No man, regardless of his bravery under fire, levelheadedness when his two-seater airplane’s engines start coughing and wheezing, or coolness when he saves children from burning buildings, is ever going to exude calmness and bravado when they notice their car keys missing.
The frantic tapping of the body, the frenzied rummaging through the pockets, the turning around this way and that as if looking for an actual way out of their predicament – all is in vain. Missing car keys are not just a physical inconvenience, they are a psychological terror. They make you question whether you’ve lost your ID, whether you’ll misplace your house keys, whether anything you hold dear and valuable will ever be safe in your arms again.
Alright, it happens to the best of them. You’ve lost your car keys – now what?
There are three important steps you have to take immediately.
- Obviously, retrace your steps. A lot of lost keys are found by thinking back and trying to pinpoint various moments when you might have taken something out of your bag or pocket, when you either jumped or ran, or maybe stood on a crowded subway and exposed yourself to theft. Even if you don’t get your keys back this way, you can at least take an educated guess on where you’d lost them, and act accordingly.
- No keys? Okay; don’t panic, stay cool, and arm yourself with information. Find out your license plates number, the brand and make of your car, as well as your Vehicle Identification Number (VIN – a unique code for each vehicle, located either on your windshield, in the trunk, or on the engine). Naturally, if you are stuck somewhere on the side of the road at night, don’t concern yourself with the unnecessary minutiae, just have your most basic car details ready – license plates number (can’t miss them), brand and make of car, and of course, your location.
- Call your car key provider. They are auto locksmiths who can get into your car, duplicate your keys, or make you new ones. They can even repair your stuck or broken ignition key.
Telling you to call your car key provider instead of your dealership may sound insincere coming from us, your local car key provider, but it’s true nevertheless. Your dealership will charge you much more money for the same service, plus you are most likely going to have to (if you don’t have any sort of Roadside Assistance service) pay for a tow to the dealership.
Modern car key replacements cost a pretty penny regardless of where you get them, and you certainly don’t want to pay more than you have to. Also, dealerships have working hours that may very well not coincide with your getting locked out – shame on you for not getting locked out between 9 and 5. All kidding aside, we are available 24/7, and will be with you in a matter of minutes, wherever you may find yourself stranded.
That’s it, that’s all you have to do. The reinforcements are on their way. A specialized team of car locksmith experts is going to step in, relieve you of your command, and get you out of there in no time.
In order to avoid this kind of thing happening in the future, it would be wise to make a duplicate of your car keys. Also, a quick tip: whenever you’re taking your keys (same goes for everything else on your person, be it credit cards, mobile phone, makeup) out or putting them back, don’t do two things at once. For that brief moment focus on your car keys and your car keys alone.