4 ms·
AskHN: How to Disrupt Locksmith Industry?
It seems the problem of getting locked out of an urban apartment to wait 40 + minutes and have a shady person show up and charge you $100 + to break your door is ripe for disruption.
Does anyone have thoughts on how to solve this problem or any precedents of failed attempts to? Preferably by eliminating labor without changing the hardware (I.e. obvious solutions of smartlocks or Uber/Gig model).
- WheelsAtLarge 4y agoUBER it! But make sure the locksmiths are trust worthy.
- digitcatphd 4y agoMy thoughts would actually be to eliminate the labor, such as having backup key storage kiosk in apartment rentals since I guess people with homes would be prudent enough to hide keys and luxury apartments have doormen.
- derbOac 4y agoThe backup storage is my guess is the best bet without changing lock formats. As a homeowner, I've come to the conclusion that the best thing is to have some kind of backup system that relies on a code or something not requiring a key at least. Doesn't have to be a smartlock per se, but some system that allows you access without any key. Good locksmiths do a lot more than just get into a locked door. I learned the hard way that they can fix doors that were never really cut right, have access to locks and bolt systems that you can't buy as a general retail consumer, and lots of other things. I always thought of them as a kind of backup until I ran into a problem (long story, not really my fault actually in many ways), and they recut the door and put in a very high quality lock I would have never been able to purchase myself. I was kicking myself for not calling them years earlier.
- gjvc 4y agowhat brand lock?
- derbOac 4y agoUgh honestly it's been awhile. I remember the brand was pretty well known and one you could buy in stores, but the lock itself was a model that could only be purchased by professional locksmiths and other people with certain qualifications (why this is I'm not sure; maybe because of warranties that require certified installation?). It was beefier and more solid than anything I had seen in home improvement or hardware stores.
- version_five 4y agoBackup key storage at a central facility that can be ubered to you on demand. Solves the scale problem by centralizing it, and the cost + wait is limited to uber fare. In the end, it wouldn't work though because you'd need to charge a monthly fee and people wouldn't go for it. I lived in a low rise apartment before and just hid a key on the premises in a spot where it couldn't be associated with my apartment and that I thought wouldn't be likely to be disturbed.
- togaen 4y agoIt’s probably not a good idea to make it too easy to unlock your door without a key. Introduces unnecessary security problems. Besides, if you only lock your door from the outside, then it’s impossible to lock yourself out. That solves the most common scenario.
- Finnucane 4y agoWhat is Uber going to do? If no locksmith is available nearby on a moment’s notice for you, at some low rate, they’ll do what, send over some rando with a screwdriver?
- McNutty 4y agoIf the problem is that you don't trust the locksmith from the Yellow Pages, then you might be interested in the home response service in my country from AA (what I think would be called AAA in America) https://www.aa.co.nz/home-services/about/ https://www.aa.co.nz/home-services/about/
- Engineering-MD 4y agoMany people solve it by giving a friend a key. Whether people would pay for a key store service instead of this I would suppose on how close you trust your friends or being geographically isolated.