Useful Info On Mul-T-Lock

[thewhitebunny12 0]

Hi people,
i would like to relate a recent troubling experience i had with a locksmith. i hope that by reading about my experience here, others would not have to go through the same trouble that i have.

Recently, i had the need to get a Mul-T-Lock duplicate key. As most would already know, Mul-T-Lock is one of the best and most secure locks in the market, and their keys are based on dimples machined out of the surface of the key. Because of this unique construction of the key, it it very safe and cannot be duplicated by a regular key making machine, which cuts only the edge of the key and not the face of it.

Thus, i had to travel to the east, where i had spotted a locksmith with the Mul-T-Lock logo in the store window. This shop was :

Min Lee Key Centre
Blk 845 Geylang Road,
Tanjong Katong Complex,
#01-49
Singapore 400845
Tel : 67433516
Fax: 67433832

On entering the store, i met a middle aged bespectacled man and another middle aged woman, it seems they run the store. There was a television in the store and they seemed to be occasionally watching a program on it. After asking the price for a duplicate, i enquired if the duplicate would work, as my previous duplicate catches in some positions and wasn't totally smooth. The man just asked if the present key worked, and i told him that it did. After that, he just didn't bother to respond further. So, i handed over my original key and waited for the new duplicate to be made. The man ducked down under the counter where the machine was (there was another machine near the door for regular key cutting) and i couldn't see what was going on, but process was very quick at around 5 or 6 minutes to complete. The man then handed me the duplicate and received payment in cash. No receipt was given until i asked for one, and only then did the receipt book make an appearance.

Now, this is the disturbing part -

Upon inspecting the duplicate, i noticed that the dimples on one face of the key was shallower than the other, which seemed just about the same as the original key. i hastily tried to bring it up to the locksmith's attention as i didn't want to waste another trip down to the east. i do admit that i'm no professional, but i've had some experience working with milling machines. Although my eyes cannot tell the difference in a few microns, i could clearly see the difference in both faces of the duplicate key, without magnification. Strangely, the man (locksmith) did not even bother to take a look at the key at all ! He just continued watching the television and said that the keys are made by a machine which follows code number presets. Taking his word over my good judgement, i left with the receipt and the duplicate key.

This part is even more disturbing -

Upon reaching home, i tried the key in the lock, and sure enough there was a problem. The lock would work when one side of the key was facing up, but wouldn't move if the key was flipped over with the opposite side facing up. Marking one side with a permanent marker, i tried the key a few more times with the same result. Frustrated at the outcome, my first impulse was to call the shop up, but i thought it over and stopped myself. Brought out my camera and took video footage instead.

If Mul-T-Lock keys were made using code number presets, it would be very easy to make a duplicate without even having the original. And by tracing my telephone number, this man would have my address and a key to my home ? Who knows if someone would just walk in with a duplicate key. No can do ! Better to approach him in person.

This part is the most disturbing -

So the next day, i made another trip down to the east to try and solve the problem. Upon entering the store, i approached the same middle aged man and indicated there was a problem with the duplicate made only the day before. He asked what the problem was, so i took out my iPod, placed it on the counter and started the video. The man (locksmith) did not even bother to watch the video, but asked for the duplicate and receipt instead. At first i thought that perhaps his memory is so bad that he couldn't remember who his customers were just a day before, but i was dead wrong. Immediately after taking the key and receipt, he looked the receipt over, went to the back of the counter and reappeared with a full cash refund. Never once bothering to rectify the half functioning duplicate key and prepared to bear the loss of a key blank. It would seem that he never intended to make money from the job in the first place, strange ! He didn't seem interested in the video either. i should think there is valuable information to be gained by watching it. At least, it would help future key cutting to know where the problem is ? Needless to say, i took the cash, packed up my iPod and left, no point in me making a third trip down if he screws it up again.

i'm not a locksmith, but i am fairly certain that there is no problem with the Mul-T-Lock machine used to make duplicates in this store. It would seem that the key blank was placed lower on one face, in order to have the dimples cut shallower, there obviously wasn't a problem with the other face. i have no knowledge as to why this was done, but at best, i would have to say that this locksmith is grossly incompetent, if not malicious in nature, judging by the way the whole situation was handled.

i do hope that my experience will benefit someone. For obvious reasons, i will not be posting the video of my keys for all of the world wide web to see, but i will be happy to make a trip down to the Mul-T-Lock distributor and share it with them if required, plus detailed macro photos of the original and duplicate keys. Perhaps the Mul-T-Lock distributor here in Singapore will take a look into the matter to prevent similar problems from befalling others, i can be contacted through PM or email, whichever is more convenient.

Be safe, not sorry.

[Ks Toh 74]

At my previous place, I bought my mul-t-lock from Shanghai Tong Lee along Jalan Sultan. They keys came with a credit card size card. I was expressly told that to duplicate my keys, I need to produce that card. It seems like authorised distributors will not make duplicates without that card.

But I gather from what you said that some of them will make duplicates without the card?