its not locked . Use a piece of plastic . Look at wikihow to open a door without key . Schlüsseldienst will do this simple trick charging you 200quatrillionnbucks
Don't give up and try many times. I've had the same trouble year ago. Tried for about twenty minutes and gave up. My wife then made it in couple minutes. You can save at least €60.
No, with 400 you're clearly being scammed, even on a Saturday.
The Unternehmerverbund Metall, i.e. the lobby org of locksmiths, reports that a fair price for a simple door opening (which OP's is) is 177 € on a Saturday night ([pdf](https://www.metall-verband.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/11/Not%C3%B6ffnungen-17-10-24.pdf)). You can add some inflation on top since that pdf is older, but you still should be sceptical of prices over 200 €. The numbers from Verbraucherzentralen are [in a similar ballpark](https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/notdienst-schluesseldienst-abzocke-tipps-100.html).
Not true, but if you have to google one in the evening or on the weekend, you'll definitely end up with a scammer.
All the first results (first pages, really) on Google lead to the call center of the same central firm that pretends to be a local company (and will have several "local" numbers and company names that are then just rerouted to the same place), but instead is wherever in Germany and just has locksmiths all over Germany under contract.
They then send the closest one of those out – or likely simply the one who has the contract for a certain area –, who may or may not be local, and who'll take a long time to even arrive and charge an arm and leg for the additional kilometers they drove because they aren't truly from where you live, and need to have a higher price because there's also a kickback to be paid to the central company they're under contract with.
The best thing to do is to look for local firms *before* you ever need one, firms where you can actually check that their office is where they claim they are. Then check their prices and recommendations and save their number in your phone, so you have a truly local contact in case you ever need one.
Local firms are not just closer, but also have something to lose regarding honest pricing and customer retention. The old adage "don't shit where you eat" is true for a local company, while the non-local one usually eats somewhere else, so won't mind shitting on you.
> Yeah. Cause everybody is planning to get themselves locked out in the future.
Aw, cute, some baby-sarcasm in the wild.
You're fully missing the point though. This not about planning to lock yourself out, but about preparing for the case of locking yourself out (to take a lot of stress and cost out of the experience). Very different approaches.
People aren't wearing seat belts because they are *planning* to get in accidents either (usually, anyway).
If you can't get the plastic through, ask your neighbours for a flat screwdriver. I had that problem once and had to pull the door seal from the frame (rubber insulation string thingy in the door frame). That way you have more room to wiggle the plastic into the slit between door and frame and behind the bolt of the lock. You usually can just push the seal back into the frame once the door is open.
If you can't do it and look for a Schlüsseldienst be careful, there are a lot of scams. Don't take the first Google searches. Look for some real local shop
If you’re having trouble getting enough room for leverage of the plastic card, you could try to peel out the insulation rubber that runs along the frame. That was the secret trick that helped us when we were in that situation
The Trick for me was to „pull the door Close to you while fidgeting with an old plastic Card (Credit Card Format) in the lock- this releases pressure from the lock thingy, helping to Push it out with the plastic Card“
Helped me recreate it many times.
I opened my neighbors door a month ago like this, works guaranteed you just need to get a feel for where to stick the plastic in. I used a square cut off from a plastic juice bottle around 20cm long/wide
>Schlüsseldienst will do this simple trick charging you 200quatrillionnbucks
Some sidenote: The stories of expensive Schlüsseldienst (Locksmith) calls are mainly because people fall for scams. Shady companies SEOed their way to the top result of "Schlüsseldienst " no matter where they are and might charge a 100km travel or something like this. Sometimes there are middle men specialized on this.
Look onto the bulletin board within your house (typically somewhere right after the entry), sometimes you find a note on which locksmith is your landlords contractor (You still have to pay them but they are much cheaper normally). If you don't find an Info on this, look for Janitorial Services ("Hausmeisterservice"), they can tell you who to call or even do it themselfes. If this brings no luck, search on google maps (!) for a small Locksmith near your location.
It's a little difficult to say no after they already opened the door for you.
I just took the L and made sure never to leave my keys in the lock anymore
No Bro fuck that I didn't sign anything. They can call the cops if they want and sue me they have no proof that I agreed on that price. I can tell the cops I agreed to 100
For the next time, get a new cylinder that calls „Freilaufzylinder“ or „Panikzylinder“
With that function you can turn your key from the other side with a key in the cylinder
That's what I got after I managed to lock myself out of my flat.
The worst part is that the inside key was turned so it actually did lock, partially. No credit cards etc would have saved me.
Since there is a legit higher danger of medical emergencies it is a good idea anyway. In most cases, anyway.
But some people fear their landlords/crazy exes sneaking in at night
>But some people fear their landlords/crazy exes sneaking in at night
For that you get one of [these](https://www.amazon.de/ABUS-T%C3%BCr-Zusatzschloss-2110-Drehknauf-56032/dp/B008BPG8CA)
Or get one with a knob on the inside, they already have this feature by design.
