A2Z LOCKS IS ATTEMPTING TO DEFRAUD MY ESTABLISHED CUSTOMERS BY PRETENDING TO BE ‘A2Z LOCKSMITH, INC’ (A FEMALE-OWNED COMPANY I ESTABLISHED IN 1998 !)

DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THEIR DECEPTIVE ADS !!!

A2Z LOCKSMITH, INC. IS, AND HAS ALWAYS BEEN, RUN BY VALERIE TANNENBAUM, AND NO ONE ELSE !

PLEASE REPORT THIS UNLICENSED FRAUD TO THE FLORIDA ATTORNEY GENERAL’S OFFICE, AND TO THE FLORIDA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE . 

Dear readers:

One of the nicest things about having a single-owner-operated business is that I can respond more quickly to situations which arise in the workplace, and within society in general. And so I’m announcing my intention to float a trial balloon, DISCOUNTING THE FEE FOR MY SERVICES UNTIL MAY 30th,  providing you with top-shelf work at mid-level prices.

Anyone who has had the opportunity to either read about or listen to the news these days would surely have to admit that times are pretty tough for Americans today.  Twice, this very week, I found myself faced with a client who found himself wrestling with the idea of whether to change all the locks on his new house, or to take a chance on merely changing the front door lock (which, in my opinion, would be a huge mistake). And it surely wasn’t because my prices are outrageous because, as my clientele can attest, you get a lot of bang for your buck when I come out to your house or business !

SO THIS IS WHAT I INTEND TO DO ABOUT IT ….

Beginning today (23 MARCH, until 5 p.m. (30 MAY), I will deduct 20% from the service call fee for any and all work ordered within that time frame). There is, however, one small catch…

YOU MUST MENTION THIS OFFER WHEN MAKING YOUR APPOINTMENT (WITHOUT EXCEPTION, SO I CAN GAUGE HOW MANY PEOPLE ARE REGULARLY ACCESSING THE INFO ON THIS WEBSITE). YOU DON’T NEED TO SIGN-IN, OR JUMP THROUGH ANY HOOPS WHATSOEVER!

So if you need an excellent locksmith, and if you’re looking to save money (and who isn’t?)

I’M ASKING FOR YOUR BUSINESS …

If you need a locksmith for WESTON, call me.                  (954) 382-2200
If you need a locksmith for DAVIE, call me.
If you need a locksmith for PLANTATION, call me.         (954) 382-2200
If you need a locksmith for COOPER CITY, call me.
If you need a locksmith for SUNRISE, call me.                  (954) 382-2200
If you need a locksmith for OAKLAND PARK, call me.
If you need a locksmith for CORAL SPRINGS, call me.   (954) 382-2200
If you need a locksmith for WILTON MANORS, call me.
If you need a locksmith for VICTORIA PARK, call me.     (954)382-2200
If you need a locksmith for PEMBROKE PINES, call me.
If you need a locksmith for HOLLYWOOD, call me.
If you need a locksmith for HALLANDALE, call me.         (954)382-2200

And if you need a locksmith for anyplace in Broward County that I’ve forgotten to mention,

CALL ME, and you will NEVER be disappointed…

Now get out there and have a great day!

Val

PART 1

PART 2

PART 3

PART 4

PART 5

36  have been accused of spousal abuse

7     have been arrested for fraud

19  have been accused of writing bad checks

117 have directly or indirectly bankrupted at least 2 businesses

3     have done time for assault

71   cannot get a credit card due to bad credit

14   have been arrested on drug-related charges

8     have been arrested for shoplifting

21   currently are defendants in lawsuits

                                                                 And

84 have been arrested for drunk driving in the last year

Can you guess which organization this is?

MEMBERS OF CONGRESS !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Not too long ago, I received a call from a woman who said she needed her safe opened. As we spoke, she  mentioned that she had forgotten the combination to the safe. I told her I’d be very happy to help her in any way possible, gave her a tentative quote, and scheduled her for an appointment later that afternoon.

