Don't Let it Happen to You

As the holidays come up, we're all excited. And so are the would-be criminals. Burglaries and other crimes go up every holiday season as needs and wants go up as well. We were reminded of this sad fact by this article in the Honolulu Advertiser.

The Key Guy urges you to be prepared.

1. First of all, lock your doors.
2. Make sure your door and lock are both in sturdy condition. Don't make it too easy for thieves to get in. Most will give up if your door doesn't open within 2 minutes.
   
3. Evaluate easily-accessible windows, which in Hawaii are often a point of easy entry for thieves, even in broad daylight, in secure neighborhoods.
   

If you see potential easy-access points for thieves, consider calling a security professional. Consider having a surveillance camera system installed. It's not as costly nor uncommon as you might think, and it could end up saving your life (or thousands of dollars).

Just last week, we read about a man in Florida who had a camera system installed at his house for $1,000. Burglars broke into his home and stole many valuable items while he was on vacation. Luckily, their faces got caught on camera! The local news station aired the footage to help identify the thieves. The man said the cameras were worth every penny of that $1000.

FindALocksmith.com

ALOA (Associated Locksmiths of America) recently launched FindALocksmith.com, aiming to be the largest locksmith search engine out there.

Consumers can be assured that all locksmiths listed on the ALOA website are members of ALOA, which means they have been in the industry at least two years, they have character references from three industry sources, they were referred by an existing ALOA member, and they underwent FBI background checks, fingerprinting, and they are bonded up to $10,000.

The Key Guy highly recommends only calling locksmiths listed on FindALocksmith.com. Using google, yahoo, bing, and other search engines will usually yield lots of "scammer" locksmiths who are not certified, not licensed, and not insured.

It's not hard to find angry consumer reports, news articles, and lawsuits against these falsely marketed locksmiths. They permeate 411 and google with multiple listings at fake addresses, and because they are marketing scam professionals, they push out legitimate locksmiths with only a single (and REAL) listing.

Please make sure your locksmith is an ALOA member, or at the very least, insured and bonded, before you call.

FindALocksmith.com
www.keyguyhawaii.com

FHB Fiasco Update

An update on the fiasco that has been The Key Guy's experience with First Hawaiian Bank.

After hours of perturbedness, both in person and on the phone, I finally got someone from The Bank Card Center to say that she would refund the finance charges incurred on the credit card we never received and never knew we had. FINALLY, some decent news.

This was after a week of not being able to talk on the phone with them, because apparently, even though I am a signature authority on the account AND the majority owner of the business, I "didn't have permission" to speak with them over the phone. My signature is on the signature card, my name is on all the accounts. BUT I had to have Guy confirm his name and social security number to them, which I could have done easily. I had to go into First Hawaiian Bank, in person, to have them fax the signature card to their own Bank Card Center. Even AFTER the signature card had been received, I had to wait additional days for the thing to "process." The rep still refused to speak to me even though she had personally received the signature card fax. Flabbergasting. Next time I should just lie and impersonate him.

Anyway, the rep on the phone told me I had to pay off the entire bill (without ever having received a bill) before she could credit me back the finance charges. Oh, and the payment had to clear, which would take several days. Fine. So I blindly paid off the entire bill without even having the privilege of seeing what the charges were for. I was told to call back in three days. Fine. Unreasonable, but I did it. She said she would put the charges back. Okay, all good, right?

No.

I received a call from one of First Hawaiian Bank's Vice Presidents, telling me he was sorry for my bad experience. He said the finance charges they had faultily charged me would be put back into my checking account. My old checking account which is no longer in use. I gave him the new checking account number and he said he would take care of it. He also asked if I was sure I wanted to cancel my credit card. Um, YES I'm sure. This was about a month ago.

Fast forward to a month later. I looked over all the transactions in every account we have, and still no credit for the finance charges. Seriously? After reassurance from 2 different reps AND the VP? Seriously. I called, and apparently they STILL haven't cancelled the credit card, and they STILL left the finance charge funds on the card. SERIOUSLY??? This is beyond incompetent and inept.

Cell Phone: 3 Megapixels, CCTV: 0.1 Megapixels????

http://www.sourcesecurity.com/news/articles/co-1164-ga.3590.html

Since when should the cheapest cell phone camera on the market be 300 times better than CCTV cameras used in security systems? Stimulus money, there you go!

