i wish i had known
 

my elna jammed up and there was a new sewing machine repair shop in town so i took my elna to him.
I should have known he was not good with new machines as he only had old machines in his shop.
He told me he repaired and serviced my machine and charged me 60 dollars .
When i got it back it just would not run right skipping stitches and would not go over seams.
i than thought about taking my machine to the dealer that i bout it from he employes told me if this was my only machine take it else where as the owner of the shop has a tendency to lose sewing machines
Final my next avenue was to take it to a elna dealer i haed ordered several parts and other items to go with my machine .
it took three days for her to fix my machine the first guy did a lot of damage trying to adjust a elna that has a computer in it by hand it is now running like a dream taking it the 144 miles round trip was well worth the trip. It cost 124 dollars so it was not to bad i also found out that the walking foot the dealer that loses machines sells a person the wrong feet i bought a walking food from her and it was doing a lot of damage to my needle bar because it was the wrong one.

the moral of the story is know who is working on your machine

Nice to now know who you prefer to deal with but that was a frustrating way to have to learn.

Glad your problem was fixed.....sad though that help had to be that far away....

Sometimes trying to "make do" costs a lot more in time and money in the long run.

Yikes! You sure have been through the ringer with this. Glad it all worked out in the end, and you now know who to take it to when necessary. Thank you for the good advice.

I take my Bernina to a Bernina dealer to be serviced, and my Janome to a Janome dealer to be serviced. Anything one else could void a warranty if you have one.

I take my elna to the dealer that I bought if from, he's 500 miles away, and I'm sure that there's someone a whole lot closer, but I KNOW that he knows what he's doing and that he's not going to rip me off. I'm glad that yours is now up and running.

Again morale is take machine to dealer who deals in your machine and stick to walking foot for your brand of machine, most people learn hard way generic walking foot can damage your machine, cheaper in long run to buy matching walking foot.

It sounds like you have been through a nightmare! I had the same thing happen. When we moved here I needed someone to put my machine back together properly because the movers had taken it apart when they took it out of it's antique cabinet. I didn't know anyone in town so I took it to the local Singer dealer and he didn't know how to do it, although he said he did. I called and called for months until DH got tired of my complaining and went to get it. I ended up taking it to the Singer dealer out of town a ways but that old guy knew the machine and did a great job. It sewed just like it had for years previously. After that other people recommended the old guy out of town. He is no longer but the machine is doing great. Now that I have a Bernina I would never take it anywhere but to the Bernina shop that other's recommend, even if it was out of town. I've learned my lesson!

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.

I am lucky David Drummond has a terrific reputation and one of them is that he pays for the pickup and delivery, as long as you keep the original packing and box to use. I have used him for 10 years now with no complaints, so as CitrusCQ says, recommendations are a good thing to seek out before jumping into the unknown.

I service machines - all of them. I'm a certified warranty repair person for one of the major brands and service them on a casual basis for one of the shops in the city. I also service at home. If you walk into my house and the service area in the house you will NOT see any "new machines" unless a client has left one for servicing but it certainly doesn't mean that I'm not good with them. That's a pretty broad brush to paint with.