your vehicle’s manufacturer would.

There’s even more to it. A local locksmith services provider who specializes in automotive matters will provide you with repairs and replacements a lot more cheaply than any other place. That’s not limited to transponder keys, either – many of these professionals will know how to replace ignition cylinders and other security components too, reducing the need to take your car into an expensive garage or your local dealership in the worst case scenarios.

But we’re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. So let’s take a step back to focus on the mechanisms behind your key’s transponder.

Replacing a transponder key

Security demands continue to change and evolve, and automotive technologies are always looking for new ways to keep up with the latest developments. Some of the newest transponder key mechanisms are designed to be strong deterrents for forced entry attempts, comprising a number of features that restrict access to a vehicle.

Before we get to what is needed to replace one of these keys, it may be useful to outline how these actually work. Transponder keys have computer chips fitted into their plastic heads, which will transmit a signal back to your car once activated. A car with a transponder key will not start unless this chip and the car are transmitting the proper responses.

Why are we telling you this? To emphasize that, unless you have access to the proper equipment, replacing a transponder key can be quite tricky. Especially since there is a two-step process at play in this situation:

• You would first need to replace the key blade, cutting it to the right configuration.
• Then, you would need to program your transponder chip.

The first point is common practice in all kinds of keys – car keys, house keys and so forth. It’s with the latter that things get more complicated. Getting the key to match your car’s system is something only someone with technical know-how will be able to do justice.

 So, what can I do about my lost key?  

That is where the invaluable services of an automotive lock and key services provider will come in handy.

We’ll give you some tips on how to find the right professional for the job further along this blog post. Once you have selected the right business for the job, you will need to provide them with the following information:

• Proof of ownership of the vehicle – it’s a standard procedure for locksmiths to request additional identification documents from you in order to be sure that you are the legitimate owner of the car they are making a new key for. The car registration information is also crucial when it comes to cutting the key.
• A chip code – these are usually found in a code card supplied by your car’s manufacturer upon purchase. If you no longer have this, don’t worry – it’ll just mean there will be an extra step in the key replacement process.

There are different ways your locksmith may approach the task at hand. The first step they will take is to cut a new key for you using your car’s chassis number – which you should be able to find in your car’s registration documents. Then, they will go ahead and program the chip, either using the chip code mentioned above or by reprogramming the ECU unit to respond to the new key. In some cases, a locksmith may need to reprogram the car’s transponder receiver in order to get the key to work. From there, your key will be ready in no time.

But how do I know which locksmith to hire?

When it comes to security, it pays to plan in advance. So if you’ve never had to hire a locksmith before, here are a few tips to make the whole process run smoothly.

First, make sure to get referrals from people you can trust – friends, family, neighbors, co-workers, or anyone else you know who has needed to use a locksmith in the past. Great reputation travels fast, and word of mouth tends to be the best way to glean a business’s credibility. Next, make sure that the businesses referred to you actually offer automotive solutions – some locksmiths tend to focus on specialist areas, while others offer a wider scope of services. Now that this is done, verify that these businesses are local (double check any addresses that are listed online, as some scammers tend to list fake locations), and stay away from any operation that can’t be traced to a physical location.

No red flags thus far? Great! Now it’s time to call these businesses to inquire about their services. This is a crucial step to identify whether you are hiring the best professional for the job. Remember, any business who answers a phone using a generic sentence like “locksmith service” and refuses to provide a full name upon request should not be trusted. Ask the person on the phone to provide you with licensing and insurance details, and get a full cost breakdown for your transponder key replacements. To be on the safe side, call 2-3 businesses before settling on the one you would like to hire.

For those living in Chino, CA, make sure to contact the licensed and insured team at Chino Fast Locksmith. We offer transponder key replacements and programming as well as an array of other automotive lock and key solutions – so if you have any other concerns, feel free to ask about those too.

Transponder keys may be hard to replicate, but replacing them will never be an issue if you hire the right auto locksmith for the job. We hope this blog post has provided a useful guide about what it takes to replace a lost transponder key and how to go about it.

Article source here: What to Do When Your Transponder Key Is Lost