Stuck door latch

A couple weeks ago, the latch on the door in my hall closet broke. The handle would still turn, but it didn't retract the door latch. Ordinarily that wouldn't be a big issue, I'd just remove the handle and work the latch, but in this case the screws for the handle were on the inside of the closet. I looked for any tips on how to open it on the Youtube but found virtually nothing save for one advertisement for an emergency tool you can pack with you to help open, for example, a broken hotel door latch. Sure. Whatever.

In any case, the tool looked right for my task and so I ordered it.

While I waited and waited and waited for it to arrive, I tried all manner of credit card jimmys, and shims. The latch didn't like Visa or Mastercard. And my homemade shims didn't work either. This thing was STUCk!

Not wanting to wait for the tool to arrive and seeing that it had shipped almost immediately but still wasn't here two weeks later (coming USPS from PA), I resorted finally to drilling the old handle until the thing fell apart. I was in! Finally.

Well, today, the tool I ordered finally came, and what do you know, it opened the newly replaced latch first go with no issue. Other than the long wait for the product to ship, I highly recommend this tool (and perhaps some of their similar other ones) for just such a task. It's known as the Sparrow Hall pass:

Hall Pass
Sparrows Lock Picks manufacturers a full range of quality lock pick sets and ships direct from the USA. We have a variety of lock pick sets all made with an extremely durable and flexible stainless steel. By consulting professionals in the community we have created what we believe is the very best in lock pick designs.