That sounds painfully familiar, haha. I once had to change my keypad code after giving it to a contractor and promptly forgot the new one. Came home late from a job site, exhausted, and stood there blankly staring at the keypad like it was some puzzle I’d never seen before. Ended up sitting on my porch googling locksmiths until it suddenly clicked...literally minutes before I was about to make the call. Nothing like your own security measures keeping you out of your own place.
Honestly, keypad locks seem convenient until they're not. I've switched back to a traditional key after a similar incident—less techy, sure, but at least keys don't rely on memory after a 12-hour workday...
I get your point, but honestly, I've had the opposite experience. I switched to a keypad lock about two years ago after losing my keys one too many times (seriously, I'm convinced there's a black hole in my purse). Sure, I've blanked on the code once or twice after a long day, but overall it's been way less stressful than digging through pockets or bags in the dark.
One thing that helped me was setting a code that's meaningful but not obvious—like a date or number combo that's easy to recall even when I'm exhausted. Plus, some newer models let you set temporary codes for guests or deliveries, which has been super handy when I'm stuck at work.
I totally get the appeal of traditional keys though—there's something reassuringly simple about them. But for me, the convenience of not carrying around extra metal bits outweighs the occasional brain freeze moment...
Totally agree—keypads have saved me more times than I care to admit. A few thoughts from my own mishaps:
- Batteries dying at the worst possible moment (midnight, pouring rain...classic).
- Accidentally sharing my "secret" code with the pizza guy (awkward).
- Still beats crawling through a window at 2am, though.
"Still beats crawling through a window at 2am, though."
Haha, that line took me back to one of my more memorable client calls. About two years ago, I got an early morning voicemail from a homeowner I'd just finished a remodel for—nice folks, but not exactly tech-savvy. Turns out they'd installed a smart lock after we wrapped up the job (against my gentle advice), and they'd managed to lock themselves out at around midnight. They spent a solid hour trying every code combo they could think of until the keypad locked them out completely (security feature or cruel joke? Jury's still out...).
Long story short, they ended up calling me around 1:30am, half-jokingly asking if I could swing by with my tools to "undo" their smart lock installation. By the time I got there, the husband had already climbed halfway through a bathroom window he'd forgotten to lock—one leg dangling outside, flashlight in hand, wife laughing hysterically and snapping pictures for their family group chat. It was like something straight out of a sitcom.
After getting him safely back on solid ground (and politely declining their offer of coffee at 2:15 in the morning), I helped them reset the lock and went over some basic troubleshooting steps. Honestly though, it wasn't even their fault—the batteries were fine, the system just glitched randomly. I've seen this happen enough times now to always recommend having a backup key hidden somewhere discreet. Smart locks are convenient—until they're not.
All that said, I'll admit they're still better than fumbling around in the dark with keys after a long day on-site...but yeah, definitely keep a spare manual key handy just in case.
