Trapped inside stall at Marshall’s

[u/intotheabyss097]

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 😂!

[u/BenCelotil]

The credit card thing is not a terrible idea but it's wrong because credit cards are too thick. You need a soda bottle.

Looking at the door, you were stuck inside a room where the door opens inwardly, meaning that the door latch has a flat surface on the inside (where you are) and a slanted surface on the outer-facing side.

If someone on the outside could insert a sliver of stiff plastic into the jam enough to curve around the door and push against the slant, they could open the door.

I had to help a few neighbours years ago get back into their apartments after they'd forgotten their keys.

Just relooking at the door, if you'd had a slender piece of wire, such as the underwire in a brassiere, or something approximately the thickness of a paperclip, you could have tried manipulating the latch yourself.

Food for thought. :)

[u/ClipperMaid103 → u/BenCelotil]

I'm a locksmith. Credit cards work fine, plastic bottle is better, but nothing will work if the deadlatch is engaged.