Robert E. Debarth Typewriters does the best quality work anywhere. He charges to evaluate the repairs and gives you a quote before any work is done. He is meticulous and he makes sure that any work is done correctly. My Typewriter is now like new. I don't know anywhere else to take my machine but who cares. I have found the best and that is why you can not find another Typewriter repair anywhere. He's the best!! read more

A cute old man who runs this shop. He really knows what he is doing. Yes, his typewriters are expensive, but that is because he has dedicated his entire life to this job. He is an incredibly hard-working man who knows how to do a job right. He does extensive testing on his products, and truly puts everything he has into his work. He wears a mask in his shop and is COVID conscious as well. I purchased a typewriter from him that typically would only cost me around 400 used on eBay. I paid around 780 for it, and I'm not mad about that price either. The thing is like brand new, and he showed me his extensive tests on it. He even spent the time typing out 57,000 characters on it just to see how durable the machine is and how long the ink cartridge lasts. He loves what he does, and has a true passion for it. You are getting what you pay for here, and that is nothing but the best. He also tried to save me money when I came in for a new ribbon and a potential repair! He replaced the ribbon for free (I only purchased the ribbon at market price) and then told me to go home and test the typewriter to see if the issue I was having with the ribbon spools was detrimental and that I could come back to see if it really needed repairing. He did not swindle me, nor did he try to. I saved the $65 on a repair because of him! If you don't want to support this man's life's work, then go somewhere else, but know that you will be supporting big businesses rather than the little guy. This man deserves your business! read more

I don't usually--ever--write "reviews" of businesses, but I felt I needed to say something about this place. I bought an old Olivetti-Underwood portable on Ebay and it worked quite well for a while, but ultimately, the ribbon return mechanism failed. I brought the machine to the DeBarth store. He charged me $65 for an estimate and then told me I would need to pay an additional $295.00 to have the machine repaired (with no return of estimate costs), for a total of $360.00. When I protested that all I needed was to have the ribbon return mechanism repaired, he gave me a vague answer about a "general servicing" that they "always" perform, and stated that the entire $295 was related to labor costs, with no parts replaced. When I again protested that all I needed or was asking for was a repair of the ribbon return mechanism he launched into a lecture about how difficult it was to keep his business going and how much money it required. I replied that if it were going to cost me $1,000,000 to keep a barber business going, should I then charge my two customers $500,000 each for a haircut? I added that the real reason he could charge me this outrageous fee is that there simply is no other typewriter repair shop anywhere in Pennsylvania or New Jersey (I think the Gramercy shop still exists in New York). In other words, he has his customers by the throat. He replied "Wouldn't you like to have a business that is the only one of its kind?" Finally, the work is only warrantied for 30 days. I leave you to your own conclusions about a place like this. read more