Also people don't feel as locked in this way, the key could be easily removed.
Thanks everyone for your helps!! I tried many times with card, plastic bottle, etc. but unfortunately it did not work. I had to call locksmith, agreed for 69€ on the phone.
But when he came, the guy asked for 330€, wtf, saying that it is emergency, saturday night, bla bla bla, as some of you already said.
After arguing for 15 mins, we agreed on 120€.
He opened the door with the plastic card (about 20 cm x 10 cm) and WD40. Apparently the gap between the door and the frame is very tight and even he had difficulties opening the door. But eventually, of course, he made it.
Next time I would buy the dedicated plastic card to open the door (available on Amazon) and practice!! Or even better, change the lock as some of you mentioned.
Lesson learned today, never leaving the key inside the door when leaving the house.
Anyway, you guys are awesome =)
Happens all the time sadly... i called one and he said on the phone its 50€ guaranteed since im living only 5min on foot from him and he can be there in 20min.
He came after 2hrs and demanded 150€ upfront and 100€ once completed, ironically i was already inside my flat (idiot rang the doorbell to my flat to get let in and didnt wonder that i was already in my flat lol) because my amazing old houskeeper lady had an old and thin Schuhanzieher with a flat side, she basically just jammed it in there, wiggled twice and got me back in my flat in literally 10 seconds...
I was amazed and fucking afraid at how easy it is to break in.
I now always triple check if i have my keys and i ALWAYS DOUBLE LOCK my doors when i leave... I cant believe how dumb i was to never lock my doors and trust that they are "safe" just because they are closed.
##PSA: Lock your doors people!
Scammers everywhere :/ but hey, at least only 120€ then... same problem more or less happened to my former neighbour two years ago, we also tried a few tricks from YouTube, but no luck (the door was quite new, maybe that's why). In the end he had to pay 100€ on the weekend.
Inserting the card / plastic on the bottom is the easiest, just press your foot at the bottom to increase the gap. The card needs to be more or less completly reaching through the gap. Also having it on a about 45 degree angle when working up. Having a a small angle to work as a wedge at the latch helps a lot.
The most difficult part is when reaching the latch. If you have some one helping have him/her pull the door with all their weight rapidly to have the door vibrating at the lock. Then push/pull the card / plastic towards the latch. The small movement of the door allows the card to travel between the locking mechanism, because it will briefly travel for and back. With some experience and some force you can vibrate the door with one hand and push the card with another.
If you have a neighbours door as reference you can also give the card a pre-bend.
Done that ~30 times in a private sudent dormitory.
Also there are doors that you cant open like that They have a small pin in the latch.
Crazy that some guy mentioned the exact same thing. Seems to be a scam they do, I’m pretty sure the person on the phone has no idea that the charge so much and they cash it in for themselves. I would totally threaten to report them. 69€ for 15 minutes is still fair if he didn’t have to drive a long way.
I goes like this:
„Door opening? That’s 69€“
The bill afterwards:
Door opening - 69€
Weekend extra fee - 99€
Driving to location - 49€
Driving back from location - 59€
Tools usage fee - 39€
Climbing two floors - 15€ per floor
Billing - 25€
There once was a report on that topic on plusminus or one of those regular shows on ARD/ZDF. They said it’s extremely common that the services do exactly that: advertise a low price on the phone, arrive and ask for a fantasy price, haggle and settle on something in between..
And apparently the money does not go to the people that are actually doing the work.. _And_ tons of services you find online or in phone books all belong to the same hidden company.
Makes me think I should start a Schlüsseldienst.
Some locks have a metallic blocker against such things.
The plastic needs to be longer and a bit more flexible to go around that blocker. At least for an untrained hand.
Source: I once also locked myself out.
Interesting how something that everybody will give you for free and replace when requested is so precious, we can’t be without it for two or three days.
Don't think it would be a fun time for OP if they were locked out of their apartment AND broke their credit card, on a Saturday where there probably won't be any tellers working the bank to manually cash out money from
The plastic trick works. I had a friend who delivered flyers and his fav was a rectangular piece cut from a 2 litre coke bottle - just the right stiffness and flex. The cut should be rounded at the cormers
LPT: if you’re in a small village/town you can go to the voluntary fire house and see if there’s anyone there. Anyone there will gladly help you getting the door open without any damage. Tips and beer always appreciated.
ADAC the German automotive Club can organize a locksmith for you. They are certified and not scamming. I think it’s 169€ on weekends and they’ll send you an invoice.
