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I bought a new Kwikset deadbolt & door *** 2 weeks ago. Everything was working fine. Last night none of the keys worked with the deadbolt. Their new smartkey feature had failed, locking everyone out of the house.

I called Kwikset customer (non)service. They told me I would have to call a locksmith and have it drilled out. Kwikset would not reimburse me for the cost of the locksmith. They would only send me a new cylinder without any kind of guarantee that this would happen again. So apparently I'm suppose to sit at my house for 3 or 4 days until the new cylinder arrives?

I asked Kwikset what happens if I have this problems again with the new parts. They rudely told me to call a locksmith again! So I paid $70 for a *** Kwikset lock which only lasted 2 weeks. I then had to pay $125 for a locksmith & another $70 for a working NON-Kwikset deadbolt. I will never buy another *** Kwikset product again.

Location: Washington, District Of Columbia

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Guest

I have 100+ digital locks and even more keyed locks on various buildings. I have used multiple brands but probably have 50+ kwikset Digital locks.

Some have been on doors in harsh conditions for 7+ years and not a single failure. Kwikset came out with an upgraded model - the Powerlock 2 with SMARTKEY. I installed one on one of my condo rentals. One day I had a tenant that moved out but had changed the code on the door and I couldn't get in.

So I grabbed the key from the lockbox to get in - but it didn't work. Hmmm.... I finally got the new code from the tenant and let myself in. I thought maybe the tenant had rekeyed the lock as it was SMARTKEY.

At this point I should have replaced the damn lock - but I didn't have one with me and the condo is far from my home. And I am selling the unit in 6 months anyway - so not a lot of incentive to replace it. Anyway, I was at the condo yesterday to check on it before some new guests moved in. Lock worked fine.

The guests call me up saying the lock doesn't work and they can't get in. Turns out the digital lock part just died. Call Kwikset as maybe they have a solution. In the call I find out the SMARTKEY fails often!

The Kwikset CS guy was nice enough but the solution is for me to call and pay for a locksmith. So the $70 lock now costs $270. Yah. Well, I grabbed some tools and headed to the unit as the guests wanted to move in.

I drilled the lock and ripped the POS off the door. I replaced it with a $19 Defiant digital lock (bought a few dozen when on clearance at Home Dumpo). It come with 4 (yep FOUR) back up keys. So nom ore Kwikset and certainly no more SMARTKEY.

Why pay $70 for a digital lock when you can get one that works better for $19?

I had a Schlage fail after 9 months. At least Schlage with send over a locksmith for free to rip their POS locks off the door.

Guest

We were locked out today, when the key slot froze in the 9 o'clock position. We could extract the key, but when we re-inserted it, it would not move.

Extremely annoying.

Our local handyman used the "recoding key". Somehow this enabled the key to turn in the lock. After playing around with it, he seemed to conclude that the problem occurs when the key is removed at the nine o'clock position, rather than the 12 o'clock position.

Still , we are not comfortable using the lock. It seems like a "bug" to permit pulling the key out in the 9 o'clock position, which is reserved for the rekeying process.

Guest

Just thought it would be fun to add to the group as a I sit outside of my house with my husband in the middle December, locked out of our house. Yey kwikset.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1259662

Iโ€™m doing the same. This is so fun.

Itโ€™s 10pm and Iโ€™ve been locked out for an hour. I can punch in my code and hear the beeps, but no magic sounds of it unlocking. I live an hour from civilization.

Kwikset is closed. Wonderful.

Guest
reply icon Replying to comment of Guest-1259662

I also am sitting in Austin locked out of my house. This is great fun! Just finished a long trip and itโ€™s 1am.

Guest

I have just had the same problem they told me they would get back to me in 48 hours nice real nice luck I have another door but its the same brand . ill pull the receipts and take this back asap and get something I can count on .

Guest

How much does it cost if I bring a office door cylinder lock in to be released?

Guest

After taking lock apart I found the cause of the lockout to be failure of the bolt.

