Locked Out of Your Own Safe? Here's What Actually Happens

Most locksmiths hear ‘I’m locked out of my safe’ and reach straight for a drill. We don’t — not first, anyway. Safe and vault work is one of the few things American Best Locksmith does that most locksmiths in Philadelphia, South Jersey, and Wilmington simply can’t: opening a locked safe, resetting a forgotten combination, or servicing an older mechanical lock, without destroying the box in the process.

Here’s what actually happens when we get the call.

We ask questions before we touch anything. Make, model, and lock type change everything. A digital keypad safe, an older mechanical dial, and a high-security vault door each call for a different approach. Knowing this before a tech arrives means less time on-site and less risk to the safe’s contents.

Manipulation and decoding come before drilling. On many mechanical dial locks, a trained tech can manipulate the lock open or decode the combination using specialized tools — no damage, no new hardware needed afterward. This is the part that separates real safe work from a general locksmith who only knows how to drill.

Combination resets, done right. If you’ve inherited a safe, forgotten a combination after months of not opening it, or had an employee leave who knew the code, we can reset it properly instead of leaving the old combination live — a step a lot of people skip and later regret.

Drilling is the last resort, not the first move. When a lock has failed internally or the safe is a lower-end model where manipulation isn’t possible, drilling a precise access hole is sometimes the only path in. Even then, the goal is a targeted, repairable hole — not brute force.

Why this matters for your business specifically: banks, property managers, and small businesses that keep a safe on-site rarely think about who they’d call if it failed on a Tuesday afternoon. American Best Locksmith has been doing this work since 2007, is bonded and insured, and holds a New Jersey locksmith license (#34LS00075200 — NJ actually licenses locksmiths, one of the few states that does), and Philadelphia and Delaware business licenses (#538910, #2013607624). We’re open 8 AM–8 PM daily to take the call.

If you’re locked out of a safe in Philadelphia, South Jersey, or Wilmington, call the office nearest you — we’ll ask the right questions before anyone shows up with a drill.