Frequenty Asked Questions

Do I still need locks if I have an alarm?
Alarms today are much less of a deterrent than a few years ago. Unfortunately many people do not even bother to look out if they hear an alarm nowadays. Also it is worth noting that Alarms only go off once the vehicle has been entered, therefore by the time your alarm starts to sound, chances are the thief has already got their hands on a couple of drill boxes and is running down the road.
The physical protection we promote is designed to stop thieves entering the vehicle and also doubles up as a visual deterrent so hopefully they’ll leave you alone.

What’s the best type of lock for me?
We get asked this question every day. Unfortunately it is very difficult to answer without going into great detail. The locks we supply have different functions and therefore there is no particular lock, which is better than the rest, they are all very good, but have different strengths. It is all depends on what you are trying to achieve; if you are trying to cover up and re-secure a damaged lock after an attempted break-in, then your best option is to go for either Armaplate or Hykee/Garrison replacement locks. If you were after an additional locking point to the door, then a deadlock would be your preferred option.
It is also worth considering what you use your van for; if you are a courier making numerous deliveries each day, a slamlock will probably be the best option for you as the door automatically locks when it is closed, however if you are tradesmen that want to leave a particular door unlocked whilst on a job, then deadlocks/Armaplate or replacement locks would be your options.
If you are unsure, please feel free to call and one of our staff will advise you accordingly.

What’s the difference between the standard 5pin deadlock and the Garrison?
The only real difference is that the Garrison lock uses an upgraded 7pin cylinder and incorporates s/steel (to hinder any drilling attempt) and anti-pick pins inside it. The standard deadlock uses a normal cylinder, which offers the same security as your standard household lock would offer. All of the fixings, components and lock cases are exactly the same regardless of choice.

Do you offer a price-matching scheme? Although you seem reasonably priced another company has told me that they can beat your prices.
Our prices as you will see are probably the cheapest advertised on-line. We have recently lowered everything across the board and are selling most products at trade prices. We regularly check our prices against our competitors, but if you feel we are over priced on any certain products, please feel free to contact us, however if you notice, the companies that promote these price matching schemes are usually trying to charge you more in the first place or are hiding their prices. They hope that by buying into “The price match promise” you won’t look elsewhere and see that they’re not the cheapest.

I’m confused, I have seen the Garrison lock on a few websites now, sometimes it has been called other names and everyone seems to say that they are the manufacturer. Do you actually manufacturer these locks?
Unfortunately there are a few companies masquerading as the designers, manufacturers etc. The locks are manufactured by Mul-T-Lock in Israel and a company located in the South of England is the sole distributor. We are one of the largest resellers and are first call to carry out any on-site installations for the distributors. Further more our input was used in the designs of the Garrison locks. We have formed a very good working relationship with the distributors over the past 8 or so years and as such, have been called upon many times for our input for new products or asked to carry out initial installs to new models so that locks sets etc can then be produced and distributed. We are probably the only company that does not purchase locksets, 95% percent of our locks are made up on site as we bulk buy or manufacture all of the required components. Our installation vehicles carry upwards of 70 lock cases and over 100 cylinders in various lengths, plus a full list of spares and components so that we are extremely adaptable and also able to carry out multiple installations at very little notice. With a background of qualified Locksmiths we have an advantage into the workings of all of the locks we supply and our knowledge of this is second to none.

I only have one van. Do you still come out?
Of course, although we now deal with many large companies, dealerships and even manufacturers, our business was built upon accommodating the single tradesmen’s van. We have excellent discount packages available and as our own engineers cover nationwide, please contact us and we will happily arrange for an engineer to come to you.

I’ve brought a new van and I want locks installed but I am worried about rust?
We install to approx 1000 vans per year; around 40% of these are brand new vans. Various rust prevention precautions are taken and to date we have never had any issue of rust from any installation we have carried out. If it puts your mind at ease we are more than happy to give you a name of one of our many happy customers or dealerships that can testify to the level of service and finish we offer.

We have fitters vans spanning the country; we want security for them all, but it is impossible to get them all in the same place at the same time. What do we do?
A lot of our customers operate in the same way. To keep costs down we normally try to group them up, this may mean we pick a service stop on a certain junction motorway and give each van an appointment time. This way their working day encounters minimal interruption. Or we send an engineer to cover a certain area visiting multiple vehicles at their site addresses within a set distance on the required day, therefore allowing the fitters to continue working. Also it may be worth remembering that we carry out weekend and evening installations.

I’ve been told that since I have a bulkhead in my van separating the cab from the rear, I only need locks on the back & side doors. Is this true? It is true that Bulkheads act as a great deterrent to thieves, but a bulkhead is not a security product, In fact they are designed that in the event of sudden/heavy breaking or a crash; all of your cargo does not come flying forward and decapitates either the driver or passenger (It has been known). People wrongfully advertise bulkheads as security measures and truth be told a few years ago, it was probably adequate that if you had a bulkhead then the cab was not a target. Nowadays though, since the launch of the portable sat-nav. Thefts to and from cabs plus attempted break-ins are as common as thieves targeting the rear of vans. We are told that this is because the market for selling stolen sat-navs is far greater than that for selling stolen tools. By having deadlocks installed on the cab doors, a thief wishing to break your window to root through your cab will have to climb through the broken window instead of just reaching in and unlocking the door. So with that in mind, we would recommend that you strongly consider securing all doors on your van.

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