I have a similar tale. I bought a machine online for $5000. It arrived and looked great! However, it soon became apparent that it was out of adjustment. Because I bought it online, I felt guilty even thinking about taking it to my local sewing machine repairman, so I turned it over to my very clever, very talented DH (who fixes Featherweights) and after five minutes, couldn't stand the pressure of seeing him dismantling it so went and took a nap. When I awakened, oila! I had a wonderful machine that worked right! It had gotten jostled during the shipment because it was not properly padded on the ends and was out of adjustment. Now, I don't recommend this for everyone but I figured I had nothing to lose and he WAS a computer tech for a major computer manufacturer. He is just a marvelous man! I have sense taken it to my local sewing machine repairman, told him the story, and he was impressed that my DH had done such a good job. He checked it over and said everything looked good!