These locks are super easy to pick. Now, picking it yourself? That's a whole other issue lol.
Hopefully it's one of those crappy locks where you can use a wave rake and not actually have to pick the damn thing. You would be surprised how often that works. I showed it off to my boss on one of our office doors and they ended up buying new locks after I opened it in like three seconds.
If they were able to lock it so quickly, it means it's probably not a key-retaining lock, which means the locking pawls are spring-loaded, which means you can shim it.
I had to look up "wave rake" cuz I'm a moron and thought it was like an introductory brand lock pick device or something.
You meant like a comb, didn't you?
🤦♂️
Edit: oh man, I'm so happy I was wrong lol I felt so dumb
Raking is a low-skill attack that can easily defeat low-quality locks. The rake is a metal strip (often wave-shaped, but others exist) which you have to move around inside the keyway while applying torque. Some of the pins will randomly get caught at the shear line; repeat until the lock is opened. This type of attack can be prevented by using security pins (like spools, barrels, or serrated pins) that get stuck in the shear line.
A comb attack is different. Some locks are so poorly designed that you can use a comb-shaped tool to lift all of the key pins above the shear line and completely bypass the security.
given the quality of most locks you can probably just hold a hairpin menacingly in front of it and it'll pop open.