When I arrived at her home, I accompanied her to the bedroom closet where the safe has been installed. I almost lost a toe when my chin hit the floor, because staring up at me was an in-the-floor safe with its combination dial and handle completely destroyed. She had forgotten to mention that little detail. At that point I thought it would be a good idea to amend the quote immediately in order to reflect the additional work which would be required (something to which she apologetically agreed), and I went to work. As it turned out, this nice lady had inadvertently hit the jackpot without knowing it: her life savings and all of her most precious valuables had been protected from theft precisely because she had chosen the wrong safe in which to store them ! But this is merely the exception which proves the rule…

What this woman did not know was that her son (the little stinker) had known exactly what the combination to the safe was, yet he still found himself unable to open it. The simple explanation for his inability to get it open was that this woman had found so many reasons to use the safe that she had packed it to the rafters with stuff. She later admitted to me that she had to stand on the safe in order to lock it on the last time she had used it. And it was only because she had stuffed the safe like a Thanksgiving turkey that the internal bolt structure had bound up, leaving Junior unable to throw the handle. I suppose that’s what led to his decision to wipe the safe’s dial and handle out of existence.

This little episode cost Mom more money than she had planned on spending when she had rolled out of bed that morning, but it was peanuts compared to what she might have lost had her son remembered to stand on the safe when reopening it. Anyhow, all’s well that ends well.

This little story helps illustrate what is a fairly common problem in my line of work– helping people to understand what their security needs are insofar as a safe purchase is concerned. The more timid among prospective safe buyers tend to immediately balk at the price which, to a degree, is understandable. The price of a good safe, however, is miniscule in comparison to the price of walking into your home and finding your bargain-basement safe open, and EMPTY.

Before buying any kind of safe, ask yourself whether the primary function of the safe will be to protect documents only, or personal valuables, or whether it will be used for commercial applications. This will help you narrow things down a little.

If your anticipated use for the safe is for the protection of documents only, a good bet to be for you to consider a simple fire safe. These safes feature fire protection for periods ranging from 30 minutes up to more than two hours. Your choice in fire protective capacity should be based on the importance of the documents to be protected. Paper has a flashpoint of 451°, and fire safes are typically constructed in such a way that the internal temperature of the safe will remain below 350° for the time period for which the safe was rated. Obviously, the more important the paper, the more critical the fire rating.

For the protection of personal valuables, it’s very wise to consider purchasing a burglary-rated safe. My personal preference is for freestanding safes (rather than in-the-floor safes). And I prefer them for several reasons: firstly, because they don’t require that you dig a huge hole somewhere through the slab under the house (an unbelievably messy prospect that carries with it the risk of damage to the slab), and secondly, because if you decide to pick up and move somewhere else, you can take your expensive safe with you (rather than leaving it as a housewarming gift for the lucky new homeowner). My third and final reason for preferring a freestanding safe is that it holds way more stuff (eliminating the need to have your fattest family member lean on it in order to close the door). Always keep in mind that safes, like our homes, tend to accumulate 20% more stuff than they were built to hold, so try to keep this in mind when deciding on the size of the container you’ll be needing.

For those of you intending to purchase a safe for dual purposes (such as documents and personal valuables), you may consider purchasing a safe with a BF rating. These containers offer excellent burglary and fire protection, but they tend to reduce the usable interior of the safe significantly, due to the amount of fire-resistant composite needed in order to protect the safe’s contents from extreme heat.

For commercial applications one may turn to the safes we’ve previously discussed and, in addition, one might also consider under counter safes (which are typically installed under the cash register for till trimming), drop safes (in which deposits may be made through the top, front, or reverse). NOTE: I want you to know that I do not recommend the overnight storage of cash deposits in such safes, however. In such cases, it is my recommendation that one use either a TL-15 or TL- 30 high-security depository safe.

For cassettes, CDs, and diskettes I strongly recommend the use of data safes, as these are specifically engineered to protect sensitive data by keeping the internal temperature of the safe below 150°F.

Although the price of these items may leave you somewhat shell-shocked, it is nothing in comparison to the way you might feel if you had not taken such precautionary measures, only to find your cash, documents, and personal valuables either stolen or destroyed by fire. Try to look at the price of your safe in relation to the insurance deductible you have on your property — and then ask yourself if you would rather pay a pound of flesh to protect your valuables, or pay 5 pounds of flesh for an insurance deductible (a bitter pill to swallow after having lost everything, as I’m sure you’ll agree).

Anyway, I hope that this little newsletter will enable you to make a little bit more sense out of what is admittedly a difficult thing to do these days: protecting your goodies while you’ve still got ‘em. I’ll be writing much more on this commonly- misunderstood topic further on down the road, and I hope you’ll be there to read it. 

Thanks for visiting my site, and have a wonderful day. 

Valerie

copyright 2009, Valerie Tannenbaum. All rights reserved.

