Originally Posted by
SoonerDave
I think there are lots of reasons.
First, a *lot* of people are becoming DIY types. Strange as it may sound, YouTube and the Internet have a done a tremendous job of closing the "information gap" in the "skilled trades" area, giving average people the information and resources on how to do some simple things on their own, and for drastically less money. I'm not saying the *quality* or *skill* are always there, but the fact that there are increasing DIY'ers is just a fact of life. I'm one of them, and I'll fight to my last drop to do something myself until I just realize I can't rationalize not letting a "pro" do it.
How does that translate into no callbacks or follow-through? There's not enough one-at-a-time work to sustain it, or the individual contractors gravitate toward larger employers that can offer sustained work. That means the traditional handyman role is getting tougher and tougher to find.
Second, the market for appliance repair - particularly smaller appliances - is nearly vanishing. The cost of repairing most mid-range appliances is so high even after only a few years use that it doesn't make sense to repair; people just replace. You put even two or three labor hours, plus a service call, plus parts onto a repair, and you've probably hit a good percentage of a whole new *whatever*. If people stop repairing, the market for repairstaff gets smaller - and if you look at my prior point about DIYers, you'll find a lot of the local parts places that are still around are starting to *cater* to the DIYers. See Wade's Appliance in Moore - they're a great parts place, and sometimes they'll give you hints on how to repair things yourself or will tell you straight up if something is even worth repairing.
Another factor is parts. Manufacturers are making fewer and fewer repair parts for their offerings. I kept an older fridge going for years, needed an temperature control valve, and guess what - they didn't exist. *No* suppliers. Not on the 'net, not local, nowhere. Even a few parts houses I called said the parts weren't available from even their last-gasp suppliers. Same held true on a more recent oven failure.
The point is there's a whole constellation of factors in play that are making it harder and harder to find good tradespeople. And I don't think that trend is going to change anytime soon.
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