We Were Cursed to Fix Things — So We Made It a Legend

Florida, the 1970s

It started in the salt heat of 1970s Florida, with my father — a wild young James "Jimmy" Pivacek — dragging dead machines out of the trash for gas money. Somewhere between a seized motor and an empty tank, he figured out he could bring them back to life. His brother Billy caught the same fever and took to flipping them — and the two of them hit the road, living their best gypsy lives, chasing the work from one town to the next like it was buried treasure. Wherever a machine broke, they turned up. That's where my cousin John and a young me learned the trade: at their heels, hands black with grease, watching two outlaws carve a living out of what everybody else had thrown away.

Here's a fact you couldn't make up: my father was James Pivacek. So am I. So is my brother Jimmy — he carries Dad's middle name right along with it. Three James Piváceks, and not a junior among us. So when you read "Jimmy" at the start of this story, that's my dad in 1970s Florida — the Jimmy on our crew today is my brother, the next James in the line. The name runs in the blood, same as the trade.

The Curse in the Blood

I swore I'd be anything but an appliance man. Swore it up and down. Didn't matter. The Gypsy curse of the appliance man had me by the collar, and however far I ran, it hauled me right back to the bench. Somewhere in all that failure — and there was plenty; I burned through more used-appliance shops than I care to count — I quit fighting it and fell in love. With getting better. With being the one they call when nobody else can make it right.

In 2012 I planted the flag: TN Appliance Exchange. It opened as a used-appliance shop before I set the ships on fire 🔥 and went repair only. I stopped running from the curse, put my name on it, and turned it into a vow — to be the best there is. And the truth I've made peace with: no matter how hard I try not to be an appliance man, I'm dragged right back every single time. So I stopped running. There is no finish line in this trade, and I'll go to my grave still learning it.

When we roll up to your door, you already know who it is — we text you first. Every hand on this crew is licensed, insured, and background-checked — it's how we earned Google's Google Guaranteed badge and over 1,000 reviews at 4.5 stars.

The Crew

These are my people — blood and chosen, and every one of them can be trusted inside your home. Three generations of us have carried this trade, and not a single one can put it down.

Teddy

Owner & Founder · Second Generation

James "Teddy" Pivacek learned the trade from his father and started TN Appliance Exchange in 2012. He still runs the tools every week and backs up every job in every area — Tennessee and Louisiana.

Andre

Technician · Third Generation · South Louisiana

Teddy's son — the third generation in this trade. Teddy's father taught Teddy, and Teddy taught Andre, who's been fixing appliances himself for 8 years. All the hustle, no fear to take a machine apart and put it back right.

John

Technician · 40+ Years · Louisiana

A true veteran — fixing appliances since the 1980s. John came up through Florida and Tennessee and now runs stops across Louisiana, North Shore to South Shore. If he hasn't seen it, it probably hasn't broken yet.

Jimmy

Technician · South Nashville & Middle TN

Teddy's own brother — came up in the same trade and runs stops across South Nashville and all around Middle Tennessee. Same family, same standard, same honest work.

Lee

Technician · Clarksville & Middle TN

Teddy's longtime friend and part of the crew for years — covers Clarksville and Middle Tennessee. Not blood, but family all the same.

We cover Middle Tennessee and South Louisiana, and Teddy backs up every job in every area.

The Code We Fix By

We do this different than the rest. We hand you the honest options — fix it, or we ship you the part and you do it yourself — and we never once hide the ball on the price. Treat people square, let the work speak, and let the rest take care of itself. That's the whole code.