Boater, as a fellow Innova owner I urge you to call Innova directly and tell them about your experience. You may want to ask to talk to Michael. I know he will want to hear about your experience and make it right.i am a relatively new owner with autopilot as well. I had mine installed by one of the techs! Keith . It took about 12 hours and it was a very good install. My tech taught me how to run the machine and bobbin winder, adjust tension and work with autopilot, and we can go to Utah for additional free training if desired. I did a lot of my learning on my own and called the company when i had problems and asked questions on the Innova forums. I admit that I was frustrated as most are with tension issues, but I feel like that is usually an newbies learning curve issue with gaining experience and knowledge. I know why they always offer tension classes at all the quilt shows
watchingthe innova videos that Renae produced was very helpful and I feel much more confident that I can troubleshoot issues that come up now, 6 months on later. That being said, you can't and shouldn't fight a bad set up. Innova wouldn't want you to, I am sure. Call them and see if they will help.
Originally Posted by
Boater4444
I am experiencing this feeling at the moment but only because the Dealer that I bought my 18" Innova with AutoPilot is so new to longarm quilting that my buying experience has been absolutely horrible. I researched and test drove every single brand I could find for the past 4 years until I finally decided on the Innova and took the dive in March when the manufacturer had a great special on. I live just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and found an Innova dealer in Toronto so I figured "BONUS", since he is the ONLY Canadian dealer listed on the manufacturer's website. Well... first off, they "lost" my machine in transit. So the dealer's 7-day delivery promise turned into 21 days. When the machine was finally delivered, the dealer and his sidekick proceeded to put the unit together by reading instructions and arguing with one another about what went where and in what order. Talk about inspiring lack of confidence. They started at 12:30 pm and 8 hours later - and I mean a SOLID 8 hours later, no food or restroom breaks even though I offered coffee, etc., seeing as it was going on 8:00 p.m., they decided to wrap up and return another day to finish the job. After they left, I realized that the machine, as set up, was way too high for me, so made a note to point this out when they returned. Two days later, they returned, lowered the unit to my satisfaction, then spent another 4 hours finishing the installation. Having become understandably nervous by now that my $24,000. expenditure was a good investment, I asked them to demonstrate the machine. The dealer (and this is the owner of the shop) gave me a funny look and said "Of course!" whereby he turned it on and sure enough, the needle went up and down and the carriage moved around. I gave them the rest of the payment, satisfied that the machine was operating satisfactorily, they left, and I spent the rest of the day pouring over all the on-line literature and tutorial videos. The next morning, I decided to inspect the machine more closely, and to my horror, discovered that the head of the machine actually rocked on the carriage, as neither the left rear wheel nor the front right wheel were making full contact with the carriage. To add to this, two of the belts that operate the robotics of the machine are rubbing together and creating terrible drag as the machine is pulled forward. I immediately called the dealer and explained the problem and his response was "Oh yeah, I noticed that rocking motion before I left your place." I just about fell off my chair as I responded "And you left it that way???". He then promised to call the manufacturer and "get back to me" but I haven't heard from him since and it's been more than 24 hrs.
Quite honestly, this experience so far has been a bit of a nightmare - and my husband, who is extremely handy and mechanically inclined, is fuming but not willing to tinker with anything for fear of voiding the warranty.
Buying an expensive toy in our current economy was a big leap of faith on my part. Now, I'm wondering what I've done. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE to quilt and have made more than 25 quilts in the last several years - many of them Queen sized on a domestic machine. But after carpel tunnel surgery last year, a longarm with robotics was the only way I could myself able to continue doing what I love. I just hope I didn't make a mistake with the choice of machine and dealer.