Pick for Pie?

The classic interview response, beauty queen response, and public statement is, "I love my job because I love helping people. It feels so satisfying to be one of the 'good guys.'"

Locksmiths aren't normally thought of as beauty queens or people in the limelight, but it's still nice when a random fat guy in spandex bike shorts and glasses can stop you outside Anna Miller's and ask if you can help him pick a lock.

The nice fat man in bike shorts will explain how he must have lost the keys to his bike lock, and how he will have to somehow bus it all the way back to Kailua from Aiea because he can't use his bike, and how he won't be very awake for his 11 hour shift in the morning.

When you open his lock, he thanks you and buys you a scrumptious Peach Pie from Anna Miller's.

Sweet deal!

New Feats of Key Guy Locksmith Super-Heroism on Set of LOST!

About an hour ago, a stressed girl named Lindsay called with a lockout in Manoa. "Can you hurry?" she asked, "We're filming Lost over here."

Eight minutes later, we pulled up a tiny Manoa street loaded with giant trucks, lights, equipment, and swarming with people. This was very cool for me, a total film set noob. More than one guy lifting equipment called out, "Hey! Are you here to help us? Yeah? Oh, I thought you were part of the set!"


When we finally got to the right address, they told us we couldn't park our flaming green van there because they were filming the house...uh, NOW. "Back up and park behind that truck," said about fifty people. So we backed up. And there was no room for us on the skinny residential street because there was a giant cherry-picker and scaffolding and a giant black cable snaking everywhere from 40 feet up. And everyone was still yelling at us. Okay. Can we park in the driveway? "No! Go forward I said," yelled this haole local guy, "You see dis local guy over hea? He tink he know more than us. Ho da nerve yah?" Yowch. We went further down the street past throngs of people and parked at the end of the cul de sac.

Then a 350 lb, 6'5" security guard interrogated us about what we needed. Then some local guy in boardshorts and a t-shirt came charging up to the van and said, "OkaybrahsoitwaslikethisIdidthisandeeeeerrrrandthisandthis likefourtimesinarowthen Hoooooo da ting wen jam up arready." It turns out that this hyperkid is one of the actors, and he had jammed the deadbolt with cameras rolling, a hundred people watching. If I watched the show I could probably tell you what actor he was...but, sorry, I don't have a TV.

"This is what we're gonna do," said the 350-pound security guard in a sweaty yellow shirt, "In about 3 minutes, as soon as they stop filming, you're gonna run inside the house with him," he pointed at the actor in boardshorts, "And go inside and do what you gotta do." This was a lot of pressure, what with hundreds of people watching and cameras everywhere.

The security guard said, "Ok GO!" The boardshorts actor grabbed Guy and they sped off down the hill and into the house. Literally, they ran. I never see Guy run. While they were inside, they filmed a scene with a haole guy in a suit pounding on the door and trying to get "David" to let him in the house. I found that amusing. The door was really stuck! Ha!
Five minutes later, Guy had unjammed the deadbolt and changed it out for a new one. Luckily, he had just competed in the Speed Deadbolt Installation Contest at the Vegas ALOA Convention. The girl inside with him announced it to everyone on the walkie-talkie.

Then BAM!

The door blew open and Guy was standing there. Everyone on the set swarmed to the front door and started screaming and applauding. More people congregated around him. A man shouted, "It's Guy's birthday!" Then all hundred people started singing "Happy Birthday Dear Key Guy." I started laughing. It was pretty ridiculous. Guy, beaming, took a bow and shook hands with the crowd on his way down. Someone said they should take our bill and pay us double. Men slapped him on the back. The director, actors, and other important-looking people congratulated us. A loud voice yelled, "Ey! If you get locked out, CALL THE KEY GUY!"

The man in charge of paying the bill said we'd saved him tens of thousands of dollars by fixing the door. It felt pretty sweet.

If you ever thought a locksmith could save the day (and dare I say be a superhero?), this is the time and place it happened. Guy said we should ask for an acknowledgement in the episode credits. I said, fancy that.

First Hawaiian Bank: Inept, Unorganized, Infuriating

The Key Guy just got royally screwed over by First Hawaiian Bank, and you can be sure that we will avoid doing business with them in the future. The nice faces of most First Hawaiian Bank customer service workers do not make up for the complete ineptness and lack of organization or communication in their system.

