Locksmith Ledger - Notes from the Editor

 

 

by Gale Johnson, Editor-in-Chief, LocksmithLedger.com

 

The nation has been divided almost 50/50 for several decades concerning politics. No matter which side of the fence you are on, there is a perfect station for you on cable TV. These stations blare out information 24 hours a day. Real news gets tossed out the window as commentators try to prove that their opinion is the only opinion that matters.

 

At one time people could watch Lucy, Seinfeld or even Andy Griffith and enjoy a good humerous diversion. Not any more. Television is full of the mundane or overly serious. The only entertainment left on TV is on cable TV news broadcasts. These people are so caught up in their dislike of anyone with an opposite viewpoint that it becomes a comedy to watch.

 

The international news is not much better. Where once the opposite viewpoints consisted of governmental ideology, dissention today centers on differences in theology. Religion knows no borders, so it is very hard to know where to begin discussions any issue. There is nothing humerous about religious discussions, but both examples indicate the intractable nature of mankind.

 

What we seem to need today is some kind of calamity which affects everyone on earth. Then people of all races and creeds may just get together, forget their petty differences, and work for the common good.

 

In a small way, the security industry shows what can happen when something affects us all. We do have a calamity and it is the phony locksmith issue. What at first was confined to a few metropolitan areas has now moved into the countryside. A locksmith called today from a town of 10,000 in rural western Pennsylvania. His phone book just came out a rash of new phone numbers, all leading back to one address three counties away.

 

A few weeks ago people representing several different industry views got together to discuss the phoney locksmith issue. Representatives from Security Hardware Distributors Association (SHDA), ALOA, a representative from www.legallocksmith.com, media magazines and a representative from Pop-A-Lock, a locksmith franchise operation, met to compare strategies in order to counteract the phony locksmith issue. Another person very much involved in this issue is Jim Heath of Maverick Lock. Jim was not at the meeting, but has been active in getting others involved.

 

There has been some progress lately. The state of Missouri has reportedly ordered the phone company to shut off phones of one large locksmith operation in Missouri. The Attorney General of North Carolina has started court proceedings against a locksmith operation in that state. Yellow page people state that 90,000 locksmith names have been removed from print directories in a 22 state area.

 

Michigan locksmith Jimmy Mowry hired an attorney to go after phoney locksmiths in his area. While admitting that there is a problem, a VP of Sales for AT&T indicated in a letter to Mr. Mowry that theirs was only one phone book, and they had no control over what other phone book publishers are doing. AT&T also observed that 'carriers' actually sign up and validate the listings and the yellow pages prints the listings. AT&T also observed that this was a legal issue. Finally,stating , "AT&T Advertising Solutions does not have the ability or resources-any more than any other publisher- to investigate the credentials of businesse seeking to establish listings..."

 

It is a positive step to get together and see what can be done, but the reality is that we do have a long way to go before the phonelys are gone from the scene.

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Security Lock Systems provides service throughout Florida as well as the Tampa Bay area. Whatever your security questions and needs, we have the answers and solutions.

 

Security Lock Systems
7704 Ann Ballard Road
Tampa, Florida, 33634
Call: (813) 874-1608
FAX: (813) 882-8266

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