Sergei Dergunov, owner of SD Appliance, in a Spokane customer's kitchen

Meet Sergei Dergunov, SD Appliance

Repairing Appliances Since 2013  |  SD Appliance Founded August 2020  |  Owner-Operated  |  Licensed, Bonded and Insured in Washington

Asked why somebody should call him instead of a bigger company, his answer was short: he is local, he answers his phone, he gives you an honest diagnosis and a clear price, and he fixes it right when he can without treating you like just another service call.

That is the whole business, and everything below is how it got there.

Talk to Sergei
Licensed, Bonded and Insured in Washington◆ Owner-Operated◆ Repairing Appliances Since 2013◆ Open 7 Days, 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.◆ No Weekend or Holiday Surcharge◆ Military Discount◆ 4.8 Google Rated◆
Repairing appliances since
2013
SD Appliance founded
Aug 2020
Owner, on every job
1
Sergei testing an oven element with a multimeter during an appliance repair in Spokane
How he got into it

From electrician to appliance repair

He went into construction at eighteen. From there it was several years of electrical work in Los Angeles: residential and commercial jobs, new builds, rewiring, and troubleshooting. Los Angeles is also where he started working on high-end appliances, on the Sub-Zero, Wolf, and Thermador kitchens that are far scarcer in Spokane. That high-end experience is the part that carried over into everything he does now.

A close friend working for an appliance repair company introduced him to the trade. In his own words, what got him was seeing how diagnosing and repairing an appliance could save a customer money by fixing the problem rather than replacing the whole machine, and the combination of technical problem-solving and helping someone when something important in their home had stopped working.

The more he learned, the more he enjoyed finding the root cause of each issue and getting appliances working properly again. He has been repairing them since 2013.

Sergei Dergunov beside the SD Appliance service van in Spokane
Based on the South Hill
Why Spokane

A place to build something local

After spending time in Los Angeles, he was looking for somewhere he could build a business, raise a family, and be part of a strong local community. Spokane stood out for its friendly neighborhoods, its growing community, and the chance to do honest, reliable work in a place where customers value dealing with a local company.

He works out of the South Hill and covers the Spokane area and North Idaho from there.

Sergei explaining a dishwasher diagnosis to a homeowner at the kitchen sink
2020
founded in
August
Starting SD Appliance

One van, one idea, August 2020

SD Appliance Inc was incorporated in August 2020, after he had already been taking work in Spokane, and it started as a side gig with a simple idea: use his repair skills to help people around Spokane with honest, dependable service.

In the beginning it was just him, his tools, and a commitment to doing every job the right way. He took small repair calls, built relationships with his first customers, and earned trust one visit at a time. Many of those early customers came from word of mouth and referrals, and that support is what grew the business.

As the calls kept coming and he saw how much people appreciated having a reliable local repair company to count on, he realized it could be more than a side business. That was the point at which he committed to it full-time.

What started with a few service calls is now a Spokane-area appliance repair company, and the mission has not moved: honest answers, quality repairs, and treating every customer like a neighbor.

One-person business

What being a one-person business actually changes

This is the part most competitors cannot copy, and it is worth being specific about rather than sentimental.

01

He takes the call himself and asks the diagnostic questions, so the likely fault is narrowed down before he sets off. The day is organized by location and urgency, with calls grouped by area so he can cover as many as possible.

02

Most common parts are stocked in the van, which is why plenty of jobs are finished in one trip instead of waiting on an order. Where a part is less common, nothing gets ordered without your approval of the part and the price.

03

In his own framing: there is no call center between you and the technician. When you contact SD Appliance, you are dealing directly with the person who diagnoses it, repairs it, and stands behind the work.

Reconnecting a wiring harness to an appliance control board
The electrician's eye

Why the diagnosis comes first

Worth its own note, because it is the technical difference, and it is not something every appliance technician brings to the job.

Modern appliances fail electronically as well as mechanically. Boards, relays, switches and sensors are where a lot of diagnoses land, and a tradesman who spent years chasing faults through buildings reads those differently from someone who learned appliances alone. It is the reason the diagnosis comes first and the parts order second.

The practical version for you is that replacing parts until something works is expensive, and it is not how these calls get run.

A few things worth knowing

He speaks Russian and Ukrainian

Spokane has a large Slavic community, and it is worth saying plainly: if English is not the language you would rather sort this out in, that is not a problem.

Military discount

15% off labor for active-duty service members and veterans. Asked what was behind the discount, his answer was four words long: to say thank you. Terms are on the financing page.

Outside work

He is part of a run club in Spokane and plays volleyball with a few groups.

The honest version

What he will tell you that costs him money

The clearest way to describe how this business runs is by what it turns down.

There is no commission structure, so nobody here earns more from larger repairs.

When an appliance is not worth fixing, that is what you get told, and it costs him the job.

When a machine is still under the manufacturer’s warranty, he will point you back to the coverage rather than take the work.

When a fault turns out to be plumbing or a gas leak, you get sent to a plumber or the utility.

And where a repair is genuinely not worth the drive, he will say so on the phone before anyone gets in a van. The honest version of this trade is mostly a series of moments where the profitable answer and the correct answer are not the same one.

Getting hold of him

Call (509) 866-6767 and you are talking to Sergei, not a booking service. Have the brand, the model number, and a description of what the appliance is doing, and the call does most of the work.

Details, service area, and what to have ready are on the contact page.