We opened a business credit card with FHB back in March and they managed to royally screw it up by:

1) Sending statements to the wrong address even though we had to fill out the change of address form TWICE and go in in person TWO MORE TIMES. Prior and coincident with the wrong address, they also couldn't manage to update Guy's social security number OR my name right. Each time we were reassured that it would all be taken care of. But, uh, NO it wasn't. And still isn't.

2) They somehow managed to open two accounts when we only signed up for one, one of which was "HIDDEN" from all customer service people, credit card specialists, tellers, and basically everyone at the branch level, so that when we went IN PERSON to pay off the balance MULTIPLE TIMES over the span of SEVERAL MONTHS, they kept telling us the balance was ZERO. We even went as far as having someone at the branch call the SEPARATE "credit card office" multiple times to access the balance, since we couldn't go online, or even request a statement right there INSIDE the bank. There was no other way to do it. Convoluted, yes?

We had stopped using the card months prior because of the problem with not being able to check transactions nor access the charges online, as well as the balance doing weird things unbeknownst and unexplained by customer service.

3) FHB somehow let over $2,000+ accrue in the "parent" (I would call it "evil ghost") account-- EVEN THOUGH CUST SERVE AND CREDIT CARD SPECIALISTS TOLD US THE BALANCE WAS ZERO MULTIPLE TIMES. No one ever, ever mentioned that second account to us.

Then, someone called us late Friday afternoon to say there was that huge $2,000+ balance PLUS late charges from who knows how many months ago. Now they've screwed over our credit score and made it MY fault? I called the 24-hour hotline and was told I had a "parent account." When I asked her to explain what that was, she shrugged me off and said I needed to talk to my "business banker." She transferred me to "his" voicemail, but I was magically connected to some stranger's voice message. FAIL. IT seemed that my only choice would be to go to the bank in person.

I subsequently spent over TWO HOURS at the bank on a SATURDAY (because they called late Friday) with confused staffers who couldn't even figure out why someone from the credit card department had called us about the late fees because they couldn't see this 2nd mysterious "ghost parent" account, which we had never signed up for, never received a card for, and never been made aware of because THEY, THE BANKERS, weren't even aware of it. At least two customer service reps had never even SEEN this type of account before. One of them was my business banker, who had set up the account. MYSTERIOUS????

4) After dealing with the nice customer service rep, I asked to speak to a manager so this won't happen to anyone else. I knew I was already screwed, but I wanted to bring this glitch in the system to the awareness of management. The manager approached me like she was trying to intimidate me and like I was going to attack her when I just wanted to help. I was feeling pretty calm and good about myself for doing a good deed for random strangers. She didn't even introduce herself when I shook her hand and gave her my name, and then she made the whole thing seem like my fault and like I should be apologizing to her for having screwed up credit, an incorrect address, incorrect social security number, and wasting hours and hours of time sitting inside a bank on a Saturday . . . MASSIVE FAIL.

5) The nice customer service girl in the Makiki branch told me that all the bankers in charge of credit cards would not return until Monday. It's Monday now, and I just called them to check on the balance, see if I could order duplicate statements because I never received the originals, and find out what the transactions were. I was transferred on the phone to someone who told me I didn't have access to the account, so she couldn't tell me ANYTHING. WTH. I told her I had a copy of the account signature card right in front of me, and it bore my signature. I also affirmed that I was the owner of the business. She said my only choice was to go into the bank AGAIN. I said I'd already been there for 2 hours on Saturday, and that no one there even knew my account type existed. What they did was call the exact same department and act as a third party between me and the credit card people. Ugh ugh ugh.

They had way too many chances to set things straight and DIDN'T. Therefore, First Hawaiian Bank fails majorly in my book. I am losing sleep over this. Please beware. Look what FHB employees have to say!

Beware: SCAMMERS ON THE LOOSE!

Keys Examined To Avoid Locksmith Scams:
Scam Artists Stealing Business From Local Locksmiths.

The abive article reminds me of the all-too-many times we've been called by customers to "fix" work done by scamming locksmith companies. At least once a week, The Key Guy gets a call from someone whose lock doesn't work anymore after one of the "local" scam locksmiths "picked" it. Worse than that, we often hear about the exorbitant bills extracted by these so-called locksmith companies. We often hear about charges 300-400% more than a legitmate locksmith would charge. Last month, we installed a high-security lock for a man in Pearl City who paid nearly $400 for a lockout in the middle of the night. The company he called was a scammer well known to us.

