Date:         Thu, 11 Jan 2001 21:14:30 -0800
Reply-To:     Ken Taylor <res07cqd@GTE.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Ken Taylor <res07cqd@GTE.NET>
Subject:      recommendation of a great VW locksmith service
In-Reply-To:  <20010112005116.IIHZ6180579.mtapop3.verizon.net@gerry.vanagon.com>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

A couple of months ago, someone stole my wife's purse, and a week later they
stole her car.  We discovered how unbelievably complicated it is to return
stability to credit card accounts, checking accounts, savings accounts, home
keys, keys to other vehicles, police reports, lots of notorized statements
to deal with forged checks, etc.

I soon discovered that even in a major metropolitan area, it's difficult to
find a locksmith who'll rekey Vanagon locks.  We'd get a price quote on the
phone, and we'd then arrive at the locksmith to find that the cost was
considerably more.

We found a great solution.  From the vanagon.com site, in the vendor
section, we found the contact information for Steve's Lock Shop at
http://www.steveslockshop.com/

Steve's a great guy to deal with, and his fee was CONSIDERABLY less than the
local locksmiths.  We removed the lock cylinders ourselves, with directions
from Steve.  We dropped them in an Priority Mail box and sent it from the
Seattle area to Texas.  He rekeyed them in a day and returned them.

We had to keep a closer eye on the Vanagon for a few days, but overall, it
was one of the few positive experiences in our small nightmare.

Removal was easy.  Because of holidays, they were away for about a week.  I
could have gone for Express delivery, which would have been quite a bit more
expensive due to the post office fees, but we had sons home from college, so
transportation wasn't a problem.  We shot them with a little graphite and
popped them right back in today.  The handles are tight, and the locks work
just fine.

Considering the odds of finding a locksmith specializing in Volkswagens and
one who's a Vanagon owner, we lucked out in finding him.

Ken