I had the same problem as nabobs. The thread kept breaking and I couldn't get it to go through the notch on the top. I went back to the LQS and they popped the the thread right through. I decided that they were not for me, and I didn't want to spend so much on the spiral threading needle. I bought a inexpensive needle threader and some needles with slightly larger eyes and that worked great and only cost a couple of dollars. Worked for me.
Sue