We commonly hear that people just call the first locksmith that comes up in Google, or the one with an address closest to their current location using their iPhone or a friend's computer. This is dangerous because many disreputable companies create "business locations" at false addresses to prey on people who automatically trust google. My recommendation is to go ahead and call the locksmith listed closest to you, just please ask where the person you are talking to is located. Are they on Oahu? Are they in New York? What is the name of the company? Are they bonded and insured? Don't be afraid to ask! If you call someone without liability insurance, you're the one who gets screwed when they break something. Of course, there are two sides to this--you may luck out. We recently helped a crime victim only 156 yards away from us replace his locks! We were on the scene in five minutes--even before the police arrived.

The scammers can afford to rip people off because they don't care about repeat business. They advertise under many phony names, they aren't registered with the DCCA or any government agency to do business in Hawaii, and they often take cash so as not to leave a money trail or pay taxes. Their customers not only have to pay the scammers' high bills, they have to call a real locksmith in for a second go to fix a botched job, and spend even more money and time.

Equally common is the call we get from a customer with a situation that's a little more complicated than your common lockout or lock change. They've called one of the scam companies and been serviced by a locksmith who only knows how to do lockouts and re-keying. The locksmith will arrive, look at the lock, deem the job "impossible," and charge the customer a "service fee" for his time. Charging a service fee is legitimate and common practice among most locksmiths, but going to a site under false pretenses just creates frustration and wasted time for the customer. It kills me every time The Key Guy responds to a situation like this.

We have worked in close proximity to these companies since before we've been in business, and it outrages us that consumers keep calling the scammers because they just don't know any better. So please, find a trustworthy locksmith and program their number into your phone before you need help.

LLC

The Key Guy is now The Key Guy LLC!

For anyone looking for a fairly easily understandable article about the benefits/ramifications of LLCs,
take a look.

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The Key Guy Commitment

At The Key Guy, we are dedicated to the science of making keys and the art of defeating locks--with a smile. The Aloha Spirit runs deep in our locally owned and locally operated business.

The owners founded The Key Guy as a fountain of Honesty and Aloha in Hawaii. We charge bargain rates compared to mainland-operated locksmith companies in Hawaii, because we don't report to a call center on the mainland, nor do we waste money on hefty advertising fees. When you call us, you will always speak to a locksmith familiar with Hawaii street names and every neighborhood on Oahu. Your locksmith will advise you about your problems, and already know how to fix it when he arrives. Because The Key Guy is a local, family-owned company, we can guarantee prices you can afford.

You may have noticed that we hardly advertise, and that is because we guarantee fair prices and honest locksmithing. The Key Guy's operations hinge on customer loyalty and 100% customer satisfaction. Our biggest source of jobs is word of mouth and repeat business. Our goal is to make you happy!

The Key Guy is Hiring!

Are you good with your hands? Do you have a knack for fixing things and understanding how they work? Are you patient? Punctual? Do you like learning new things every day? Do you like solving challenges?

The Key Guy is currently seeking disciplined individuals to join our team of 24 hour locksmiths. We are seeking trustworthy, disciplined, mechanically-intelligent, personable individuals to help our company grow.

Minimum qualifications:
High School Education
Respectable Appearance
Good Mechanical Intelligence
Knowledge of basic tools
Customer Service Skills
Must have own vehicle (large car/station wagon/suv/truck only--no small vehicles)
Clean Driving Abstract
No Criminal History
Ability to be on-call 24 hours a day

Duties include driving to client locations, unlocking cars, unlocking residences, duplicating keys, unlocking safes, installing and removing locks, installing door accessories, re-keying locks, billing clients on-site, and interacting professionally with clients.

The compensation for this job is excellent. Prior education or training as a locksmith is preferred, but not necessary. We are willing to train the right individual.

This is a part-time position that may develop into full time eventually. We do not offer medical or other benefits.

Learn more about our company at http://keyguyhawaii.com and http://thekeyguy.blogspot.com

Please email info@keyguyhi.com if interested.

The Key Guy Guarantee

The Key Guy now offers an unparalleled 3-part guarantee to provide the best prices and the best service of any locksmith in the state of Hawaii. Each individual part of our guarantee is unique among locksmiths in Hawaii. Offered together, they promise an unbeatable level of quality locksmithing compared to any of our competitors.