Instead of drilling bolt out after removing the inside electronic actuator and the outside cylinder and cover plate I simply took a punch and drove the stuck bolt back so I could open the door . I was then able to remove it so I could replace bolt and lock assembly. After having it out it appeared the failure was a pin that came out on one side inside the tube the bolt is fitted in.

Guest

Dear pissed the only thing that could be worse is being locked in your house , especially if it is on fire. I got locked in my home with the quick set electronic lock.

I thought it had gone out of timing but when I removed the electronic motor actuator and tried it outside with the key, the key turned but would not disengage the lock, indicating a hard failure.

I am inclined to agree with you , while I use a lot of kwickset locks such a failure could have catastrophic results in case of an emergency when quick egress is essential. I am inclined not to use Kwickset locks again.

Also pissed

Guest

The same thing happened to me. The lock on my front door won't accept my key anymore.

Worked fine for 3 years.

Never even thought this was a possibility. Fortunately, I have three four other doors into my house; otherwise, I would have had to call a locksmith.

Guest

wow, wish i read this before i purchased this lock. same thing happened to me, worked fine for a year then one day (today) it just stopped working!

what's worse is that after researching on the web to see if others had the same problem (like y'all) I found out that this lock takes 10 seconds to bump.

junk. replacing today!

Guest

I'm a certified locksmith. I will tell you that I key and rekey Kwikset locks, along with many other brands on a daily basis.

If you purchase the PIN TUMBLER versions of the Kwikset lock products, and stay away from the SMARTKEY junk all together, you will be OK. I know, the idea of being able to rekey your own locks sounds like a worthwhile plan, but the owner-resettable lock technology has simply not been made market-worthy as of yet. These products are junk at present, and are costing many people lots of extra money. Take my advise and stick with the good old pin tumbler cylinders, and let the locksmiths rekey the

locks for you when you need this done.

If you don't mind taking the lock off the door and running it down to your local locksmith shop, the rekeying task only takes a few moments and should only cost a few bucks plus however many keys you want to get. A good pin-tumbler lock cylinder is highly unlikely to fail on you!

Guest

The Smartkey feature on Kwikset locks is nothing short of fraud! These locks do not perform as advertised.

If you have any, have the cylinder replaced with a pin & tumbler style or you will be locked out! It's not a matter of if,only a matter of when.

Guest

Just lost my husband, now working. Got the lock for my kids so I wouldn't worry about loosing a key.

Changed out the batteries now it wont work. Can't even find a site to get a replacement. Lowe's won't work with me. So tell me what to do.

Can't have the kids locked out in the freezing cold. :(

Guest

Mine worked 6 months and then the metal c-clip on the backside of the lock broke, making the lock completely useless. It now has a piece of tape over the clip to keep it holding on until I go through the whole customer service fun I'm going to have to endure with HomeDepot!!

Guest

Same thing just happened to me. I would love to hear if anyone is interested in taking action against Kwik Set.

I have an exterior door lock on my office to keep others out and now I'm locked out of my office.

I've tried everything I could think of other than breaking anything to get it open so I'll have to call a locksmith to get it open. I am going to take it along with some printouts of this problem that seems to be so frequent to Home Depot to see if they can at least give me a return.

Guest

Oh great! My lock is stuck too.

Fortunately we can lock the door with the deadbolt but I didn't pay for a set with just a deadbolt. Is anyone aware of a recall yet or a law suit to get these replaced?

It isn't acceptable to tell your customers "Oh well, deal with it." Mine is the Signature Series. It says on the box, unparelleled security, which is right because once you LOCK it, it is locked FOREVER!

Guest

Yep, mine worked for two years...then *** out locked me out of house..

Kwikset smartkey ...DONT BUY IT!!!

Guest

I have a failed Kwikset which has locked me IN the house. Basically, it's a deadly trap. Kwikset needs a good class action kick in the ***.

Guest

I have now had 3 locks that have stopped working. Unfortunatly I replaced all of my locks (exterior) 5 total with these *** locks. Kwikset sent me a new cylinder for one and it has now failed saw you mony by a different brand.

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