Always losing your keys?

Argyll_2

Why don't you copy all of your keys which would cost about £30 and bury them in the garden somewhere? That way your not giving them to a stranger and you could have access to them within 5 mins. I've been doing this for years and lost them twice during this time. Just a thought....

shopsd

Have a look at https://www.keycare.co.uk they are a key insurance company who provide a key fob that then insures any keys attached to it if they are lost or stolen. If keys are found they pay £10 reward to finder.

barksavingmad

My father uses this in his garden

http://www.greenfingers.com/superstore/product.asp?dept_id=2215&pf_id=CA1083D

It's on my Christmas list to!

We live in the country with a garden, so maybe not as good in a different situation.

barksavingmad

http://www.bestdirect.tv/product-Granite-Key-Stone-IN1182.htm

This is even cheaper and I've only just started looking :0)

Hope that helps

colin_tomlinson

Poppy9 wrote:

Halifax home insurance customers get a key fob offering a £10 reward from the Halifax if you call them if you find the keys.

You could also do this yourself with a clear key ring fob and put your mobile number and reward amount on the keys.

OK, these schemes are usually run by The Key Club, but there may be others. Essentially a keyfob with a unique number on it. Here's my experience of what happens when you lose your keys.

First, realise you can't get back in your car outside the supermarket. Go back to the till, cos that's most likely where they're were left. Nothing. Then spend over an hour looking on/under shelves throughout the store, to the point where staff say "if there were here, you'd have found them by now" and decide to give up as a bad job. Fortunately, a *spare car key* in wallet for times when keys locked inside car.

Drive (with shopping) to a willing friend's, and stay overnight. (Willing friend doesn't live that closeby.) Ring The Key Club to find out if they have been called and advise them of your new mobile number. That night, trawl internet to research cost of drilling out old lock etc.

Next morning, phone call from The Key Club. They had been called at 9.45pm (and, remember, they *knew* my keys were lost), but "didn't like to disturb at such a late hour"!?! They then give me the number of the finder and I contact them and arrange to meet them. Asked finder how come they rang The Key Club so late: "Well, I didn't know if I should ring or not, so I waited until my husband came home and asked him"!

OK, so I was grateful to have them back, but I wonder if they'd have been picked up (or at least handed in) if they didn't have a reward keyfob on them. I now have my mobile number on my keyfob!

colin_tomlinson

sooz wrote:

or you could just ask your neighbour nicely to keep your spare keys, and you keep theirs. box of chocs whenever you wake them at four am blind drunk without keys, and happy street full of happy neighbours....also no emergency locksmiths' charges, or broken front doors.

Good idea in concept, but as pointed out earlier, not everyone knows their neighbours.

I suppose if I had given my keys to my neighbour, it would have saved him breaking my kitchen window when he burgled me.

innovate

colin_tomlinson, had to smirk at your story - it sounds so real!

How did you get your mobile onto your keyfob - can you have custom keyfobs made in those places that cut keys?

colin_tomlinson

innovate wrote:

Thanks lisathompson and rochester_house - the SUPRA looks miles better than Shurlock! OK, SUPRA is twice the price but it looks much, much more secure, if only because you can have more than 4 digits in the access code. Think I might get a few SUPRAs for my Neighbourhood watch team.

Thanks again!

The downside of SUPRA is that the front comes off completely and (as pointed out by in one of the testimonies for ShurLok) the fronts can't be purchased separately, so the whole thing needs replacing if it goes astray (eg kids bring keys and front of box into house, etc).

colin_tomlinson

lisathompson wrote:

I am a landlord who lives an hour's drive away from my rental properties - I have one installed at every rental property and they have been a lifesaver whenever a tenant locks themselves out.

Wow! You're a nice landlord! When I locked myself out and rang my landlord I had to drive 45 minutes to pick up the spare. Was handed a bag of spare keys "It's one of those", just like those games at village fetes etc!

I rang the police to advise them of my circumstances in case they received a call about a bloke with a bag of keys trying to get into a house. Their response: "Thanks very much, but to be honest, I doubt we'd be called even if you were trying to get in with a crowbar!"!!!

colin_tomlinson

innovate wrote:

colin_tomlinson, had to smirk at your story - it sounds so real!

How did you get your mobile onto your keyfob - can you have custom keyfobs made in those places that cut keys?

To be honest, mine's a plastic keyfob (the kind that sometimes have a photograph in them), printed "If found please ring" type message on my computer - although could have handwritten. [Best advice: use laser printer or photocopy to avoid risk of ink running if paper gets wet.]

If you're wanting something with more class, the places that cut keys often also offer engraving services - perhaps they have blank brass fobs. If not, maybe we've found a niche in the market!