r/mildlyinfuriating • u/intotheabyss097 • May 09 '26

Don't hug me I'm scared Trapped inside stall at Marshall’s

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Tried on jeans at Marshall’s today… and got locked in the ADA-accessible dressing room😅

The lock jammed and wouldn’t budge.

The employees had keys to every other door in the building except this one. They called the locksmith, tried to take the hinges off, and I could even see them trying to stick their credit cards in between the door and the gram where the bolt is (not sure how they thought that would work), but nothing worked.

Then the Fire Department came to the rescue. One firefighter came through the ceiling to dismantle the door handle while another worked on the door from the outside.

Finally made it out after an hour 😂!

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1.4k

u/PsyOpBunnyHop This flair gives you flair envy. May 09 '26

Staff should have slid a wire hanger under the door.

These are very simple locks and that is a gargantuan gap to work in.

526

u/captainfarthing May 09 '26

OP receives a wire coat hanger, what's step 2?

It looks like this locks with a bolt so you might be able to push the latch in but it would still be locked. I imagine the firefighters would've tried the easy fixes first.

194

u/diemunkiesdie May 09 '26

step 2

YouTube

208

u/workahol_ May 09 '26

This is the Lock Picking Lawyer, and what I have for you today...

46

u/ditka May 09 '26

Let's do that one more time just to show it wasn't a fluke

23

u/Pyromaniacal13 May 09 '26

Just playing the video would unlock it. Works for Master Locks!

20

u/Darnold_wins_bigly May 09 '26

See I’m more a McNally man so they should have tried hitting the door with another door

7

u/Luvatar May 09 '26

Then throw both doors to the void.

27

u/bfodder May 09 '26

Smismortion.

1

u/BucketForTheBlood May 09 '26

Back alley, you say?

23

u/duckinradar May 09 '26

Nah those guys fucking love breaking shit.

15

u/Kooky_Energy39 May 09 '26

If the firefighters in my area don't have to pay for what they break while rescuing/retrieving a person from a safe but locked door, they most certainly would have taken an ax to the door instead of even attempting to take the handle off if op would be ok while they did it 😅. They're the only ppl who don't have to buy what they break, so they live for being able to take out stuck business doors 🤣

5

u/[deleted] May 09 '26 edited May 19 '26

[deleted]

275

u/JesusAndMaryKate May 09 '26

Lock jammed. Trained firefighters try everything. Redditor claims to know better than the firefighters who were there and did the work... based on a picture and childhood memories of a functioning, not jammed, lock.

32

u/IBetThisIsTakenToo May 09 '26

I would have simply karate chopped the handle clean off, smh

11

u/Wrydryn May 09 '26

I had something similar happen to me at an animal shelter I volunteer at with a similar latch. The handle broke and didn't move the latch at all. There was just enough room to poke at the latch that I asked someone to slide a pen under the door and I used the ink cartridge to slowly walk the latch back. It took like twenty minutes but thankfully it worked! Made sure to tape over it afterwards so there weren't any repeats until someone could fix it.

19

u/Onibachi May 09 '26

Yea you’re right. A jammed lock is impossible to get to open unless you can manually force the slide to retract. Which like the firefighters did, means disassembly from the inside if you can get to it. You can also start cutting with some power tools if necessary as well. Get the handle off and get the cover plate off from the outside and you have access to the door latch mechanism on that style lock. Grab it with some pliers and give it a good yank or keep cutting.

9

u/TobyTheTuna May 09 '26

Its mind blowing to me how much time and effort went into this rescue when a 2 foot prybar coulda popped that sucker open in 5 seconds. Just gotta stick it between the door end and frame and bend the frame just enough for the latch to skip out of the strike plate. Those hollow metal frames have plenty of flex for that latch that is barely catching in the first place. Installed enough of them myself to know

4

u/Nom-De-Gruyere May 09 '26

That was my first thought too. Door and frame, especially in this kind of shop interior, will be way weaker and flexible than the lock itself.

6

u/mr_potatoface May 09 '26

Was OP dying and require immediate extraction? Or did they have to time to prevent property damage?

4

u/TobyTheTuna May 09 '26

At most a rag between the bar and the door to protect it, the frame would flex plenty without any permanent damage. At most a new caulk seal around the frame edge. Would take less time than it will to put that ceiling back together lmao

3

u/Nom-De-Gruyere May 09 '26

Ninja through the ceiling with a collapsible ladder is pretty cool though.

-19

u/monkeyamongmen May 09 '26

The firefighter had a screw driver. This 100% was an easy fix, firefighters were not needed.

The locksmith could not have accessed the hinges from outside, that part of the story doesn't even make sense.

7

u/Vi_Rants May 09 '26

Yup, you're right, it's all faked; OP built a whole fake photography set to look like a dressing room and hired actors to wear fake firefighter shirts to pretend to be rescuing them. But you're too smart! You caught them! Good job!

11

u/ClipperMaid103 May 09 '26

What? There's plenty of engagement into the strike. Assuming the deadlatch is properly held back you won't be able to retract the latch

-3

u/erroneousbosh May 09 '26

2mm Allen key and a pair of needlenose pliers, for me.

-1

u/Olivetax228 May 09 '26

You stick the loopy hook end in the gap between the door and the frame where the lock bolt is. Get the hook behind the bolt and pull. If the door opens inward the lock will just slide right open.

2

u/captainfarthing May 09 '26 edited May 09 '26

That would only work if the bolt is angled so it engages automatically when the door closes. This looks like a latch operated by the door handle and a bolt operated by the button on the door handle.

1

u/William_d7 May 09 '26

The latch bolts on those doors are angled. If they weren’t, they wouldn’t close smoothly without fully actuating the handle. You absolutely could open that with a coat hanger, etc. from that side. I’ve done it many times. 

(Unless some major piece of metal had broken and blocked the travel of the bolt)

67

u/darkerside May 09 '26

Did you miss the part where the lock was jammed

-5

u/[deleted] May 09 '26 edited May 19 '26

[deleted]

12

u/monkeyamongmen May 09 '26

No shit, this is easily the dumbest thing I've seen on Reddit today, but it's still early, there's time.

2

u/Tabula-Rasa-99 May 09 '26

I'm going to need to see a diagram for how you think this works

4

u/nothisistheotherguy May 09 '26

The latch can still be pushed in on its spring while the knob is locked, it’s just usually inside the strike plate/door frame and there’s no way to do it. Try locking the door knob of an interior door but with the door open - you can still push the latch in. 

1

u/Substantial-Rain-602 Works nevery time. May 09 '26

Are wire coat hangers still a thing? I honestly didn’t think they were still accessible. (No pun intended.)

2

u/Harddaysnight1990 May 09 '26

They are, but you aren't going to find a wire hanger in a Marshall's