1) The Key Guy has the best prices on Oahu. Period. If you find a better price from one of our competitors, we guarantee to beat it. Proof of price must be presented before service is given.

2) Rest assured that if you call The Key Guy, we promise to find a solution for your security problem. Your problem is our problem, and we will not leave until we find a solution. We work hard for our clients, and in return, ask to keep our solid reputation.

3) In order to guarantee the most expert security solutions, The Key Guy employs only Certified Master Locksmiths. Master Locksmith is the highest achievable level of locksmith certification.

Call The Key Guy 24 hours a day at 808-377-4999.

Reliable, Ethical, Affordable Locksmiths

The Key Guy has a Master Locksmith on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 1-877-7KEYGUY (377-4184 Oahu). As Hawaii’s premier Locksmith Service, we are proud to offer the most reliable, ethical, and affordable locksmithing in Hawaii - just read our testimonials! The Key Guy is kama’aina owned and operated by Certified Master Locksmiths, as well as bonded and insured.

All labor can be done right where you are, instantly. At your service are The Key Guy’s full-service mobile workshops, fully equipped with state-of-the-art machinery. The Key Guy services all types of lock hardware, including locks for vehicles, private homes, condominiums, military and commercial buildings.

We’re fast, too. We arrive on-site within 30 minutes to most Oahu locations.

The Key Guy Owner Achieves Master Locksmith Certification

Guy Tordjman, owner of The Key Guy, recently earned his certification as a Master Locksmith from Phoenix State University. Master Locksmith is the highest achievable level of locksmith certification.

Congratulations, Guy!

Lever Door Handles Discounted 15%

The Key Guy is committed to making locks and doors easily usable for all individuals. Towards that end, in a partnership with Honolulu Home Care, The Key Guy 24 Hour Locksmith Services has agreed to give a 15% discount for installation of lever-type door handles.

Lever-type handles are easier to manipulate for inviduals of all abilities, and they are just one of many elements necessary for outfitting a home towards Universal Design. The Key Guy stocks a wide range of levered handles suitable for interior and exterior doors.

The Key Guy offers free estimates and consultation. To receive this special offer, just mention it when you call The Key Guy at 808-377-4999.

Choosing A Locksmith: The Facts Laid Out Straight From An Insider

After poring over multiple journalists' advice on how to choose a locksmith, I got a little tired of the same five or six points reiterated in every article. The authors had obviously just yoinked copy off someone else's publication or press release. Some even spouted prejudiced nonsense: One writer advised against finding a locksmith through internet searches, because "any fool" can buy a web domain for $1.99. That may be true, but any fool can also buy a listing in 411 for $7, and any fool can buy an ad in the yellow pages for $30.

Finding a good locksmith can be a little more time-consuming than you might be used to--DO NOT just look in the phone book for a "respectable looking/big" advertisement. That route of looking is not just old fashioned, it is often dangerous and much more expensive than finding someone who is actually reputable. If you're too busy to read the rest of this article, remember these main tips:

1. Ask your people. Who have friends and family used in the past?
   
2. ALOA Members are a good bet because to be a member, Locksmiths need a LOT of qualifications
   
3. Yelp! Reviews. Do not trust other review sites. Not even Google, Yahoo, nor MSN. They are not as well moderated as Yelp.
   
4. Bonded & Insured is a must (Hawaii doens't require Licensure)
5. Do not go for the company with the nicest, biggest, swankiest ads. Contrary to what you may have learned as a kid, these are the locksmiths to avoid! They are most likely to overcharge, and most likely to send an unqualified technician to the job. They rely on the prestige of their ads, not on lasting reputation with consumers.
   

I'd like to clarify some things that those not in the business may not realize:

1. ALOA membership is a good indicator of a good locksmith. Associated Locksmiths of America is serious about screening their members. ALOA members undergo a three-month waiting period before becoming full members. They are background checked by the FBI and undergo criminal background investigation. Hawaii locksmiths are required to fly to the mainland to complete ALOA certification courses. ALOA members must be vouched for by a current ALOA member and at least two other locksmith industry professionals. They must provide character references. They also must have been in business for at least two years before becoming a member. Why do locksmiths invest all these resources and go through all this hassle? So you, the consumer, can check them out on ALOA.org and rest a little easier when you see they are ALOA members. You can trust that they have developed a network of connections and invested a lot in their locskmith business and locksmith reputation. They won't just appear, rip you off, and disappear. They are not people who ordered a few locksmith tools on eBay and call themselves qualified to open your car. I can say that all ALOA members in Hawaii are respectable, competent locksmiths. It's worth it to look them up.
   
