Damage to pickups can be caused by so many different things and taking pickups out of an instrument is by far the biggest problem. Normally if they are left untouched they stay pretty reliable. Putting a pickup in a drawer or box is not enough to give protection to the delicate coils and bobbins. If they bounce around and hit each other, the pickups will need attention. Take the time to research a quality repairman – I can’t emphasize this enough.