Nothing causes anxiety quite like entering the wrong password and only having a few attempts to get it right before you’re locked out. If you don’t get it in a few tries, you have to either reset, wait or try again later. Getting locked out is no fun.
This is especially true when it comes to your house, vehicle or business. Even the best of us can get locked out on occasion. Fortunately, there are several ways to fix these situations (and prevent them from happening in the first place). Here are a few tips for the next time you’re locked out.
Tips for When You’re Locked Out of Your Car
Getting locked out of your car is a stressful situation, so we won’t distract you with details about why this happens, how often and so forth. Let’s get straight to the tips:
- Call 911 if anyone is in danger. This includes people in and out of the car. If everyone is safe, move on to these other tips.
- Make sure you can’t access the vehicle. Check all doors, the trunks and any possible access points.
- Think of backup key locations. Are they with a friend, family member or at home?
- Attempt a DIY access. This isn’t a recommendation as it can often make the problem worse, but attempting to enter your car while locked out in a DIY manner is possible. The difficulty varies by vehicle make/model and can often cause damage that will have you regretting the decision. With that said, this is an option we wanted to keep on the list and one that is worth considering depending on your situation and experience level.
- Call roadside assistance or a professional locksmith. Professionals can travel to your location to tow your car or unlock your vehicle.
Note: breaking in whether via a window or destroying a lock is not an option we’d consider.
Tips for When You’re Locked Out of Your House
We’ll do the same thing for getting locked out of your house. Here are some tips for when this happens to you:
- Call someone you know. For both safety purposes and to help find a spare key.
- Utilize technology. Open the door or garage remotely if you have an app connected.
- Look for access points. Just be aware you will look suspicious to onlookers.
- Remove the door knob – Other DIY: If you can get your hands on tools, you may be able to remove a door knob and certain locks. Given your familiarity with your home, you may explore other DIY options here as well, but as with the auto DIY access, this is on our list of tips more because it’s an option than recommendation.
- Call a professional locksmith. While you may not want a surprise cost from having been locked out of your home, you may be surprised how much you’ll save in terms of time as well as cost to just pay professionals to do their job.
Tips for When You’re Locked Out of Your Business
Lastly, here are some tips for when you’re locked out of your business:
- Think through solutions. As a business owner, you likely have several backup and alternate entry options. Also consider how several of the above tips might apply here.
- Call a locksmith. You might want to do this earlier than other scenarios on this list, as downtime affects your bottom line.
- Prevent future lockouts. Install a master key system, access control system or another security solution to prevent lockouts.
If you have any other locksmith-related questions, be sure to give us a call or stop by any of our DFW-area locations and a professional team member will help you.
