Locked out of your house in Berwick

Picking and bypassing come first, every time. Most doors in Berwick open that way: standard deadlatches, key-in-knob sets, sliding door hooks and the screen doors that sit in front of them. The lock keeps working afterwards and there is nothing to replace.

Occasionally a lock is built to defeat exactly that — a restricted high-security cylinder, or an older mortice that has seized inside. In that case we stop, explain what it will take, quote the replacement, and only carry on once you have said yes.

You get one number on the phone that covers the call-out and the labour together. Not a low call-out fee with the real cost added once the door is open, which is the single most common complaint about emergency locksmiths and the reason a lot of people hesitate to ring anyone at all.

That number does not move because it is 2am, because it is raining, or because the job turned out to take twenty minutes longer than expected. It changes only if you ask us to do additional work while we are there — fit a deadbolt, rekey the back door — and then you get a price for that before we touch it.

Everyone gets asked for identification tying them to the address — a licence, a rates notice, a lease, a bank statement, even addressed mail. If everything is locked inside, an agent, a landlord or a housemate can usually verify it for us.

This is not a formality we skip when someone is cold and frustrated. The whole value of the trade rests on it: a locksmith who opens doors without checking is one who would open yours for a stranger.