If you’ve been paying any attention at all for the past year, you’ll realize that our country has been turned inside out and upside down. Millions of people have lost their jobs since the beginning of the year,  increasing the necessity of government intervention on their behalf. I don’t even want to explore the probability that government itself is the reason for their misfortune– I’ll save that for another article.

The point that I wish to make in this article, however, is that we are all in this together. What affects you, affects me. And although I must admit that I have been very fortunate concerning the health and success of my business over the years, I have also taken a beating as it concerns my livelihood and finances. However, since I have always been able to to depend upon the trust and generosity of you, my clients, during the good times, I want you all to know that you can count on me through these difficult times.

Now, let me get to the point. I believe that we are entering what will become an unprecedented phase in American life– I believe that we will endure turmoil of many kinds. I believe that parents will discover many causes for concern for the welfare of their families and households. And I believe that many people at times will feel as if they are at the end of their rope. And so, I am offering you all my help.

I have served thousands upon thousands of clients over the years, and those who have come to know me well realize that I am neither broke, nor well- to- do. They have become accustomed over these many years to receiving little ‘extras’ for free when I work on their homes and  businesses,  because it is not in my nature to drain the blood of every client I meet. But, to be honest, it’s easy to be generous when times are good.

So let me make this offer to you now– if you have lost your job, if you’ve been laid off, if you’re low on funds and don’t know where to turn, call me. If you explain your situation to me I will hear you out without judgment, and do whatever I can to meet you in the middle. If your business is in trouble, and your cash is spread too thin, give me a call and we’ll see how I can help you. And remember, we are all in this together…

Some people might say that I’m stupid for making this offer. I say that it would be heartless not to make it. I realize that some people might take advantage of me because of this, but it’s worth it to me just knowing that some good people– hard-working, decent people might give me the opportunity to supply the security they desperately need.

If any of you who read this may be aware of a family or businessperson who has truly fallen on hard times, please guide them in my direction.

God has been good to me in my life– now it’s time for payback.

Val

PATER NOSTER, QUI ES EN CAELIS,

SANCTIFICETUR NOMEN TUUM-

ADVENIAT REGNUM TUUM, FIAT VOLUNTAS TUA,

SICUT EN CAELO ET EN TERRA.

PANEM NOSTRAM QUOTIDIANUM DA NOBIS HODIE,

ET DIMITTE NOBIS DEBITA NOSTRA

SICUT ET NOS DIMMITIMUS DEBITORIBUS NOSTRIS–

ET NE NOS INDUCAS EN TENTATIONEM,

SED LIBERA NOS A MALO.

AMEN.

WITH ALL MY LOVE… AND THE DEEPEST OF RESPECT, GRATITUDE, AND BITTER SORROW…

YOUR ETERNAL FRIEND AND COMPANION,

VAL

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

When stories first began to crop up regarding bump key victimization, it opened up the locksmith industry to a great deal of public scrutiny. Many people wondered why they’d never been told exactly how vulnerable their homes and businesses actually were. Their locksmiths certainly should have known, right? Well, at this point it doesn’t really matter who knew what when–the challenge for us at this point in time is to overcome the tendency to underestimate the threat to life, limb and property. Just as people everywhere got all fired up and united after 9/11, only to drop the ball and to slip back into complacency further on down the road, once the TV stations slow down with reports on key bumping and it’s victims, the urgency of the potential threat will subside, and many of us will slide back into a blissful state of ignorance.  And I’m just like you– give me a little bit of time to rationalize, give me a minute to come up with some half-baked reason to ignore my instincts, and I guarantee you that the thing on my mind right now will slip my mind later. It’s a FACT!

For many people it’s a matter of plausibility, or feasibility. Some people will say, “Oh come on– yeah right, like someone’s really going to break into my house with just this bump key…”, or this rationale– “Alright, I see how someone could do it but, I can’t see it happening to me”. It’s almost as if they liken the odds of their being struck down by thieves to those of a cow’s being hit by lightning in a field–REMINDER: it may be true that the odds of a cow’s being hit by lightning are a billion to one, but the odds were 100% perfect for the cow who’s just been hit!

Anyway, it may take a while before numbers start to come up on the effects of this bump key phenomenon. In the meantime, it’s our job (yours and mine) to figure out what kind of a stand we want to take on this issue, and to address it proactively. All of you know where to find me, and all of you know that I’ll be there when you need me.

In my next newsletter, I hope to have assembled the most recent figures on crime statistics for this area, as well as a few other surprises for you all. Until then –

Stop and smell the roses. 

