When talking to a customer on the phone, they will always do their best to explain the problem they are facing. In this instance it sounded simple enough: “I can’t lock the patio door.”
When I arrived in Camberley, I could clearly see that the gearbox operating the locking mechanism was broken. It was an aluminium sliding door, so I explained that we would need to take the door off before I could remove the problematic part.
The customer looked at me in disbelief and was a little reluctant because another locksmith had already attended the job but had not managed to sort it out. With his help, we got the door off and I removed the failed gearbox.
After some research, I found that the original part had long since been discontinued, so a like-for-like replacement was not available and I had to try repairing it.
I found a matching internal component online and started the repair. The manufacturer had bolted the casing shut, so I had to drill the case open, fit the replacement component and then use screws to secure it back together.
The repaired part was installed and, as far as I know, it has been working ever since.
