Our senior dog has Cushings disease and when she sleeps soundly now she often ends up peeing in her sleep. We got a bunch of excellent washable pads to put on the beds, sofas, and chair she might sleep on. Worked great, except the first time we had to wash one, the dryer wouldn't work. I'll skip the rest of the doggie details. Of course this happened late on a Friday afternoon.... so my husband immediately called our usual repair place who said it would be at least 2 weeks before they could look at our dryer. While he talked to them I went online and saw great reviews for Durham Appliance Thrift and Repair and called. The woman who answered -- Miss Linda -- is the most organized, polite, professional, and well prepared customer service person I have ever talked to (and I'm 69 so I've talked to a lot). She was patient as I found the model number on the dryer and said she'd check appointments and call back. She called about 20 minutes later saying they could come the following Wednesday between 2-2:30. As other reviewers have noted, our repair hero, Harry, arrived a couple minutes before 2:00, and came in masked and loaded with backpack and satchels with all kinds of tools and parts. He discovered the problem right away -- a broken timer knob, and he swiftly pulled a new one out of his bag and popped in on to our dryer. He knew that GE dryers have a problem with timer knobs splitting on the shaft, so he'd brought one with him. He assured us that if it happened again in the next year we should call them and we wouldn't have to pay for the service call. He included the part number on our invoice so we could order the part ourselves if needed. The job was so quick that they reduced our service call charge by $50. I should add that Harry was masked, very friendly and professional. There is NO DOUBT in our minds that when we need other appliance repairs we will call these folks. Best service and results ever. We live in Carrboro, no problem that they're based in Durham. read more

I am not the first to award five stars to Durham Appliance Thrift & Repair, but I'll give you a slightly different take on why. The people: Linda (in the office) and Ty (in the field) were responsive, cheerful, and helpful. Linda sends your estimate, invoice, paid invoice via email (so helpful). Ty comes when he says he will, knows what the heck he's doing, and takes the time to explain to you how your appliance works, why it broke, and what to do to keep it from breaking again. (Y'all stop using the self-cleaning feature on the stove, okay? It fries the electronics.) There are a lot of criminals and dopes in the appliance repair business, they'll tell you it can't be fixed, they'll tell you you have to replace the most expensive part. That happened to us with this Kitchen Aid stove: a company that I won't mention here came in to 'diagnose' what I had reported (the display lights were off), took a look at the dark display, and said "your display lights are off" -- and proceeded to charge me $95 bucks which I refused to pay. What a rip off! Here's the honest skinny: an appliance guy has to OPEN UP THE MACHINE and do diagnostics to earn his fee. Trouble is, most of these guys have no idea how to diagnose the newer machines. DATR does and gives you a year warranty on parts and labor. DATR saves us several hundred dollars on this go-around because we didn't have to replace the entire panel, which is both good for our pocket and the environment. So my advice: go with any other appliance repair company at your peril. read more

I would give TEN stars here if I could! I had the best ever customer service experience with Durham Appliance Thrift Repair this week! The refrigerator at our rental property had stopped working on Sunday, and so Monday morning I called around several repair businesses looking for a service call. None could come out before Thursday. Linda, with Durham Appliance Thrift Repair diligently took my make/model information and "pencilled me in" for a Thursday call while I continued to try to contact others to try to secure an earlier service time. Meanwhile, one of the service technicians at Durham Appliance Thrift Repair called me back, said he had been looking through the service calls recorded for the week and thought my issue may be a control display problem that he could help me with over the phone. I went over to the house, called him back, and he walked me through the actions needed for a hard restart, and sure enough he was right! The fridge started right back up! I was so thankful and so impressed that this man took the initiative to assess my problem days ahead of the scheduled service time and CALL ME of his own accord, saving me at least $100 for the service appt and my tenant their cold food! They will be my first call for any appliance repair from now on! Thank you to the whole staff at Durham Appliance Thrift Repair!!! read more

It's rare that I can say a business offers outstanding service, but in my experience of DATR certainly does. I have had nothing but positive experiences with their repair service. I like their service model -- a flat fee for labor no matter what -- and I can testify that they do not hesitate to do whatever is required. Due to a defective new part, and the need to order a replacement, Eddy -- whose high level of expertise was obvious -- ended up spending several hours at my house -- over a course of two trips -- in order to get everything resolved. I'm sure they actually lost money on me, not only because of the flat labor fee: they also actually gave me a discount to compensate for the delay in repair. This is so even though Eddy (I'm pretty sure that was his name) managed to leave me with a functional washer until the part came through for the final fix! Eddie was always cheerful and professional, and explained everything he was doing. Everyone from DATR -- including Linda on the phone -- that I came into contact with was friendly and helpful. I had used them once before, several years ago, and was impressed then also. read more

