Wow, $250 seems excessive for cleaning and small repairs. I had my 1031 (granted mine's mechanical, not computerized) done 3 years ago by the serviceman in Newport News, VA, who trains Bernina techs all over the USA, for less than half that. I'd make the 3+ hour drive to take any of my machines back to him. Occasionally he receives machines from servicemen/dealers who can't resolve problems on machines customers have brought to them.
Jan in VA