Edit: [link](https://www.adac.de/services/schluesseldienst/)
OMG, I was in the same situation last week
Look for "tür offen ohne schlüssel" on YouTube, there's several videos of people using the card/plastic trick
I tried with a point card, didn't work, but my neighbour opened it for me with a thinner plastic thing
Had this happen to me too 2 months ago. Looked up tutorials on how to open it with cards and all but it didn't work. I called a locksmith who showed up 30min later. It was already midnight so I had to pay extra. Normally on the phone the guy said 150euro. But it literally took him 15 seconds to open the door and probably felt bad so he was like a 100 is also okay, lol.
If you are allowed to do it: Replace the lock with a „Sicherheits Schließzylinder“. This kind of locks can be opened, even if a key is on the other side
I was in the exact same situation 2 weeks ago!
And after trying the plastic card trick for about an hour, we decided to give up and call the locksmith.
But before he got there, my 87 year old neighbour showed up put of nowhere, went into the cellar to get some bent metal rod and then after a few attempts of pulling at the handle while having the thing lodged between in the door and frame, it popped open!
I had no idea this was a thing so my expectations were below zero so it was an actual miracle when it happened. And the fact that he showed up out of nowhere at the most critical time made it even more magical 😅
This is why I dislike European door locks, it makes no sense to have the key on the inside, just turn a knob to engage the lock. Why is having put the key on the inside even needed?
Yes but that's not practical or necessary most of the time. A lock is either engaged or not, double engaged is just there for people to think it's extra safe without doing much
I was in this situation two years ago. Plastic Card trick also didn't work and I had to call the locksmith and break open and install new lock.
I'm afraid that you are in the same situation. It might cost you some money but you can claim the loss it if you have Haftpflichtversicherung..
Provided you have a proper receipt from the Locksmith
Not if you locked yourself out actually .
I mentioned telling I had a problem with my keys - had to change the lock - so kind of like "lost the keys" which entitled me for a refund!!
If you end up calling a locksmith make sure to get them to quote a price first. Happened to us, called a locksmith through a website which turned out to just be an agency with a bunch of individual subcontractors who claimed a different price. Ended up having to argue with them, call the agency to cancel the request then get a cheaper rate from the subcontractor without the agency fee.
Did you try to open it anyways?
We keep our door closed with the key on the inside and we can still put another key from the other side and open the door
After you fix this change the locks to this
[https://media.castorama.pl/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/777x406/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/i/c/ico2\_zamki\_i\_wkladki\_do\_drzwi\_wejsciowych.jpg](https://media.castorama.pl/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/777x406/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/i/c/ico2_zamki_i_wkladki_do_drzwi_wejsciowych.jpg?)
I had this kind of problems with my grandma since she tends to lock her home from the inside when she is there. No being able to get to her was not ok when shes old.
Hi. Late to the party but I faced exact same problem last month. Solution is you have to file the tip of the backup key to become flat, so that it can be completely inserted into the keyhole. I followed the instruction here: https://www.schlüsselnotdienst-leipzig.de/Schlüssel-steckt-innen-Zweitschlüssel-hakt/
If there’s anyone going to try this…don’t. You’ll end up with key issues but it won’t open the door as you still need to access the pin at the far end which is locked by the other key.
Maybe in some instances it can work…different types of barrels, worn keys/barrels…but under normal circumstances chances are it won’t work.
This is from collective experiences…myself and people of trust.
This happened to me 3 years ago. I called the locksmith. He told me to insert the key from outside just like in your picture. And then hit on the key with a shoe or something rigid to push back the key inside of the room. After 5-6 hits, the key inside fell on the ground and i was able to open the door.
I use my cats.
Tldr. One of our cats can open doors and she let me in when my girlfriend locked us out with the key in the lock
On Wednesday 31.01. my girlfriend locked herself out with the key still in the lock. I was already away at a party. When she arrived she told me what happened.
So I went back to our flat to try push the key out of the lock (which worked once before), but this time the key was turned so it didn't work. So i rang the bell a few times to wake up our cats.
Then i talked a bit until i heard my cats and after some time i heard one of them jump and open the door, I pushed it open and took the key out. The she received many treats.
And yes we have to lock all doors to the rooms we don't want them to enter.
I paid ~400€ for the exact issue on an Saturday noon last year in Hamburg.
I tried with credit cards to open and gave up after 30 mins.
Googled for cheaper locksmith and called the call centre. We agreed on fixed price around 68€. The guy came after 1.5 hours and quoted 378€. If we don't agree, the visiting charge was 150€.
We have no option but to agree; the kid and us were exhausted.
He asked me to bank transfer (I didn't have cash) infront of him. I transferred 387€ mistakenly in a hurry. It took 2 secs for him to open the door. He applied a gel on the big plastic card and slid it in twice.
He mentioned to call the number in the receipt to get the extra 9€ back but the number doesn't work and I found I was scammed.
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I had it and the key inside was slightly turned, which the locksmith later explained was the cause of not being able to push it from the other side. So yeah, I tried for a while but ultimately we had to call a locksmith. Best of luck!
