I found out long time ago if some one hates working on certain machines, don't let them work on yours. You'll hate the outcome. More than often it's nice time for a road trip and always have a back up or two.

Glad you finally got your baby fixed. I have a Bernina and always take it to the local Bernina dealership.

I too live about 175 mile round trip from my Pfaff dealer and am sometimes tempted to let the local Singer/Janome repair guy clean and tune it. But, I just tune in my Sirius radio and make the trip. The local guy is probably good since he works on computerized machines, but we spend way too much money on these machines to take a chance. Although, your experience was bad enough, I'm glad it didn't destroy your machine.

I'm glad your machine was restored and no permanent damage was done.

Jean,

I'm an old Arkie, too, and although I was transplanted to Florida more than 40 years ago, Arkansas is still home. I have family there and love the mountains! I'm stupid I guess, but I'm not sure where Saratoga is located. I am fortunate as far as my machines are concerned, I have a resident (my son) sewing machine mechanic (worked in that field for 14 years). Have a great day -- from one Arkie to another!

Jeanette

Sorry you had so much trouble but finally it is fixed so you can sew.

I love in North Wales, I bought my Elna from David Drummond in Edinburgh Scotland over 300 miles away and I ALWAYS have him service my machine, no thinking about it as we say over here "Horses for Courses" Elna, like other brands are specialist machines and need specialists to look after them. Sorry you found out the hard way but at least you found out before any more damage could be done.

Lots of people out there ready to take advantage. Glad you found some and can avoid them in the future.

So sorry to learn that you had to go through all of that to get the proper service. Happy to know that you have your machine back, but how frustrating. I try to do most of my own repairs, but there are times when you need a professional and I wish that people who don't know what they're doing would just admit it. It isn't a crime to admit you don't know, but to pretend you can fix something is just plain wrong. I have four FMQ feet that I tried to save money, dumb to do and I ended up spending more than if I'd bought the correct foot from the start. The one I have now is made for my Singer and it works like a charm. I'm getting better at knowing when to purchase the correct item, but egads it has taken a lifetime.

A friend of mine couldn't find anyone near her to fix her machine and I gave her the name of someone that was about 100 miles away that I had good service from. When she called and he found out the distance she was coming from she was able to arrange an appointment where he fixed it the same day so she only had one trip. Recommendations from friends and neighbors is a good way to find new service people.