My neighborhood has those common mailbox units that require keys to get your mail. I only have one key left. Can I get copies of that mailbox key made at the usual places like Home Depot etc?

Bonus points if anyone knows where I can get a copy made in downtown Houston.

I know that PO Box keys have to be made by the postal service, so I have no idea about a normal neighborhood box. But if the USPS is in charge of it, I would think that you have to have them make a matching key.

I want to say you can. I'm pretty sure I did this once and was surprised (relieved) I didn't have to go through post office.

My key says you cant.

Edit, well actually, the little tag that came with it says you cant.

[This message has been edited by TxElsie (edited 11/29/2012 12:45p).]

I think you just have to have the 'right' person do it.....

As for the neighborhood type boxes. We had them in the Condos I lived in when I was in College Station. The lock to my box was always a bit finicky. Finally one day I broke the key off in the lock. I went to the Post Office to ask what to do about it and their answer was to call a locksmith to have the locking mechanism replaced.

Mail boxes on private property are also private property. They are only serviced by the post office. This is no different than the mailbox on the curb in a residential neighborhood.

I called a locksmith and got him to quote me a price. Then I asked him how much for just the lock (they're usually a pretty standard type). $10 or so later I was out the door with the new lock in hand. Took about 30 seconds to drill the lock, and another couple of minutes or so to install the new lock.

Got copies made at Home Depot - but it took three tries.

First they didn't have the correct blank so they used an alternate 1 of the three copies worked. Went to another location where they had the correct blanks - NONE of those worked (including two house keys I copied at the same time. Finally went back to the original Home Depot location and found a guy who actually took the time to look at the copies against the original and filed them down & it worked!

When did it become so hard to get keys copied?

That's not an option over here... there isn't even a guy to talk to about copies. Just a green machine that makes crappy reproductions of your existing key with a 50/50 chance of success.