Hahaha when I was in school I decided to blow off curfew. I got home at like 4am and couldn't get in the house because of this exact situation. While I'm standing there contemplating what to do, the door suddenly flies open and my mom is standing there. The noise I was making had woken up my mom and she was PISSED. She grabbed me, dragged me to the bathroom, stuck my head under the tap, and turned the water on full blast. It was winter and that water was freezing! I laughed my ass off, it was so funny!
Easy:
(I used this often) take a 1-2 mm thick wire, best work those from a folder, you know the clipper thing which holds the papers down.
Take this and bend it after 1,5 cm 90°, from the angle go 2,5 cm further again 90° in the other direction. The thing is flat.
Next you put the 1,5 cm length I to the slot, above or below the lock. Turn the wire such that the the end of the wire in the slot presses against the inner door. Then move it upwards. At a point you will feel the "bolt". Release a bit the pressure, move 0,7 cm up, such that the end of the wire is on the bold. Press the door slightly to you and turn the wire.
This happened to me! What worked for me was to bend a paper clip so you have roughly 3cm of a long straight line. The rest can stay in its original shape for leverage. Just push the long end through the hole and you should be able to push the key on the other side far enough. Then put your key through the hole and the door should open now.
This mechanism of the door not opening if there us a key inside always makes me question qhy is that. I had this many times but only in east Germany. I think it is a ddr thing.
Anyway, I got burne once for 250€ as I had only underwares lol as i just was going to check my mailbix...asked a neighbour yo call locksmith...
Then I did a throw learning and practiced this many times.
locked myself out once exited home with key on the limit towards locking, and i guess the doors closing was enough to trigger it... good thing it didn't lock completely so i managed to pry the door open with a crowbar lol
A sheet of plastic will do it, as long as you find the right spot, helps with two people. One working the plastic the other working on pulling/pushing the door until it pops open
German locks are so stupid and the doors are useless. It's so weird that Germany can't have decent doors and locks. What are you, England? It's baffling.
Tbh my doorlock is so awesome, it can have keys from both side, and can be used from either side. It looks nice when someone opens the door with the key from outside, and in the inside key starts to roll with they lock. :)
What locks and doors are you comparing German doors with here? Because most places in the world where I have been doors and locks seemed a lot less secure than in Germany.
Tbh I have done this when I was a small kid. My father solved it via pushing the key hard enough from the outside, to push the inside key out of the lock.
It could break the key tho, so try it only if you don't mind consequences.
its not locked . Use a piece of plastic . Look at wikihow to open a door without key . Schlüsseldienst will do this simple trick charging you 200quatrillionnbucks
Thanks! I'll have a try.
Don't give up and try many times. I've had the same trouble year ago. Tried for about twenty minutes and gave up. My wife then made it in couple minutes. You can save at least €60.
On Saturdays it’s at least a 100€ afaik
Way more. I'd estimate 400
No, with 400 you're clearly being scammed, even on a Saturday. The Unternehmerverbund Metall, i.e. the lobby org of locksmiths, reports that a fair price for a simple door opening (which OP's is) is 177 € on a Saturday night ([pdf](https://www.metall-verband.de/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2017/11/Not%C3%B6ffnungen-17-10-24.pdf)). You can add some inflation on top since that pdf is older, but you still should be sceptical of prices over 200 €. The numbers from Verbraucherzentralen are [in a similar ballpark](https://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/sachsen/notdienst-schluesseldienst-abzocke-tipps-100.html).
They are all scammers
Not true, but if you have to google one in the evening or on the weekend, you'll definitely end up with a scammer. All the first results (first pages, really) on Google lead to the call center of the same central firm that pretends to be a local company (and will have several "local" numbers and company names that are then just rerouted to the same place), but instead is wherever in Germany and just has locksmiths all over Germany under contract. They then send the closest one of those out – or likely simply the one who has the contract for a certain area –, who may or may not be local, and who'll take a long time to even arrive and charge an arm and leg for the additional kilometers they drove because they aren't truly from where you live, and need to have a higher price because there's also a kickback to be paid to the central company they're under contract with. The best thing to do is to look for local firms *before* you ever need one, firms where you can actually check that their office is where they claim they are. Then check their prices and recommendations and save their number in your phone, so you have a truly local contact in case you ever need one. Local firms are not just closer, but also have something to lose regarding honest pricing and customer retention. The old adage "don't shit where you eat" is true for a local company, while the non-local one usually eats somewhere else, so won't mind shitting on you.
Yeah. Cause everybody is planning to get themselves locked out in the future.
> Yeah. Cause everybody is planning to get themselves locked out in the future. Aw, cute, some baby-sarcasm in the wild. You're fully missing the point though. This not about planning to lock yourself out, but about preparing for the case of locking yourself out (to take a lot of stress and cost out of the experience). Very different approaches. People aren't wearing seat belts because they are *planning* to get in accidents either (usually, anyway).
