Ugh awful. And here you went and gave them 20 when you were so sure you were getting such a wonderful deal! Gah! I have been fairly fortunate so far not to have horrifying breakage stories, but I am young in this hobby so there's plenty of time!
So far as over paying...I am not so sure my Pfaff 130 was a great bargain even though I talked them down to 40.00. I was blind and in love from the moment I saw it and there was no hope for me. It had missing cords, belt, foot controller, bent spool pin, the wrong motor mount, the usual bad bobbin tire and no box or table. Later I found it also has a broken off cast iron foot. Sometimes you just can't stop yourself!