I'll never buy a Kwikset deadbolt!

[Mark F.]

Long story short, I got locked out of my apartment for over 2 hours last night. The 6 month old Kwikset deadbolt wouldn't turn all the way. While waiting outside I googled some stuff and came up with people saying they were junk. When the 3rd locksmith I called showed up, he said these were junk and he's always responding to lockouts for these. He recommended Schlage locks. I close on my first duplex in a month and I'm going to look into changing them if they happen to be Kwikset locks. Anyone else have issues with these things? Turned a crappy situation last night into a learning experience.

[Bob H.]

It seems pretty obvious that locksmiths say Kwikset Smartkey locks are bad because they eliminate the need for a locksmith to rekey them every time.

I have Smartkey locks in one rental and no problems. For the others I rekey them myself, sometimes with a kit you can buy at home improvement stores or online.