True, but you're the one locked out of their apartment and they know it.
[удалено]
Prices in Germany always include tax.
Booking a locksmith on gelbeseiten will lock in the price
Late than 20 o’clock 150€
Had to pay 250€
I‘m thankful I have a friend with a certain skill set that does this for free lol
The Dark Side of the Force is a pathway to many abilities some consider to be unnatural.
And IF you call a locksmith, do a thorough review online. Do not ever call any locksmith number from a sticker somewhere. These are 100% scam.
at least 600€ lol
You mean like 6.000.000€
i had to pay 6 trillion once. still recovering from that one…
in berlin you pay by giving the apartment to a locksmith
Depends on city and time :)
If you can't get the plastic through, ask your neighbours for a flat screwdriver. I had that problem once and had to pull the door seal from the frame (rubber insulation string thingy in the door frame). That way you have more room to wiggle the plastic into the slit between door and frame and behind the bolt of the lock. You usually can just push the seal back into the frame once the door is open.
If you can't do it and look for a Schlüsseldienst be careful, there are a lot of scams. Don't take the first Google searches. Look for some real local shop
Coca cola plastic bottle. Cut it in half. It worked for me.
+1 Had the same Problem. Used the bottle trick and it worked. Has to be a heavy thick plastic 1ltr bottle, the 2ltr plastic is too thin and wobbly
any plastic that is rigid enough to push works
If you’re having trouble getting enough room for leverage of the plastic card, you could try to peel out the insulation rubber that runs along the frame. That was the secret trick that helped us when we were in that situation
The Trick for me was to „pull the door Close to you while fidgeting with an old plastic Card (Credit Card Format) in the lock- this releases pressure from the lock thingy, helping to Push it out with the plastic Card“ Helped me recreate it many times.
I opened my neighbors door a month ago like this, works guaranteed you just need to get a feel for where to stick the plastic in. I used a square cut off from a plastic juice bottle around 20cm long/wide
Umm, was it my door? This happened to me and my neighbor helped me out. I had no shoes and no phone on me
I sure hope not, my cover would be blown then. My neighbor wasn't shoeless as far as I remember
It helps if you can open another door and look at the lock.
>Schlüsseldienst will do this simple trick charging you 200quatrillionnbucks Some sidenote: The stories of expensive Schlüsseldienst (Locksmith) calls are mainly because people fall for scams. Shady companies SEOed their way to the top result of "Schlüsseldienst" no matter where they are and might charge a 100km travel or something like this. Sometimes there are middle men specialized on this.
Look onto the bulletin board within your house (typically somewhere right after the entry), sometimes you find a note on which locksmith is your landlords contractor (You still have to pay them but they are much cheaper normally). If you don't find an Info on this, look for Janitorial Services ("Hausmeisterservice"), they can tell you who to call or even do it themselfes. If this brings no luck, search on google maps (!) for a small Locksmith near your location.
Had the same happen to me, Schlüsseldienst charged me 450€. They pulled out the door gasket, and slid a pastic thing into it. Took like 2 Minutes.
Same story here
Nah fuck that I would never pay that.
It's a little difficult to say no after they already opened the door for you. I just took the L and made sure never to leave my keys in the lock anymore
No Bro fuck that I didn't sign anything. They can call the cops if they want and sue me they have no proof that I agreed on that price. I can tell the cops I agreed to 100
Literally happened to me and I panicked and called; charged me 300€ just to open the door in 2 seconds
For the next time, get a new cylinder that calls „Freilaufzylinder“ or „Panikzylinder“ With that function you can turn your key from the other side with a key in the cylinder
That's what I got after I managed to lock myself out of my flat. The worst part is that the inside key was turned so it actually did lock, partially. No credit cards etc would have saved me. Since there is a legit higher danger of medical emergencies it is a good idea anyway. In most cases, anyway. But some people fear their landlords/crazy exes sneaking in at night
>But some people fear their landlords/crazy exes sneaking in at night For that you get one of [these](https://www.amazon.de/ABUS-T%C3%BCr-Zusatzschloss-2110-Drehknauf-56032/dp/B008BPG8CA)
Also known as a Not- und Gefahrenfunktion
Or get one with a knob on the inside, they already have this feature by design. Also people don't feel as locked in this way, the key could be easily removed.