This service call was beyond my wildest dreams. It was perfection. I emailed several appliance repair companies, and Ty was the first to reach out. He helped me understand my problem, came out early the next day, right on time, and was able to easily repair the fridge. I trusted him and his explanations of what he thought was wrong, and his honest assessment of the likelihood of this fridge being able to be saved. We get a one year warrantee for his work, which I doubt we'll need, because he did great work. I have to say, it drives me crazy when I'm hiring someone for a service and they talk to me like I'm an idiot, presumably because I'm a girl, and Ty at no point made me feel that way. I wasn't home when he came by, but my husband was equally smitten with Ty's easy conversation and obvious, genuine joy in his work. I can honestly say that I wish I had second fridge, so that it would crash, and Ty could come out and fix that fridge, too. THANK YOU TY! read more

Ty represents Durham Appliance and Thrift (DAT) in a very courteous, respectful and extremely professional manner. He is the epitome of truthfulness and honesty. Most recently, 8/14/19, he came to our home to make a repair to our refrigerator because the refrigerator was failing to keep our food and beverages cold, and the freezer was failing to keep the frozen items completely frozen. As an example of his level of professionalism and honesty, he used his cell phone make a video of the internal parts of the refrigerator/freezer and added audio to explain exactly what was malfunctioning and which parts needed to be replaced to correctly solve the problem so that the unit would resume normal operations. My wife was at home during the time of his visit and she was very pleased with the quality of his work. Without any hesitation I recommend Ty and if I could give him six stars, I would. Thanks Ty!! Bruce T. Pagan, Jr. read more

I have used Durham Appliance Thrift several times and they get my highest rating. They do everything right and I always end up feeling happy and treated well when they leave. Not bad considering a major appliance fail doesn't usually leave you feeling warm and fuzzy. From the start, they return calls promptly and efficiently and schedule your repair quickly. They always arrive on time and the costs are extremely reasonable. They've been fixing my aging washer and dryer for several years now and they always show up with the parts (have never needed to run out and get something) and the repairs have been perfect. Not only that, the technician is super friendly and personable. He puts up with my boring anecdotes about doing laundry and how often I window shop for fancy new machines! If you need a repair, look no further. This local business is the one to call first. read more

My refrigerator stopped cooling, and i discovered the problem after it had been thawing for about a day. *IF* there is any issue with Durham Appliance Thrift, it is that it seems to be a small enough company that it took a few hours for them to return my initial phone call (which seems like an eternity when your freezer is melting.) However, once they got my details they scheduled a repair appointment for the next day. Ty is as knowledgeable as they come: he started repair work as a second career and he clearly has a passion for it, which meant the job was done thoroughly and professionally. He had all the parts he would likely need with him when he arrived, and he stayed until he was sure that he had diagnosed it correctly. He was also a delight to talk to, so be sure to stick around and chat while the work is getting done. read more

Oh my, if only I could write what I want to write. I think I would rather they write this for themselves. Their representatives' actions or inactions are equivalent to writing a story of unprofessionalism, ineptness, greed, smarta$$ attitude, promise breaking...basically all of the qualities you want to see from a company that just went out of business. ( but not quite there yet) I would love to have them challenge me, point by point in a public forum. I will take Linda to task on National Television and take a lie detector test and allow her to prove what an awful product/service they offer. I'm not sure why if she's a good business person she chose me to screw with? But here I am, not happy for a number of reasons. Let's do this Linda! Let's get your poor performance exposed for the good of all potential customers! read more

It is so refreshing to work with a professional business that actually cares about my needs. I recently contacted Durham Appliance about a broken ice maker on an older refrigerator. Even though it was not cost effective to repair, Ty went above and beyond to help find another solution. He provided technical service bulletins and background information to prepare me for contacting the manufacturer about this known product defect. The manufacturer made excuses and declined to help but that is a different issue. Ty then recommended a small countertop ice maker. I had never heard of such an appliance but I found and purchased one. Although not as convenient as a refrigerator ice maker, it solved my problem. A great solution for the price. Very happy thanks to Ty! I will definitely use them again. read more

