Music and Stories by Frank McKinnon at Robin's Locksmith Services robinls.xyz in Roswell, New Mexico (575) 420-8199



Story About Robin's Locksmith Services

Before I tell this story, I should mention that "Robin's Lockmith Services"(formerly called "Affordable Locksmithing") is a mobile locksmith business located in Roswell, New Mexico. The phone number is (575) 420-8199. This is where I have been working since 2003 whenever I have not been performing music or teaching. We serve customers in Roswell, Midway, Dexter, Hagerman, Lake Arthur, and the rest of Chaves County, New Mexico.

Robin grew up in New Brunswick, Canada where she earned an associate's degree in civil engineering and a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. She has described many experiences that she had, between 1986 and 1999, while she was using both of those degrees. We first met while we were lifting weights and swimming at the Raquetball Club in Roswell in January 1998. We got married in March 1998.

Robin had come to Roswell as a contractor to do Unigraphics for a team of mechanical engineers at a bus manuafactuing company called Motor Coach Industries (MCI). In 1999, MCI was preparing to relocate to Mexico, so they no longer needed Robin to do Unigraphics for them. Our son Joey was born in July 1999. Robin liked Roswell, and did not want to live anywhere else. So, she started looking for a way to make a living in Roswell. She started studying locksmithing. Then, in October 2003, Robin did her first locksmithing job.

Roin's background in mechanical engineering has made it easier for her to learn about locksmithing than it has been for me. I have learned a lot while I have been helping Robin. However, if she is with me, I hand the tools to her, and I hold the flashlight because she is much better than I am at picking locks, repairing locks, unlocking vehicles, making keys, and programming automotive security systems.

One of the things that I have been doing for Robin's Locksmith Services is advertising. When we first started, back in 2003, our only methods of advertising included the following:

1. buying advertisements in 3 phone books,

2. renting a sign on a bench on Main Street,

3. business cards,

4. some signs on the the doors of our vehicles.

Much has chaged, since 2003, because most people have cell phones with internet, and that is what they use for finding a locksmith.

Apparently, most people use the Google search engine. In about February 2020, our Google Business Listing disappeared from the internet. It took about 2 months to fix our listing. During that 2 month period, we did not make enough money to pay all of our bills. But we survived. We eventually had a very effective Google Business Listing.

Then, our Google Business Listing disappeared, again, on February 14, 2024. Today is May 1, 2024, and our Google Business Listing is stil not visible. When this happened in 2020, I was able to talk with people at Google on the phone to get help fixing our listing. This time, the people at Google are not answering the phone. They have set up a process that involves communicating with Artiifical Intelligence (AI), which makes things much more difficult. I hope to have a Google Business Listing, again, by the end of this week.

After 7 weeks of trying to get our Google Business Listing for "Affordable Locksmithing" to be visible, again, I gave up when I realized that would be impossible, and changed the name of our business to "Robin's Lockmith Services." It looks like it will be impossible to get a Google Business Listing for with this name too. But we are still in business.