Cars opened where they sit, from the beach blocks to the mall lots.
Year-round homes, summer rentals and condos opened with proof you belong there.
Dial 911 first, then call us.
Stay near a light or a busy spot and tell us where; the technician calls on the way.
Four steps from the phone call to the open door.
The block, the lot or the address, and whether it's a car, a house or a rental.
A straight answer on timing, and a call as the technician gets close.
A license, the registration, or a rental agreement or host's OK. Doors stay shut without it.
The key or the lock is looked over, and a spare is offered while we're still there.
A child or pet inside a car in summer heat is a 911 call before it's ours.
Near the water, salt gets into lock cylinders and door latches, and a lock that turned easily in May can be gritty by August. Keys start to bind, then one snaps. When a lockout call turns out to be a lock that's seized up, the cylinder is cleaned or replaced on the spot so it doesn't happen again next weekend.
Summer lockouts are mostly visitors: a rental door with a code nobody sent, a lock gummed up by salt air, a key that went into the ocean with a pair of shorts. From fall to spring the calls come from year-round owners on the island and in the neighborhoods off Route 37, often in wind and cold, when waiting outside is no fun at all.
Have proof you belong there before the technician arrives: a license with the address, the rental agreement or a message from the host, or the car's registration. For a rental, the host's OK by phone or text usually settles it. On a summer afternoon, allow for traffic over the bridges; you'll be told plainly what to expect.
Once the door is open you'll hear what caused it, whether a seized cylinder, a dead fob battery or a code that was never set, and the fix can be done on the spot. A spare left with a neighbor, or in a lockbox the owner controls, keeps most shore lockouts from happening twice.
Call from wherever you are. A new key can be made for most cars at the lot, once you show it's yours.
Try the host first. If they OK it, the door can be opened and the lock looked at.
Sometimes it's just the battery. If the fob is gone, a new one is paired to the car where it's parked.
Yes. Timing depends on the bridges and the season, and you're told honestly on the call.
Yes: a license, registration, lease or the owner's OK. It protects the house as much as you.
Yes. Plenty of homes on the island were raised after Sandy, so the front door is at the top of a long stair. It's handled like any other house lockout, once you show you belong there.
Yes. If the community has a gate or a guard, let them know a locksmith is on the way so the technician isn't held up at the entrance.
That's a house lockout like any other. The entry door is opened after you show you live there, and a spare can be cut so the same thing doesn't happen next week.
Yes. Night calls are part of the work, and the arrival time you're given is a realistic one, not a guess.
Yes. Say which lot or street the car is on and how to find you; the technician calls when close so you can walk over.
Often the deadbolt and the knob are on different keys, or the door has swollen in the damp and the latch is binding. Either way it's looked at on the visit, and the door is adjusted if it needs it.
Yes. It's given before anything is opened or replaced.
Tell us your street and we send a tech.
