Say it ain't so!

Tow truck drivers do alot of repo and open alot of cars. Most of the good operations around here already have the correct tools and manuals to get in most vehicles.

Been going on for a while now.

Newnsie

teaching certified

anybody know anything

what's wrong with that ? classes are for learning..

It has been discussed on CS & that's why Steve pulled out his sponsorship.

The man has to make a living too.

Newnsie

I have to agree with Keyman. The major complaint against tow truck drivers apperas to be that they butcher the cars. With appropriate training that will not be an issue. Car opening is not rocket science.

If the competition is a problem, welcome to the real world. Most high tech and assembly type jobs are facing competition not just from local companies but from China, India and Mexico. I read that the majority of the "800" number help lines are now manned from offshore sites.

Yes, It would be great if we could reserve SOME part of the industry just for locksmiths, but that will take government action... Not likely to happen. The best you can do is build a customer base and make sure that your customers appreciate the fact that you can add value that the tow truck drivers cannot.

Sincerely

Daniel

Where does it say that a tow truck driver can't learn legitimate locksmithing skills? And shouldn't it say in the very next paragraph that locksmiths aren't allowed to touch electrical work of any kind?

Reality is fractal, folks. There ARE no sharp lines. Cope.

They were in Dallas doing it 3 weeks ago while I was up there teaching Auto Smiths... They were teaching at the Tow convention.

What exactly were they teaching? I heard that they are teaching more than just lockout stuff. Was it a hand on class and did it also cover keys, codes, transponders or what?

Here is my opinion, and BTW flames > /dev/null

Towies are not locksmiths. However, they can be automotive lockout specialists and do have legitimate call to do such. In the end this makes the pool of purchasers for these products larger and ultimately will lower the prices as well.

On the other hand, the towies are not repairing locks, originating keys or programming transponders. They have been using slim-jims and large screwdrivers and shop towels for years, and pretty much every car opening tool dealer I see advertises in the tow truck supply catalogs. I don't really see how they are doing anythign wrong, or actually hurting the legitimate locksmith by going out at 3 am and opening a locked out idiot at a bar, which quite frankly most of us would complain about doing for the standard AAA payment.

Now when it gets beyond simply manipulating a linkage or jacking a door... that is when some "smithing" becomes necessary and someone needs to "pay" to get in. At this level I doubt the towie will ever cause competition for the locksmith.

Now let me go put on my asbestos overalls :)

no flames from me...

tow truck shop charge per hour... VS locksmith... DO i REALLY want to take my time, and spend an hour, for example, driving out and unlocking a car, VS, in MY area of expertise, selling and installing the locks? to ME, the bottom line is FAR GREATER doing the latter than the former.

--Shiva--

-cut-

I don't have a problem with towies doing lockouts.

Yes they are!

From what I hear, steve young and lockmasters are teaching towies more than just lockout info. They lied to us about being loyal to locksmiths now they are stabbing us in the back and showing our competitors how to do more than just open cars. I'll NEVER do business with them again! They are worse than Ray in my book!

snipped-for-privacy@news.teranews.com>

automotive lockout

originating keys or

not around here. the is not one towie doing smith work that I know of.

jacking a door...

someone needs to "pay" to

competition for the

towies more than

locksmiths now they are

do more than just

sorry you feel that way. Steve Young is a mighty fine person thats done a lot for our industory.

oh hell no !!! there is no way they are "worse than ray" rays in a class of his own. wonder if he also rode the short bus to school ? :-) my2

As someone else pointed out the complaint with regard to tow truck drivers doing any aspect of automotive locksmithing has typically been that they aren't qualified, will butcher the job, etc. It is hard to blame someone for wanting to be properly trained to do something that in fact their trade (tow drivers) has done all along. It's also not terribly logical to blame a company which makes it's revenue from tools and training for pursuing a large market for those products.

They would teach a monkey if they could PAY

There's even WORSE news! It's been determined that in the past, they actually taught locksmithing to people who had no career at ALL!!