2. You can't necessarily judge a lockmsith by his certifications or claims of experience. Just because they passed a course certifying them as a "Certified Locksmith" or "Journeyman Locksmith" doesn't mean that they're a competent locksmith. It just means they took a course, maybe online, maybe on the mainland, and passed a test. In Hawaii, certification isn't necessary to be in business. Don't be dazzled by a certificate alone. How does one obtain a locksmith certificate? To become a "Certified Locksmith" from ALOA, one needs to take a 5-day, 40-hour course and pass the final exam. The locksmith must be physically present in the class, which means he has gone through the effort of going to the mainland (locksmith training is not offered in Hawaii). Some certification programs also offer a certificate completely online. You can buy the course for a few hundred dollars and receive a diploma without hands-on learning experience.
   
3. You can't necessarily judge a locksmith by his lack of a physical store. Too many advice givers put too much merit in the presence of a physical store. In Hawaii, the density of locksmiths is high, and there is a lot of competition. It is infeasible for every good locksmith to have a shop. There simply isn't enough demand. Many perfectly reliable locksmiths do good business out of a van or "mobile workshop."
4. You can't judge a locksmith by the size of his ad in the phonebook, the fanciness of his website, or the "largeness" of his presence. I'm not naming any names, but most, if not all of the locksmith companies who spend big advertising dollars in Hawaii are not based in Hawaii. They buy a lot of telephone numbers and list them at fake addresses around the island, and they forward them to a call center in New York or Los Angeles. They have subcontractors here in Hawaii who work out of their own vehicles and are neither bonded nor insured. Then, they advertise unbeatable rates. Unsuspecting consumers are fooled by the prestige large advertisements and a seemingly big presence. What you don't know is how the locksmith company is generating all that revenue. They advertise a low rate, then they quote you on the phone, "Yes, the service starts at $29, but it depends on your specific lock and the labor involved. We won't know a firm price until we get there." When the subcontractor actually gets down to billing you, the bill is usually for at least $150. He only gets to keep half of it. And that is how the big companies make their profits. They prey on one-time customers who call the first ad they see, thinking the company must be good if it can afford such a big advertisement.
5. Looking in a directory (phone book, 411, search engine) might not be a good idea, period. If you must pick blindly, do it in an educated manner. Read consumer reviews and check the locksmith's qualifications. Like I said earlier, it's much easier than you think to get listed in 411, google, and yes, the yellow pages. Especially among the pre-computer generation, the phone book is looked upon as a good source for picking a business out of a hat. There is something weighty about something made out of real paper. The drawbacks to a physical phone book are that you get no feedback from other consumers. Online review sites like Yelp are the way to remedy that. You might also want to check with the Better Business Burearu or ALOA before doing business.
6. Make sure your locksmith is properly licensed, bonded, and insured to protect yourself. You never know when something might go wrong with the job. It might be embarassing to ask, but ASK. And ask BEFORE you let a locksmith perform any work on your home. I have seen cases where a subcontractor for one of the "big ad" companies (see #4, above) was called to a lockout in a Honolulu condo.. When he got there, he took one look at the lock and said, "I'm going to have to drill it. This lock is unpickable. You will also need to buy a new lock". . . and pay for installation, extra drilling fees, and labor charges to remove the old lock . . . Halfway through the drilling, his drill ran out of batteries. He left the scene to get more batteries, and did not return for a long time.. That's when the client called The Key Guy. When we arrived, our locksmith took a look at the lock and said it was one of the easiest types to pick. An experienced locksmith would never drill it. We ended up having to drill the rest of the way through the lock and replace it, which is much more expensive than just picking it. Had the same situation happend with a reputable locksmith, the client could have called the company and claimed for damages. As it was, he couldn't even get back in contact with the phony locksmith no matter how many times he called.
7. Ask real live people you know who they've used in the past. I realize that locksmith services are used rather infrequently, and that none of your friends nor family may have a locksmith referral for you. If that is the case, try calling your realtor or building manager. These individuals work with locksmiths more often than most, and will probably have a good one that they have a relationiship with. If that route fails, check reviews online. Just make sure to check reputable review sites. Beware, because Google, Yahoo, and MSN reviews are fraught with phony reviews from company owners trying to make themselves look good. More trustworthy sources of reviews are Yelp and AngiesList.
   
