rtl32Duly noted.
How can you spot a lock that has been bumped or picked improperly? How can a lock break?
There is a lock to a storage room in my door that has the plug pushed allll the way inside it, I'm guessing the pins were snapped or all shoved up somehow. That lock doesn't open anymore. It actually was not me. Is that how they break?
Regardless of how good you are bumping will leave a mark right above the keyway on the face of the lock where the key hits the lock. Someone who's new to bumping can leave quite the dent, usually from hitting too hard, while experienced bumpers can leave minimal marks. There are ways to avoid it though, a rubber band can work pretty well.
There are a ton of ways a lock can break. All of which are usually pretty uncommon. But the most common is probably locks that have been picked far too much or too aggressively with tools that have sharp edges. The pins are usually brass, which is a lot softer than your steel picks, so the brass can wear down enough so that the key will no longer work. The lock will still be functioning, but it would need to be rekeyed.
The lock with the plug pushed doesn't sound like damage from picking. Quite possibly bumping gone terribly wrong depending on the design of the lock. Look for that mark I mentioned, if they hit it hard enough to push the plug in they definitely left a little square or rectangular dent the same width as the keyway directly above it.
