Locked Out - An NBC 7/39 Special Report
Oh My Lord...The things a lazy news staff will write on a bored afternoon...
It's not so much that they got everything wrong, it's more that they had "some" basically good information, on several different topics, threw it all in a virtual blender, and horked back the hairball that follows... (Severely abridged because of copyright laws - Click the link below to read the original article in its entirety.)
What follows is MY response, highlighting some of the more bizarre selected quotes, to the staff at our beloved channel 39...
Locked Out
An NBC 7/39 Special Report
Dear Webstaff...
This may be the most erroneous report regarding locksmiths, and what locksmiths are capable of doing, that has ever wandered across my desk.
Locked Out
An NBC 7/39 Special Report
POSTED: 8:29 pm PST February 8, 2006
Let me explain why...
SAN DIEGO -- If you lock yourself out of a new car, it may prove harder and more expensive than you thought to get back in.
The only "harder to get back in" cars that have come down the pike recently are Lexus (2001 and up), and most late model BMW's. The reason these cars are hard to get into has nothing whatsoever to do with the transponder, the key, or any computer chip technology. They are hard to get into because the auto makers have set very tricky time delays and weight requirements into the opening mechanisms, thus rendering most "old fashioned" locksmith tools & techniques impotent. It takes skill, patience, time, training, and determination to get into these cars, but it does not take a Pin code or key code, etc.
Most locksmiths can do little to open locked cars unless they have access to the transponder code.
This is flat out wrong. It is also very misleading to the consumer.
While most newer model cars do use transponder technology in their keys, again, the chip or transponder in any key, regardless of make, has nothing whatsoever to do with "opening" or "unlocking" a car door. Linkages are linkages. The inner mechanism of car doors are not tied to a key per se, at least not as a locksmith sees it. Any locksmith that turns a customer down in opening a locked car because their car uses transponder technology is either a) lazy, b) not a locksmith, or c) not very bright. And any locksmith that charges MORE to unlock a car door because the car happens to use transponder technology is also a crook, plain and simple.
"It's getting to be more common now that I have to turn people away because they have newer cars and there's not much I can do," said locksmith Cesar Gannod.
I don't know who Cesar is, or if he was quoted out of context, and I don't want to imply that he does not know his "stuff," but I'm curious as to his training if his quote is accurate and in context, and as implied, regards opening/unlocking cars.
In some cases, the car maker simply won't share the pin code with locksmiths. Those car owners have little option other than to go back to the dealer and get the transponder code from the manufacturer.
This continues the misinformation in this very badly written and researched article even further. Pin codes are not required, IN ANY INSTANCE, to open or unlock a car. You are now talking about a completely different subject than opening cars with transponder technology, and are actually now talking about making keys to cars with transponder technology - Keys are NOT required by a locksmith to open/unlock cars, so the subject matter has apparently changed. Yes, there are some cars that require a Pin code in order to program a new key when all existing keys are missing. Locksmiths can, in many cases, get that code with little effort from the car makers. Most car makers have cooperative agreements with licensed locksmiths. Customers have more difficulty getting it, as it is a security issue that requires in person validation of ID and positive MATCHING proof of ownership of the vehicle in question. A locksmith can get the Pin over the phone, having already set up a cooperative agreement with the automobile manufacturer, and having already validated and recorded the ID in person in order to make keys. A telecenter, long distance, does not have that ability, therefore most times, they are not able to give out Pins to a customer.
Locksmiths in California, by law, are licensed and criminally checked prior to getting their license. Only locksmiths and dealers have the specialized equipment needed to create a new key where there is none to be had. Customers have no real need for the Pin code. This is not to denigrate their ability to have it, or want for it, it just does them no actual good. It still costs the same amount of money for a locksmith to come out and program keys to a vehicle WITH the Pin as it does if he/she has to call the maker and get it him/herself.
If the customer loses their keys, their dealer or their locksmith can get the Pin, and use it to program their keys. Criminals cannot get it, nor could they use it if they did get it. The customer him/herself cannot use it if they had it. This is not work that can be done at a hardware store. The multiple pieces of specialized equipment needed to create, cut, and program transponder keys can run upwards of $30,000.00 (not to mention the skill, ability, and training). Not something the average car thief would have lying around the living room.
Car dealers say electronic keys make cars safer, but some car owners question the ethics of having to pay hundreds of dollars for new keys.
The ethics involved have to do with the security car owners demand. "Old" fashioned keys (plain metal) are relatively easy for someone who's taken a correspondence course in locksmithing, or figured it out on their own, to decipher. Once deciphered, they are easily "impressioned," or with deciphered cuts in hand, can easily be cut at the local hardware store where employees are sometimes to busy to check for ID as the law requires. Transponder technology makes it a requirement for anyone making keys to the newer autos to have that $30,000.00 in equipment, the skills and training to create keys, by law, they need the license to do so.
Some manufactures are working with the auto club and locksmiths to make transponder key codes available after hours.
Any locksmith worth his salt, and with the correct equipment to do the job does not require transponder "key" codes. If a locksmith cannot "read" the key cuts, or decipher the key cuts through standard methods, they do not need to be in the business. Any skilled locksmith can decipher the cuts, create the key, hook it up to specialized equipment, and program the key without assistance from a dealer. The only time dealer/auto makers input is required is when the auto maker has instituted the additional security of a Pin code in ADDITION to the correct equipment and skills to decipher, cut, create, and program a transponder key.
Granted, not all locksmiths have ALL the specialized equipment to make keys to all cars at any given time. For instance, by choice, we make keys only to cars that use a certain type of transponder, but at no time should a customer not be able to find some locksmith, somewhere, who CAN create and program their specific car keys. If we cannot make keys to a certain auto, we refer, happily, to locksmiths that are known to us to be licensed and are known to us to have the specific equipment needed.
You do not need a Pin code to open or unlock a car, ANY car.
You do not need Transponder key codes to open or unlock a car, ANY car.
You do not need a KEY to open or unlock a car, ANY car.
It should NEVER cost you more money to open or unlock a car simply because they have transponder technology.
Any locksmith that tells you he cannot open your car because it has transponder technology does not deserve your business.
We have been in the locksmith business for 18+ years. We are fully licensed. We work as experts in most locksmith fields. The co-owner has owned his own locksmith business for 16 of these years. He also works as a forensic locksmith. We do know whereof we speak. :)
Please feel free to call either of us, anytime, if you have any clarification questions about this rebuttal, the information within, or simply need a knowledgeable source for the next locksmith story you plan to write.
We're not your normal locksmith company™... :)
Cheers!
Kim
