During the past year, I have had many keys cut for various reasons. I went to several different hardware stores to get these keys cut. Each time I had to go back two or three times because the keys did not work. And even after the third visit, the duplicate keys would still stick and had to be jiggled to unlock the door.
I spoke to several friends, and they said that they had to make several trips back to the store before they got a duplicate key that worked properly.
Is this a new trend? When I was younger, I do not remember having to make so many trips back to the place that cut keys.
Last week, I got fed up with a key not working after I had made a third trip to the hardware store. I asked for my money back and decided to go to a locksmith rather than a store that cut keys.
Well! What a thrill to have a key cut by a locksmith, and it worked the first time! I had to get two more keys cut and went back to the same locksmith. Both keys worked the first time!
Perhaps I need to get a life, but I experience such joy every time I unlock a door and I do not have to jiggle the key, shake the door or sacrifice my firstborn to the God of Locks. Wow! I never knew that unlocking doors, with duplicate keys, could be so simple and so much fun.
The keys are a dollar more expensive at the locksmith’s store, but I don’t mind paying the price because I know that I will not have to make 75 return trips and still get a key that does not work.