Val

Years ago, I was fortunate enough to have met a gentleman I will call Bob. Bob had been locksmithing for years, having grown up around locksmiths and others in the trades . Indeed, his father was a locksmith , his two brothers were locksmiths, and his mother held the key to their hearts. All in all, I imagine it would have been pretty hard to get locked out of their house. As luck would have it, Bob and I became pretty good friends over time, and I’m glad to have known him. He’s gone now, but I have a filing cabinet of memories by which to remember him. And one of those memories is this little gem:

BEWARE OF THINGS THAT GO BUMP IN THE NIGHT!

What he was referring to was a technique of lock picking which was developed in the late 20s to early 30s, by which a locksmith (or a thief) might easily manufacture a special key, cut from an ordinary blank, which would easily open as much as 75% of all locks he might come across. This startling thing about this technique IS THAT IT REQUIRES ABSOLUTELY NO LEVEL OF MECHANICAL APTITUDE TO MASTER ! All it really takes is a 15 cent key blank, AND THE WILLINGNESS TO ILLEGALLY ENTER SOMEONE ELSE’S HOME! Can you imagine going inside to investigate a tapping noise on your back door, only to discover an absolute stranger in your kitchen staring back at you?

Now back in the 30s, this technique was called rapping, or tapping (or so I’ve been told). Well, you can call it whatever you like, BUT I CALL IT TROUBLE. For the purposes of this article however, I will refer to it as key bumping, and the the tool we will be discussing will be referred to as a bump key. Before I continue, I feel the need to assure you that it is not my intention to sound the alarm bells on this topic — awareness of the problem is at least half of the solution. Or, as my dear grandma used to say, “A WORD TO THE WISE IS SUFFICIENT”. In any case, it is my responsibility as a professional to raise your awareness of any potential deficiencies in your residential and commercial locking systems, and furthermore, to recommend sensible solutions for you to consider.

I’ll be talking about this in more depth sometime in January– Val

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Back in the 20th century, when I had first considered forming a corporation which would service the security needs of my adopted hometown and surrounding area, I encountered more than a little resistance from the locksmith community. A few of my competitors told me that, being a woman, I might not be up to the physical rigors of the trade (but I was). A few other competitors mentioned that, being a woman, I might find all the technical aspects of the trade too hard to grasp (but I didn’t). Almost all insisted that the locksmith trade was an extremely difficult field to break into (totally true) and that the competition would eat me alive (but it didn’t).

As time went by, and realizing that opinions vary greatly, I decided that the survival of my company and its eventual success would depend upon my developing a mission statement geared toward the TOTAL SATISFACTION OF EVERY SINGLE CLIENT! Please note that I said client, not customer. The reason that I make this distinction is because, in my opinion, a CUSTOMER is one who pays me for a product or service, whereas a CLIENT IS SOMEONE WHO’S BEEN PLACED UNDER MY PROTECTION! This small change in mindset has enabled me to view my chosen profession with the utmost of seriousness and attention to every possible detail.

And so today I feel like giving something back to the South Florida community which  supports my household and gives me purpose (yes, I mean you). Take a little time to snoop around the website– make yourself at home here. If you’re like me, you know it takes a little time to get to know someone, after all…  

    As time goes by, I hope to serve my readership by :

1. Providing answers to their most frequently asked questions regarding both residential and commercial security issues.

2. Illustrating that not all problems require the assistance of a professional.

3. Helping my readers to identify the myriad security issues which make our homes and businesses so attractive to thieves.

4. Doing everything possible to ensure that all my readers not only FEEL SECURE, BUT THAT THEY WILL ALSO BE SECURE!

We all live in a world of increasing risk and legitimate concern and, working together as partners, we’ll minimize these concerns and go forward to live the lives we had hoped to live, once upon a time. You have my word on this, friends.

Let’s get together next month… same time, same place.

Warmly,

Valerie

(Valerie Tannenbaum is the president and CEO of A2Z Locksmith, Inc. . Since moving to Broward County in 1991, she has given private instruction in the proper handling of firearms, she has served in the first group chosen to teach the NRA’s renowned “REFUSE TO BE A VICTIM” courses to women throughout South Florida, and, until 1998, ran the pistol/rifle range available to the public at Markham Park. She is a long time member of the Associated Locksmiths of America, the Safe and Vault Technicians of America, the National Safeman’s Organization, and has served thousands upon thousands of Broward County residents in her capacity as a locksmith and personal safety expert. She can be contacted at:

 #954 382-2200.

 Copyright 2007, Valerie Tannenbaum