Problems with Gardall safe and S&G Rotarybolt Z02 lock

perhaps.. let your fingers do the dialing.. and see.

--Shiva--

Gardall Safe Corporation Box 240 Syracuse, NY 13206-0240

Main office - 315-432-9115 Main Fax- 315-434-9422

Toll Free- 800-722-7233

Thanks. I planned on doing that on Monday.

Can you answer the other question? Is this standard operating proceedure for the safe industry?

dont think so, no

--Shiva--

Apparently, it is SOP, at least for Gardall safes. They program an MRC at the factory and keep it on file in case you forget your master code. The problem with that is it takes away the customer's option of NOT having an MRC programmed into the lock, or of allowing the customer to program their own MRC.

They should also send along the complete operating instructions for the S&G lock, which they did not do with my safe. All I got was a single sheet that tells you the key sequences needed to change some of the lock options. I had to download the complete instructions from S&G's web site.

My new Gardall safe also arrived with a large scrape in the plastic body of the lock keypad, and rust patches all over the inside of the safe. It probably sat in a warehouse for a long time with the door shut.

Did you buy the safe direct from Gardall? Either way you probably can't "make" them do anything but you may be able to ask them to. If you didn't buy the safe from Gardall go back to whoever you bought it from.

No.

Well, I asked them (Gardall) about it and they told me they do it as a safety feature in case you loose your master code. At first she tried to BS me and say that I can set the MRC, but after I explained that I was talking about the management reset code, not the master code, she finally admitted that they set that at the factory. She said they will only give out the MRC to a registered locksmith. So, I guess if I loose my master code I will have to pay a locksmith to call them and ask for the MRC. Why they won't give it to me, even when I have the safe in my posession with the sales receipt is beyond me.

I'd send the damn safe back, but the shipping charges cost almost as much as the safe. I suppose I could try to get them to send me a new lock, but it would be a big hassle and they probably wouldn't do it unless I threatened to refuse payment on my credit card. I hate dealing with American companies any more. Nowadays, they're all a bunch of greedy assholes that sell cheaply made crap and treat their customers like shit.

If you paid by credit card tell them you are going to charge it back. Technically you may be on shaky ground if the distance bewteen you and the seller exceeds the 50 or 100 miles (I forget which, it's on the back of your credit card statement) stipulated by the "special rule for credit card purchases" but they may well send you another lock just to avoid the hassle. They can always reuse yours in another safe.

Here's an update on my new Gardall safe...

When I received my safe, it came with one 9v Duracell battery for the keypad. When I installed the battery and tested the lock, it worked fine. However, by the end of the next day the battery was too weak to open the lock. The keypad still beeped when I pressed a button, and the lock made a clicking noise after I entered the correct combination, but the bolt would not retract. I figured the battery was just old from sitting in a warehouse for too long, so I had my wife buy a package of new Duracell batteries. I installed a new battery in the keypad and the lock worked fine again. But, by the next evening, the new battery was also dead. I checked, and, according to S&Gs documentation, I should get approximately 8000 lock actuations from a new battery, so I knew something was wrong. So, I bought another package of new batteries and tried one in the lock. The same thing happened again. I eventually tried five brand new batteries in the keypad, and each one lasted about one day in the keypad.

I called the folks at Gardall and told the nice woman what was happening with my new safe. She told me they would have someone come out to my house to fix it right away. A few days later, a guy came out and installed a brand new lock and keypad. The lock that he installed is the same Rotarybolt Z02, but the keypad is the two-battery type. It's all working just fine now and I'm a happy camper.

One nice thing about this little problem is that the new lock still had the original master code, so I was able to create my own management reset code. I was also able to decide whether to use the other lock features that must be configured before the master code is changed for the first time.

As an additional bonus, the web site that sold me the safe sent me a check for $50.00 and apologized for my inconvenience. I really appreciate that.