Imagine you’re leaving the country for three months so you secure your belongings and leave. When you get back, you learn your neighbor went into your home and tried to get into the room where you stored all of your valuables but couldn't because you used an AddaLock on the door before you left. This happened to me.

Before moving to Ecuador, I purchased the AddaLock portable security device to use on hotel room doors while traveling. It’s very simple to use and I found out later, very effective. 

Later, not long after I moved to Ecuador, the American visa facilitator I hired to help me get my permanent resident visa never submitted my paperwork so I was forced to leave the country for three months before I could return. 

I’d already been living here for six months and had my own apartment, etc. So having to leave for three months was more than a little inconvenient. However, that was the reality so I prepared my apartment for my absence. I paid the rent and utilities for four months and I arranged a place for me to stay back in the States.

In my building, some of us were sharing the cost of high-speed, fiber-optic internet and the equipment was installed in my apartment. I’d never agree to such a setup again but since it was already in place prior to my moving in, I agreed. Unfortunately, if there is a problem with the internet, PuntoNet would need access to my apartment to fix the problem. So I left the key to my apartment with my neighbors accross the hall who were retired expats from the US.

When I was ready to go, I made sure all of my valuables were tucked away in my bedroom. I installed the AddaLock system, locked the door from the inside and climbed out the window onto my balcony (I know you’re like, “Say what?!)… yeah, I did that. I secured the window so I could get in but no one else would know how to and I went back into the house through the balcony door. I locked the balcony door and put the key under the rug right in front of the door (on the inside of the apartment). A few days later I left Ecuador.

During my stay back in the US my neighbor sent me an email asking if I’d left a key to the balcony because they were having issues with the internet and PuntoNet may have to get onto the roof. I told him the key was under the mat in front of the balcony door. He let me know a few days later that the internet was fixed and all was well. 

When I returned to Ecuador, I got back into my bedroom through the balcony window, unlocked the door and removed the AddaLock. Everything looked fine… I go over to my neighbor’s apartment and the guy immediately starts apologizing for causing damage to the door to my room and admitted he had picked the lock but had not been able to get into the room. He had used such force to get in that he caused damage to the door. Upon further inspection, he had cracked the veneer on the cheap door and tried to hide it by gluing it back down. Honestly, you couldn't see it unless you were looking for it. What caught my attention was that he picked the lock open but was not able to get into the room even when using enough force to damage the door. The AddaLock did it’s job and then some…

Sure, I found it disturbing that he knew I didn't want him in that room because the door was locked and yet he picked the lock to get into it anyway proving to me that I couldn't trust them with a key to my home. But it was a good real-life test of the AddaLock system and I was happy it did it’s job. 

I definitely recommend it to anyone who is a frequent traveler or who wants a little more protection on the door no matter where you are in the world. I even use it when house sitting. A lot of home owners will give keys to their family and friends while you are house sitting for them. And they will just walk into the home unannounced. So I've added the AddaLock to prevent that from happening. 

Do you have an AddaLock story?