Used Appliance Dealer, Gorman Area (Durham: appliances, house, to buy)

[jmellc]

There used to be a guy in Durham that took in old appliances. Fixed what he could and sold cheap. Stripped parts and took carcasses to the scrapyards. A free dump for your old stuff and some bargains for those in hard times.

I think he started out on East Club or East Geer, then later moved to a cross street between the 2. Last time I looked for his place, I couldn't find it. I took several items to him over the years. He provided a valuable service.

Does anyone here know of him? Is he still living, still doing stuff? People at Red Mill Exxon used to know him but not now. I hope to find him again or someone else like him.

[lazy]

I've got a non-working dryer in my garage which i tried to fix on my own (drum didnt turn when you turn on the dryer) but i never found time and finally replaced it.
Was thinking of guys like this guy you describe if he wanted to buy it for repair/resell or parts.

[jmellc]

Originally Posted by lazy

I've got a non-working dryer in my garage which i tried to fix on my own (drum didnt turn when you turn on the dryer) but i never found time and finally replaced it.
Was thinking of guys like this guy you describe if he wanted to buy it for repair/resell or parts.

Next best thing now is put an ad on Craigslist as a free item. I just did this with a washer/dryer. No response for a week, then 7 or 8 in one day. First responder came and got them.

Sadly, repair is an expensive business overall. I never did much on appliances, I was an electrician. But just going to a person's house costs money, opening up a dryer takes time, keeping any parts in stock is costly, ordering parts is costly and time consuming. Frustrating for the provider, frustrating for the customer who can nearly buy new for costs of 2 repairs. Further frustration when the new units don't last as long as the old ones. 10-20 years was not unusual in the past for some appliances. 5-10 seems to be the new norm.