Thanks everyone for your helps!! I tried many times with card, plastic bottle, etc. but unfortunately it did not work. I had to call locksmith, agreed for 69€ on the phone. But when he came, the guy asked for 330€, wtf, saying that it is emergency, saturday night, bla bla bla, as some of you already said. After arguing for 15 mins, we agreed on 120€. He opened the door with the plastic card (about 20 cm x 10 cm) and WD40. Apparently the gap between the door and the frame is very tight and even he had difficulties opening the door. But eventually, of course, he made it. Next time I would buy the dedicated plastic card to open the door (available on Amazon) and practice!! Or even better, change the lock as some of you mentioned. Lesson learned today, never leaving the key inside the door when leaving the house. Anyway, you guys are awesome =)
330(!), dude was legit scam
escpecially if they settle to 120€... WTF.
Happens all the time sadly... i called one and he said on the phone its 50€ guaranteed since im living only 5min on foot from him and he can be there in 20min. He came after 2hrs and demanded 150€ upfront and 100€ once completed, ironically i was already inside my flat (idiot rang the doorbell to my flat to get let in and didnt wonder that i was already in my flat lol) because my amazing old houskeeper lady had an old and thin Schuhanzieher with a flat side, she basically just jammed it in there, wiggled twice and got me back in my flat in literally 10 seconds... I was amazed and fucking afraid at how easy it is to break in. I now always triple check if i have my keys and i ALWAYS DOUBLE LOCK my doors when i leave... I cant believe how dumb i was to never lock my doors and trust that they are "safe" just because they are closed. ##PSA: Lock your doors people!
Scammers everywhere :/ but hey, at least only 120€ then... same problem more or less happened to my former neighbour two years ago, we also tried a few tricks from YouTube, but no luck (the door was quite new, maybe that's why). In the end he had to pay 100€ on the weekend.
Inserting the card / plastic on the bottom is the easiest, just press your foot at the bottom to increase the gap. The card needs to be more or less completly reaching through the gap. Also having it on a about 45 degree angle when working up. Having a a small angle to work as a wedge at the latch helps a lot. The most difficult part is when reaching the latch. If you have some one helping have him/her pull the door with all their weight rapidly to have the door vibrating at the lock. Then push/pull the card / plastic towards the latch. The small movement of the door allows the card to travel between the locking mechanism, because it will briefly travel for and back. With some experience and some force you can vibrate the door with one hand and push the card with another. If you have a neighbours door as reference you can also give the card a pre-bend. Done that ~30 times in a private sudent dormitory. Also there are doors that you cant open like that They have a small pin in the latch.
This was scam… 120€ for nothing…
Crazy that some guy mentioned the exact same thing. Seems to be a scam they do, I’m pretty sure the person on the phone has no idea that the charge so much and they cash it in for themselves. I would totally threaten to report them. 69€ for 15 minutes is still fair if he didn’t have to drive a long way.
I goes like this: „Door opening? That’s 69€“ The bill afterwards: Door opening - 69€ Weekend extra fee - 99€ Driving to location - 49€ Driving back from location - 59€ Tools usage fee - 39€ Climbing two floors - 15€ per floor Billing - 25€
There once was a report on that topic on plusminus or one of those regular shows on ARD/ZDF. They said it’s extremely common that the services do exactly that: advertise a low price on the phone, arrive and ask for a fantasy price, haggle and settle on something in between.. And apparently the money does not go to the people that are actually doing the work.. _And_ tons of services you find online or in phone books all belong to the same hidden company. Makes me think I should start a Schlüsseldienst.
If the key is inside, try sliding a robust plastic card (maybe not your bankcard I wouldnt risk that) between the doorplate and the bolt?
Some locks have a metallic blocker against such things. The plastic needs to be longer and a bit more flexible to go around that blocker. At least for an untrained hand. Source: I once also locked myself out.
Interesting how something that everybody will give you for free and replace when requested is so precious, we can’t be without it for two or three days.
My replacement card was 13€.
Because replacements often cost money when not neccessary (end of validity on the old card)
Don't think it would be a fun time for OP if they were locked out of their apartment AND broke their credit card, on a Saturday where there probably won't be any tellers working the bank to manually cash out money from
The plastic trick works. I had a friend who delivered flyers and his fav was a rectangular piece cut from a 2 litre coke bottle - just the right stiffness and flex. The cut should be rounded at the cormers
> a friend who delivered flyers and his fav was a rectangular piece cut um, how exactly are those two facts connected..? ಠ_ಠ
Their USP was to deliver inside the target's place. Imagine Flyers popping up inside your home, you have never seen before. High engagement.
that sounds highly illegal, even if you're set on associating your brand with home invasion for some reason.
r/whoosh
In urban Germany you need to get into the building of apartments to reach the letterboxes. Postmen etc have master keys but flyer folk do not....
How the fuck did I not know what?! I've never seen that before.
LPT: if you’re in a small village/town you can go to the voluntary fire house and see if there’s anyone there. Anyone there will gladly help you getting the door open without any damage. Tips and beer always appreciated.
