Clients are already demanding free storage, free flatbed usage and now they are asking that we provide an outside vendor a place to work and make money that we should be making. I think in some ways the industry has done this to themselves by not making keys, or not being interested in making keys and simply just wanting to “tow” the car and be done with it. A full service repo company should be able to make keys for their clients or have the means to get the difficult ones made without issue. I have also heard “rumors” that this new idea was actually started by the locksmiths who do not want to work at the auction due to large, hot parking lots, and longer walks to get to and from the cars, as well as more time in one place instead of three or four cars here, then drive in A/C for a bit, 3 more over here, etc. I don’t see how much we can actually push back against this with so many other people in the industry just letting it happen. For now we have been telling them no, and trying to get the key work ourselves. But its very hard to compete price wise when nearly all of these locksmiths have the over head of a cable tv installer and probably less background checks.
Clients are already demanding free storage, free flatbed usage and now they are asking that we provide an outside vendor a place to work and make money that we should be making. I think in some ways the industry has done this to themselves by not making keys, or not being interested in making keys and simply just wanting to “tow” the car and be done with it. A full service repo company should be able to make keys for their clients or have the means to get the difficult ones made without issue. I have also heard “rumors” that this new idea was actually started by the locksmiths who do not want to work at the auction due to large, hot parking lots, and longer walks to get to and from the cars, as well as more time in one place instead of three or four cars here, then drive in A/C for a bit, 3 more over here, etc. I don’t see how much we can actually push back against this with so many other people in the industry just letting it happen. For now we have been telling them no, and trying to get the key work ourselves. But its very hard to compete price wise when nearly all of these locksmiths have the over head of a cable tv installer and probably less background checks.