8. Check reviews. Use the internet to your advantage. It's true that search engines are flooded with phony and unscrupulous locksmith listings with equally phony reviews, but there are clues that you can and should pick up on. When reading reviews, look at the grammar mistakes, writing style, and length of each review. Are they similar? Are all the reviews written by users who created an account for the sole purpose of reviewing this particular locksmith? Look at the reviewer's other reviews and view their profile to find out. Not many people will go through the trouble to go online and spend the time writing a review for a locksmith company, so be very wary. It takes time, but it's worth the effort to save hundreds of dollars, right? Google Maps Reviews, Yahoo Local Reviews, MSN Reviews, and the like are especially laden with fake reviews. As a scourer of locksmith reviews, I find Yelp! to be the most well-administrated review website around. Yelp seems to monitor and delete fraudulent reviews better than most.
   
9. 
   

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ALOA Reprimands Faulty Advertising

The Associated Locksmiths of America (ALOA) recently released a statement that they will review the membership of any member who exercises deceptive advertising.

This includes the many locksmiths who list false addresses in directories to trick customers into thinking they are local, neighborhood business. In Hawaii, these businesses are often based on the mainland with no local office at all.

The Key Guy suggests asking for the address of any locksmith business you call before you let them do work for you. Make sure the van your locksmith arrives in is clearly marked with the company name, and always ask for a receipt.

Locksmiths Banned From Advertising

Unlicensed locksmith companies have been banned from advertising in North Carolina after too many consumers complained to the Better Business Bureau. Hawaii as of now does not require locksmiths to be licensed, which means consumers should be all the more careful of who they choose to call. Full Story.

Read The Key Guy's Frequently Asked Questions about Pricing to protect yourself from unscrupulous locksmith scams.

High-Tech Car Keys can be Costly to Replace

In addition to the metal cuts on a key, today's high-tech car keys have computer chips inside them that locksmiths have to program using special computer technology. This technology is expensive to purchase and requires specialized knowledge to use.

The Key Guy is one of the few locksmith companies in Hawaii that is able to make electronic chip keys at our clients' location.

Read more about replacing transponder keys, chip keys, and other electronic car keys here.

Celebration Discounts!

The Key Guy just unleashed its new website!

Check out all the awesome info that describes what we do, and check back here often for our latest special discounts!

You can also read about our company and our mission.


So . . . Curious if we really live up to all our hype? Read reviews from our customers!

The Key Guy: The Blog Companion Begins!

The Key Guy is excited to announce the beginning of its very own blog!

Call us and speak directly to a Professional Locksmith in Hawaii for expert consultation and free estimates. Our Professional Locksmiths are available 24 hours a day, every day of the week. The Key Guy services all types of lock hardware, including vehicles, private homes, condominiums and commercial buildings.

With affordability in mind, we provide the securest solutions for all your locksmithing needs. Each of our Professional Locksmiths undergoes extensive training, performs an apprenticeship, and labors for years as a Locksmith before becoming a Professional Locksmith. All of our Professional Locksmiths hold specialized knowledge of Hawaii's specific security needs.

The Key Guy is committed to sending only Professional Locksmiths to do all labor on every job. Expertise can translate to big savings. Why guess and do a job yourself when you can get it done by a professional who uses exactly the right materials for your situation, for less time and hassle? The Key Guy guarantees the job done right, with professional service, low prices and fast solutions for every security need.

The Key Guy specializes in car lockouts, house lockouts, lock changing, lock installation, lock re-keying, ignition keys, duplicating lost keys, transponder chip keys, VAT keys, master key systems, keyless entry, electronic keypads, access control systems, garage door locks, intercom systems, high security locks, CCTV, panic devices, peephole installation, deadbolts, precision key cutting, gates, padlocks, combination locks, mailboxes, file cabinets, door installation, extracting broken keys, car club removal and more. Benefit from our experience.

Call us for free estimates and consultation on all services, 1-877-7KEYGUY (or 852-9257 on Oahu). A Professional Locksmith will arrive at your door within 30 minutes to most Oahu locations. We're waiting for your call!