Oh man, I am also one of those that would have whipped out her iPhone and proved that old gal wrong. I hate when people try to lie about stuff like that. I most always call them on it.
I found a beat up old Singer at a thrift shop. The decals were ok, but it was a mess otherwise. And no power cord or anything extra at all. I would have bought it for 25 or 30 bucks just to clean up and display. But she want 125 for it. I asked her if she had looked up the values on those machines and she said she had and it was worth double that. This was a portable in a beat up case with no top as well. I told her that they might well be worth a lot in great condition and complete, but she will never sell it for 125 in that condition. I checked back about 6 months later and she still had it.