Originally Posted by
sewbizgirl
Ugh... that's not good. Stitch regulation is one thing I feel I really need. I was going to buy it from Sewing Machines Plus, clear across the country, so the tech support is going to be limited to phone conversations. I know they updated this machine not long ago... maybe because of the stitch regulators and their problems. I just need to ask some questions of them before I buy.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Sewbizgirl, this machine looks like a newer version of mine (Viking MegaQuilter 18x8 - which is a re-branded Tin Lizzie). I actually bought mine from SewingMachinesPlus as well, and my frame is a wooden Grace frame.
I've had my machine for about 10 years now, and absolutely LOVE it!! Any issues I've had with the encoders (which controls your stitch regulator), I was able to fix myself. I can't really say how SMP's service is, because I got most of my help from a Yahoo group (now a Facebook group) where everyone had the same machine. The moderator is actually a VMQ (Viking MegaQuilter) dealer, and she is absolutely the greatest at helping everyone, even those of us with older machines.
One thing to understand about SewingMachinesPlus - a lot of time, they get machines from the manufacturer where there was a whole "batch" of "bad" machines... then SewingMachinesPlus's techs would completely recondition the machines and sell at a cheaper price. In some ways, these "reconditioned" machines are actually better than "new", because they've been gone over with a fine-toothed comb, and issues/problems taken care of.
With all that said, I have to say I would definitely do it again, as I got a STEAL of a deal on my machine. And even after 10 years, she's still going strong. I do not have a robot system to go with it... and probably will not get one.
Whatever you decide, one thing that I HIGHLY recommend is that you find an online group (like I did) who all have the same machine, so you will have a ready resource of knowledge for learning about your machine.