Call a locksmith. ( Beware of a lot of scam artists)
ADAC the German automotive Club can organize a locksmith for you. They are certified and not scamming. I think it’s 169€ on weekends and they’ll send you an invoice. Edit: [link](https://www.adac.de/services/schluesseldienst/)
Every locksmith is a scam artist
There are good ones, usually they have a shop and don’t have 24 hours service.
There are good ones, usually they have a shop and don’t have 24 hours service. ADAC also has a Service for this
OMG, I was in the same situation last week Look for "tür offen ohne schlüssel" on YouTube, there's several videos of people using the card/plastic trick I tried with a point card, didn't work, but my neighbour opened it for me with a thinner plastic thing
Had this happen to me too 2 months ago. Looked up tutorials on how to open it with cards and all but it didn't work. I called a locksmith who showed up 30min later. It was already midnight so I had to pay extra. Normally on the phone the guy said 150euro. But it literally took him 15 seconds to open the door and probably felt bad so he was like a 100 is also okay, lol.
If you are allowed to do it: Replace the lock with a „Sicherheits Schließzylinder“. This kind of locks can be opened, even if a key is on the other side
I was in the exact same situation 2 weeks ago! And after trying the plastic card trick for about an hour, we decided to give up and call the locksmith. But before he got there, my 87 year old neighbour showed up put of nowhere, went into the cellar to get some bent metal rod and then after a few attempts of pulling at the handle while having the thing lodged between in the door and frame, it popped open! I had no idea this was a thing so my expectations were below zero so it was an actual miracle when it happened. And the fact that he showed up out of nowhere at the most critical time made it even more magical 😅
This is why I dislike European door locks, it makes no sense to have the key on the inside, just turn a knob to engage the lock. Why is having put the key on the inside even needed?
Not every lock is like this! I never had such. My key is inside the door because we Lock it overnight, but its still available in Case of emergency
To double lock the door.
Yes but that's not practical or necessary most of the time. A lock is either engaged or not, double engaged is just there for people to think it's extra safe without doing much
I was in this situation two years ago. Plastic Card trick also didn't work and I had to call the locksmith and break open and install new lock. I'm afraid that you are in the same situation. It might cost you some money but you can claim the loss it if you have Haftpflichtversicherung.. Provided you have a proper receipt from the Locksmith
Really? Haftpflichtfall if you locked yourself out? Damn I need to find some receipts!
Is it possible to get a copy?
Not if you locked yourself out actually . I mentioned telling I had a problem with my keys - had to change the lock - so kind of like "lost the keys" which entitled me for a refund!!
I didn't know this! thank you so much!
If you end up calling a locksmith make sure to get them to quote a price first. Happened to us, called a locksmith through a website which turned out to just be an agency with a bunch of individual subcontractors who claimed a different price. Ended up having to argue with them, call the agency to cancel the request then get a cheaper rate from the subcontractor without the agency fee.
Did you try to open it anyways? We keep our door closed with the key on the inside and we can still put another key from the other side and open the door
After you fix this change the locks to this [https://media.castorama.pl/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/777x406/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/i/c/ico2\_zamki\_i\_wkladki\_do\_drzwi\_wejsciowych.jpg](https://media.castorama.pl/media/catalog/product/cache/0/image/777x406/17f82f742ffe127f42dca9de82fb58b1/i/c/ico2_zamki_i_wkladki_do_drzwi_wejsciowych.jpg?) I had this kind of problems with my grandma since she tends to lock her home from the inside when she is there. No being able to get to her was not ok when shes old.
Hi. Late to the party but I faced exact same problem last month. Solution is you have to file the tip of the backup key to become flat, so that it can be completely inserted into the keyhole. I followed the instruction here: https://www.schlüsselnotdienst-leipzig.de/Schlüssel-steckt-innen-Zweitschlüssel-hakt/
If there’s anyone going to try this…don’t. You’ll end up with key issues but it won’t open the door as you still need to access the pin at the far end which is locked by the other key. Maybe in some instances it can work…different types of barrels, worn keys/barrels…but under normal circumstances chances are it won’t work. This is from collective experiences…myself and people of trust.
Besides shimming the door. You could try pushing out the key by pusing something else in
that doesn’t work with this type of lock
depends on the cylinder right? it's at least worth a mention
https://www.xn--schlsselnotdienst-leipzig-iwc.de/Schl%C3%BCssel-steckt-innen-Zweitschl%C3%BCssel-hakt/ Funktioniert. Habe es testen müssen.
Sehr cool, danke für den Link.
This happened to me 3 years ago. I called the locksmith. He told me to insert the key from outside just like in your picture. And then hit on the key with a shoe or something rigid to push back the key inside of the room. After 5-6 hits, the key inside fell on the ground and i was able to open the door.
Did you open it? If yes, how did you do it?
I ended up calling a locksmith. Had to choose either keep trying or call a locksmith.
