And as an exception to that rule: I was forced to hire a locksmith because I couldn't pick the spool pins in my apartment door lock. I asked him if he would be able to do it quickly and he did it in like 30 seconds. I gave him a good tip.
I didn't know tipping was a thing with locksmiths. I hope I haven't been inadvertently rude by only paying what they were asking. Haven't heard of this before.
Some locksmiths really don't like locksport folks. I think there are multiple reasons but the most basic might be that they think it will result in fewer calls.
I have some very basic picking skills and for me, anyway, it's actually given me tremendous respect for the locksmith trade and made me more likely to call them when warranted, because I understand the wider range of things they can do and the skill it takes to do them successfully.
Like all those old furniture or door locks that I just assumed were lost causes, many locksmiths can actually make keys for them. Not usually a serious need for it but if you were selling an old piece of furniture you might do it. In my case we have a bedroom closet we'd like to lock some stuff away in when we go away and have someone come in to feed the animals.
The ability to make a key for locks which have no key is another, even if those locks don't have removable cores (I'm thinking of mostly padlocks here). That's a really cool thing called impressioning, where the mechanics of the lock (pins pressed down into the keyway by springs) are actually used against it to progressively turn a key blank into a working key.
Master keying is another great example (when multiple, different keys work in a lock and you can have one key that works in multiple locks, such as a small apartment building).
Also a lot of ancillary things around the lock but not the lock itself, for example installing deep screws or replacement anti-kick hinges (door devil or door armor). In theory those are DIY things but in practice you can spend a lot of time trying to get alignment right (especially with a deadbolt going smoothing in/out), but it's something a locksmith does all the time.
Sometimes they can even make a key by sight reading, peering down the keyway; this is especially common (for good locksmiths) with wafer locks (often seen on cabinets, and autos but those are usually too complex to sight read).
I argued with a locksmith recently who said my front door lock was "unpickable" and the only solution would be drilling it and replacing the lock. I told him I'd pay him 70 dollars cash to pick it or he could leave and I'd pay nothing. He picked it in a minute or less and that was that.
Since he acted like a reasonable (rational) person he probably wasn't a scammer, but it's worth mentioning that there are locksmith scammers who take advantage of people in high-need situations to charge them exorbitant amounts for "unpickable" locks that always need to be drilled.
The Reply All podcast covered this a few years ago with "Very Quickly to the Drill" [1]
I once hired a locksmith to come let me in a front door. To my amazement, he walked up to my locked door, took out a regular credit card, and wedged it between the strike and the frame, immediately opening the door. [1] I wasn’t even mad it cost $150 or so, I learned a cool new trick that day and also learned how insecure my door was. Needless to say I modified the trim and door jamb to make the door much more resistant to that type of attack.
Even if you make sure that a credit card can't be wedged in, it is usually possible to put something flexible like an X-Ray film between the door and the frame. It takes longer, but the strike can be pushed eventually if you are persistent! The real solution is to not have a latch like that where security matters, like the front door.
You can try as hard as you want, but there's no stopping a prepared burglar. If someone wants to get into your home, they will absolutely be able to find a way in, not matter how good your lock is.
