Dutch locksmith association NSSG had video’s made showing what each of it’s certified locksmiths does. It was a fun project involving students from the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. It is always nice to see young talent being creative.
NSSG has a wide variety of members. Most own a shop while others combine with mobile locksmithing and then there is companies like ourselves that do forensic lock work and training / classes besides their locksmith jobs. The video is in Dutch but still gives an idea on what we do and how we do it.
What I like about the NSSG video’s is that clearly every certified locksmith on it is proud of their shop or business. The advantage for the customer is that they can see who they are dealing with before calling. It is transparent and not all locksmiths are like that.
Transparent locksmith vs rogue locksmith
Nowadays there are a some rogue locksmiths that charge absurd prices for their ‘services’. After paying several hundred euros (sometimes way more than that) the companies seem not to be registered anywhere. With NSSG members you know the address of the company and who is the owner. Often the owners are the second or third generation locksmith and their fathers or grandfathers started the business. If there ever arises a problem, the NSSG has a special complaint service. So far there has been little to no complaints about NSSG locksmiths and their service / pricing.
For customers it is almost impossible to see the difference between a rogue locksmith and a good one on google. Who you call can have a huge impact on your personal safety. Cases are known where rogue locksmiths kept one of the keys to the new lock they installed. Besides charging an extreme price for the job, they came back a day later using the spare key! While installing the lock they noticed where the customer kept her cash. They came back the next night and took it. So know who you are dealing with, before calling a locksmith.