Notice Board
3. Take Inspiration from the Medeco Model
When Medeco’ s high-security Biaxial M3 lock was compromised, they didn’ t run to court. They contacted the researcher who found the flaws- Marc Weber Tobias- and worked with him to improve future designs. It wasn’ t just a recovery, it was a reputational win. They became stronger by admitting they weren’ t perfect.
Proven Industries could follow this exact route. In fact, they still can.
‘ The court case didn’ t just reveal a flawed lock. It revealed a flawed mindset- a company trying to protect its brand by silencing the people showing the truth’
4. Issue a Genuine, Public Apology
If there’ s one move that could shift the entire mood around this story, it’ s this: a nuclear-humble apology. Not legalese. Not spin. Just honest, public accountability. Here’ s what they should say:“ We got it wrong. We’ re sorry- to Trevor McNally, and to the entire locksport and YouTube lock picking community.
We now realise there’ s a better way to handle criticism. But at the time, we panicked. This is our business, a family business, and it began with the best of intentions. Years ago, we had our trailer stolen- over $ 40,000 of equipment gone. And the heartbreaking part? We’ d secured it with a cheap coupler lock. That’ s what inspired us to start Proven Industries.
We’ re an American company, and we manufacture in the USA. But being patriotic isn’ t the same as being right. Looking back, our response to McNally’ s video was knee-jerk. We felt our livelihoods were under threat, and we lashed out instead of listening.
That ends now.
‘ It’ s not about being unbreakable, it’ s about being honest. Let’ s see what they do’
We’ d like to publicly invite Trevor McNally- or any skilled lock picker- to work with us. We want to build better locks. Premium locks. Products that genuinely live up to their claims.
Our reputation has taken a hit, and we own that. But we also believe this could be an opportunity- not just to put things right, but to improve on what we started.
As of today, we are dropping all legal action. We’ re going back to basics: making American locks that do the job they’ re supposed to do- secure trailers. This won’ t be quick, and we won’ t pretend it’ s simple. But we’ re committed to earning back the trust we lost. With
help from the very people we once saw as adversaries, we believe we can create something better than before.
In the end, this could be a win-win. But only if we do our part.”
Final Thoughts: It’ s Not Too Late, But It’ s Close
The court case didn’ t just reveal a flawed lock. It revealed a flawed mindset- a company trying to protect its brand by silencing the people showing the truth.
Proven Industries now has a choice. They can keep playing defence, or they can step up, show some humility, and start making the kind of locks they claim to make. The kind that people like McNally would find hard to open- not because they haven’ t tried, but because they’ ve been involved in the improvement.
It’ s not about being unbreakable. It’ s about being honest.
Let’ s see what they do.
Chris Dangerfield, www. ukbumpkeys. com
SEPTEMBER 2025
9
Issue Takeover locksmithjournal. co. uk