Great service! Scheduled appointment yesterday with Linda (she was nice on the phone), Ty came on time today, came prepared with the part (because Linda asked lots of questions about the model and what was wrong) explained in detail what is happening and what needs to be repaired. While pulling the fridge out he realized that the water line was very short and that it's impossible to pull the fridge without breaking it (don't ask how that happened). Long story short, Ty went to get a new part, replaced the short line and now everything is working perfectly and we can pull the fridge out if needed without breaking anything. He also gave me advice on never using the self cleaning oven feature because it breaks the electronics. He is obviously very knowledgeable and plus very nice to talk to. Highly recommending! read more

My fridge fix wasn't cheap, but that wasn't Durham Appliance Thrift's fault. My fridge's electronic boards died, and Ty got them up and running again. The cool thing about Ty is his approach: his labor cost covers everything he'll do, no matter how long it takes, or how many times he needs to come out. And, he tries to save you money by making sure that what gets replaced actually needs to be replaced. To top it off, he was willing to come out on a Saturday and he kept me in the loop the whole way. He also is great for conversation, and is very, very professional. Whatever reputation some repair folks might have that's bad, Ty is the exact opposite. He's the kind of repair guy that you want over at your house working on your broke down stuff. Give DAT&R a call with confidence. From a very satisfied customer. read more

I have used them couple of times before one due to my ice maker, etc. Ty came immediately found and fixed the problem. He was very nice and informative about what was the problem. This time last week my entire refrigerator quit cooling, not making ice, everything warm. Called the company, Linda said it might have to be next week, we are so busy. Of course my luck, this was Friday at 4:58 PM. But God blessed me because Ty got her message, his car was in the shop and he couldn't come but at that very moment they brought his car to him and he came and replaced a small part instead of having to lose all my food and get a new refrigerator! I would call no other company for my appliance problems. They are very reasonable in their pricing. Linda, the office manager is so nice also. read more

Durham Appliance Thrift Repairs is fantastic. They came out a year ago for my dryer and I was perfectly pleased then as well. I called them yesterday for my refrigerator issues. Linda, who answered the phone, was super nice and helpful, and asked all the questions that would expedite the repair (model number, detailed questions about the problem, etc). She made an appointment for the repairman to come out today, with just a 1 hour window to wait. Ty arrived early in that window and knew, walking in the door, what the problem was based on the information he already had from Linda. He was professional, kind, courteous and efficient. And my refrigerator is fixed! I can't recommend them highly enough! read more

Tyler came out to fix my refrigerator and after he diagnosed the problem thoroughly, explaining the process as he went, he said it was beyond help. This was unwelcome news, especially since the fridge was only four years old, but I trusted his expertise, having observed him work on the fridge with such care. To my amazement, he didn't charge me, and even gifted me with a temperature gauge for my new refrigerator. Tyler, who owns the company, obviously loves what he does likes his customers as well, and is a person of integrity and goodwill. I'd also like to give a shout out to Linda, who makes the appointments and--like her boss--is thorough, professional and pleasant. read more

Our washing machine stop working in the middle of cleaning a load of bath towels. It turns out an electronic switch was the culprit. Harry pulled the washing machine away from the wall, open the unit up and began diagnostics, and in less time then we expected, he installed a new OEM switch and the machine was working. The level of professionalism and the friendly personal service exemplified by Harry makes this a top notch customer service oriented company that gets the job done. We highly recommend Durham Appliance and Repair for all of your home appliance service needs. We will use them for all of our future appliance service needs. read more

If I could rate them higher I would. My freezer was apparently turned off on the display while I was trying to reset the filter. It was off for three days but I did not know until Friday night - too late to call anyone. Saturday morning we made calls trying to get somebody out to service it but no return calls except for DATR -Ty Avent. He immediately knew what the problem was, walked me through the reset over the phone and no service call needed. He told me to call back and let him know all was working and I did. I will never go anywhere else with this kind of service! I highly recommend them. read more

I am very satisfied with the service I received from this company. I called and left a voicemail, when my call was returned the woman was very friendly and professional. She thoroughly explained everything I needed to know and made sure I did not have any questions. A technician called to help me with one of my appliances I needed repaired. The suggestion he had for me helped fixed the issue and it saved me money because they didn't need to come out! This place is the best and I definitely will be a repeat customer should anything else in my home need repairs! read more

I've dealt with Durham Appliance Thrift Repair for two appliance problems: a drier that was easily repaired during COVID, no less; and a fridge issue. For the fridge, Ty Avent came twice, trying simplest repair attempts first. He's knowledgeable, patient with my lame-brained questions, curious, and enjoys problem-solving. Receptionist Linda is courteous, professional, and dependable with follow-up calls. I always hang up smiling, thinking about her precise, no-nonsense manner. I cannot recommend this business highly enough. read more