Do you know the way to San Jose?

[washerlover]

So I've emailed about this (what appears to be) Maytag pair...I might be singing Dionne Warwick this weekend and hope these are a couple of treasures! Hope to hear back that they are still available. No room but I can't keep missing out on these things!

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sby/app/4357389633.html

 

[terryT]

Solid machines

If you get them, be careful moving them.

You wouldn't want to get at Hurt Bacharach.

 

[d-jones]

Yes, but what model are they? Listings like this make me crazy. This one is only marginally better than "Used washer and dryer for sale. Make offer."

 

[rp2813]

Amen!

I'm with David.  He/she (Chris?) could have at least provided an asking price and taken a shot that showed the panels.  The photo is more along the lines of "I just want it gone" in the "Free Stuff" listings.  I wonder if any interested party would have to dig them out in order to get a better look.  It appears the dryer is electric, and if I'm seeing things correctly, may need a new cord.

 

These machines are just a short hop down Park Avenue from me.  Todd, if you're undecided (unless you hear back from the seller and know you want them), I'll go do a cursory visual inspection and maybe save you a trip.  I can't consider a TL machine currently due to the voluntary water restrictions that are likely to become mandatory soon, and don't have room to store them until the drought conditions are a thing of the past.

 

Ralph

 

[arbilab]

way to san jose

Turn right south of Milpitas.

 

[whirlcool]

There are so many things wrong with this listing I don't even know where to start.

A mostly obscured washer & dryer in a room full of junk. Come on people, don't make people interested in your item guess what it is. We have enough on our plates without having to deal with you and your junk, or your laziness.

Another of those "worked the last time it was used before it was stored". Oh yeah? How long ago was that? Yesterday or twenty years ago?

I hope this stuff gets zero interest or someone really strange comes by and shows some interest. A person that the seller won't forget for a long, long time to come.
It will serve them right. Maybe someone that will have the set for five years and then contacts the seller demanding their money or repair costs back, over and over again for all eternity.

 

[ken]

Is it an ad for a treasure hunt? I guess the poster feels its that anticipation factor of what you'll find under the junk that will make people interested.

 

[washerlover]

I know, the entire thing is odd -- emailed the guy yesterday and still have not heard from him. Of course no phone number.

And thanks Ralph for the help with a visual inspection, but we've been looking for an excuse to get down that way to visit the Winchester Mystery House and the Egyptian Museum!

 

[danemodsandy]

The Answer:

Is sort of right there in the ad: "Worked when we stored them."

They're in a storage unit, and the guy didn't feel like unpacking the unit to take photos.

If someone's nearby, no harm in taking a look - probably something ordinary like 406s, but wouldn't it be a gas if they were 906s?

Weirder stuff has happened. And no one will know until someone takes a gander at them.

 

[rp2813]

NP Todd, I'm glad you'll be making an event out of the trip.  The machines are practically walking distance from the AMORC (Rosicrucian) complex, which is directly across the street from my junior high school.  Falafel Drive-In isn't too far away if you're into that sort of fare.  Highly recommended!  There's also the Flames coffee shop by the Winchester house.  It's in an old Bob's Big Boy and portions on the extensive menu are quite generous.

 

They've made some really stupid decisions about landscaping at AMORC in recent years.  The whole place is hidden behind a ridiculous palm hedge and the grounds aren't the manicured retreat that they used to be, but the hokey tomb tour is worth the price of admission, which I'm pretty sure is considerably less than the Winchester house. 

 

[hippiedoll]

keep up posted....

washerlover:
let us know if you end up checking the maytags out and what models they are. don't forget to take pictures (if you get a chance). but definitely don't forget to check out the model numbers on them. i think we're all curious to find out what models those maytags actually are???!!!

GOOD LUCK!!!

)

 

[whitetub]

Since they are white, and have the center-dial control panels, we know they were made between 1967 to 1978, approximately. I guess that does not help much. But it's a start. ;-)

 

[washerlover]

The mystery continues...got an email response from the son of the owner (his father) of the machines who says he passed my email on to his father...I guess the Dad has stuff in the unit and the son is trying to help? Not going down to SJ this weekend but hopefully next! Ralph, I may end up taking you up on your offer to check them out...we'll see what unfolds.

 

[rp2813]

I'm on standby to check them out for you

. . . but my advice is:  Don't hold your breath.  It sounds like a classic CL story that never ends with a sale.

 

I tried and tried to just get a look at a Hotpoint "Combination" refrigerator a couple of years ago and was met with excuse after excuse, one of them very similar with regard to the person placing the ad not having the final say.

 

I made one last attempt, left the ball in the seller's court, and never heard another word.

 

What I don't get is, why place the ad in the first place (or what business is it of yours to do so) if you're not the responsible party? 

 

I'm also guessing that these machines aren't in my neighborhood after all.  The guy who placed the ad may be near me, but I'll bet the machines are located elsewhere.

 

CL is populated with some strange characters.

 

[washerlover]

Yep, this one did not end in a sale for me. Heard back from the grandson or whoever who told me that they "already got rid of them" whatever that means. Oh well, the search always continues..!

 

[ovrphil]

Who knows the way to San Jose - who knows what evil lurks ..

or what lies beneath these ads that go nowhere? Why are the ads posted?

I can't help think about something some may know about ..the Hidden Web(or DeepNet,or Invisible Web), where most data that comprises the WWW is hidden from our typically used search engines. Maybe in the JAVA script on the page or some other piece of script embedded in that ad to access, with that and other information, the hidden web? I don't know. I'm dreaming up possibilities, that came from reading some articles and wiki(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invisible_Web) about the Hidden Web.

Something genuinely inconsistent with the usual seller/buyer communications with some ads. Evasiveness from the seller seems to be the common thread from what you and others have mentioned.

Anyways - good luck in your quest, washerlover.

 

[warmsecondrinse]

Good point OverPhil

I would just extend it to employment, services wanted/offered, information...really any advertisement or solicitation of any kind.

This brings up a second question: Who thinks up these cover stories? If a used Maytag washer/dryer for sale is my cover story, I have to assume that people interested in buying the fictitious item will call. Therefore, I have to have (as part of my cover) a full set of particulars at hand to answer those questions, even if only to throw people off. My failure to do so would simply arouse the suspicion of those from whom I'm trying to hide my real purpose and who are likely trying to sniff me out. To me it's a no-brainer, but then I don't think like most people.

 

[launderess]

The Brakes Were Against You On This One,

However don't sweat it, something better will come along sooner or later!

Much as one dislikes fleaPay at times am finding it easier to deal with that service than CL these days.

CL does have the advantage of being local so you can check under the bonnet as it were before exchanging money, but many of those placing listings don't do things they way I like them.

 

[ovrphil]

more likely

as you put it, warmsecondrinse..." employment, services wanted/offered, information...really any advertisement or solicitation of any kind." Overall, CL has been good to me.

We'll look forward to the better thing that comes along, as Launderess says.