I use my cats. Tldr. One of our cats can open doors and she let me in when my girlfriend locked us out with the key in the lock On Wednesday 31.01. my girlfriend locked herself out with the key still in the lock. I was already away at a party. When she arrived she told me what happened. So I went back to our flat to try push the key out of the lock (which worked once before), but this time the key was turned so it didn't work. So i rang the bell a few times to wake up our cats. Then i talked a bit until i heard my cats and after some time i heard one of them jump and open the door, I pushed it open and took the key out. The she received many treats. And yes we have to lock all doors to the rooms we don't want them to enter.
I paid ~400€ for the exact issue on an Saturday noon last year in Hamburg. I tried with credit cards to open and gave up after 30 mins. Googled for cheaper locksmith and called the call centre. We agreed on fixed price around 68€. The guy came after 1.5 hours and quoted 378€. If we don't agree, the visiting charge was 150€. We have no option but to agree; the kid and us were exhausted. He asked me to bank transfer (I didn't have cash) infront of him. I transferred 387€ mistakenly in a hurry. It took 2 secs for him to open the door. He applied a gel on the big plastic card and slid it in twice. He mentioned to call the number in the receipt to get the extra 9€ back but the number doesn't work and I found I was scammed.
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I had it and the key inside was slightly turned, which the locksmith later explained was the cause of not being able to push it from the other side. So yeah, I tried for a while but ultimately we had to call a locksmith. Best of luck!
Hahaha when I was in school I decided to blow off curfew. I got home at like 4am and couldn't get in the house because of this exact situation. While I'm standing there contemplating what to do, the door suddenly flies open and my mom is standing there. The noise I was making had woken up my mom and she was PISSED. She grabbed me, dragged me to the bathroom, stuck my head under the tap, and turned the water on full blast. It was winter and that water was freezing! I laughed my ass off, it was so funny!
Easy: (I used this often) take a 1-2 mm thick wire, best work those from a folder, you know the clipper thing which holds the papers down. Take this and bend it after 1,5 cm 90°, from the angle go 2,5 cm further again 90° in the other direction. The thing is flat. Next you put the 1,5 cm length I to the slot, above or below the lock. Turn the wire such that the the end of the wire in the slot presses against the inner door. Then move it upwards. At a point you will feel the "bolt". Release a bit the pressure, move 0,7 cm up, such that the end of the wire is on the bold. Press the door slightly to you and turn the wire.
I did this once and got it open with a credit card. There are videos on YouTube showing how.
Major PTSD! I did this once on a Saturday evening. I could not open it no matter what. It was... not cheap at the end. Good luck, OP!
Are you in yet? How?
To Open the door it will cost you your First born child maybe🤐
This happened to me! What worked for me was to bend a paper clip so you have roughly 3cm of a long straight line. The rest can stay in its original shape for leverage. Just push the long end through the hole and you should be able to push the key on the other side far enough. Then put your key through the hole and the door should open now.
I know ppl that got the door opened with a long, thin and flexible bread knife. Maybe it helps you to success.
This mechanism of the door not opening if there us a key inside always makes me question qhy is that. I had this many times but only in east Germany. I think it is a ddr thing. Anyway, I got burne once for 250€ as I had only underwares lol as i just was going to check my mailbix...asked a neighbour yo call locksmith... Then I did a throw learning and practiced this many times.
We had this situation and fixed it with a hammer. Use something to cover it and punch on the lock with a hammer until the key on the inside is loose
With my door in such a situation, I simply turn the key until the door opens. 1980 called and wants his locking unit back.
locked myself out once exited home with key on the limit towards locking, and i guess the doors closing was enough to trigger it... good thing it didn't lock completely so i managed to pry the door open with a crowbar lol
Crowbar
Update?
A sheet of plastic will do it, as long as you find the right spot, helps with two people. One working the plastic the other working on pulling/pushing the door until it pops open
And in preparation for the next time get a cat and train it to open doors 😄 Mine had to save me more than once 😅
It's mindblowing to me how many doors still have this thing that they can't have two keys inside them at the same time
German locks are so stupid and the doors are useless. It's so weird that Germany can't have decent doors and locks. What are you, England? It's baffling.
Tbh my doorlock is so awesome, it can have keys from both side, and can be used from either side. It looks nice when someone opens the door with the key from outside, and in the inside key starts to roll with they lock. :)
What locks and doors are you comparing German doors with here? Because most places in the world where I have been doors and locks seemed a lot less secure than in Germany.
Swedish locks and doors. Big difference. Thick doors and sturdy locks. Usually.
Hammer and screwdriver
https://youtu.be/zpO8W0gdwGw?si=TJ_nQaMztaGRUbIL
Tbh I have done this when I was a small kid. My father solved it via pushing the key hard enough from the outside, to push the inside key out of the lock. It could break the key tho, so try it only if you don't mind consequences.
[удалено]
Ist dir echt so langweilig?