Meet Tony Pierce
Tony Pierce is the locksmith behind Grape Day Mobile Key. owner supplies Years in the trade, where they trained, the first shop or employer, and the Escondido ties (the school, the church, the neighborhood, the family) go here in plain sentences. Nothing on this page is invented; if the owner didn't say it, it isn't written.
When you call the number on this site, you're most likely talking to Tony Pierce or to the dispatcher name, who answers in English or Spanish and knows where the van is.
Why "Grape Day"
Escondido was founded in 1886 on part of the old Rincón del Diablo rancho, and by 1908 it was throwing a harvest party for its grapes that grew into the Grape Day festival. The name stuck to the park downtown, and to the old-town feel along Grand Avenue that we like: brick storefronts, painted signs, a shop that knows your name. We borrowed that heritage for a locksmith that works the same way.
To be clear: Grape Day Mobile Key is an independent business. We are not affiliated with the City of Escondido or the Grape Day Festival, and we don't use their logos.
Why We Focus on Rentals and Older Cars
Two things stand out when you do lock work in Escondido. First, the rental stock: 1970s and 80s apartment complexes in the center and south of the city, fourplexes near downtown, mobilehome parks, condo HOAs out Bear Valley Parkway. Their owners and managers need turnover rekeys on a schedule and a master-key chart that actually matches the doors, which is why we specialize in rentals.
Second, the cars. This is a working city, and a lot of families run one older car or truck per driver. When the only key to a 2005 Tacoma goes missing, a dealer quote can be a week's pay. So the van is set up for both: pinning kits and key charts on one shelf, a transponder programmer and blanks on the other.
Licensed, Insured, Accountable
Grape Day Mobile Key is licensed as a locksmith company by the California Bureau of Security and Investigative Services. Every technician carries a BSIS pocket license and shows it before touching a door. We carry liability insurance carrier and limits, and on any lockout we ask for ID and proof you belong there before we open. If a locksmith skips that step, that's the one you shouldn't hire.
What the license actually means: the state fingerprints the owner and every locksmith employee and runs them through the California Department of Justice and the FBI before issuing the company license and the individual registration cards. It is the difference between a locksmith and someone with a pick set. Ask to see the pocket card; ours is out before the tools are.
Hablamos Español
A large share of the calls we take start in Spanish share, and we answer them in Spanish. That isn't a translation line on a website; it's the person on the phone and the person in the van. For an occupied apartment, for a grandmother who holds the household keys, for a landscaper whose truck won't start at a job site, talking through the job in the language you actually use is part of doing it right. Our Spanish-language page covers every service.
How We Work
- Price before work. Quoted on the phone, confirmed at the door, changed only if the job changes, and then only after we tell you.
- No bait. No $19 service-call ads, no "starting at" numbers that don't apply to anyone.
- Clean up. Brass shavings swept, old hardware taken away unless you want it.
- Warranty. Parts and labor terms. If a lock we installed fails, we come back.
- Real reviews only. We ask happy customers to post on Yelp or Nextdoor. We don't buy reviews or write our own.
Work with us · Property owners: set up a property account.