I have bought many accessories from Sewing Machines Plus and have had absolutely no problems. What I mean by accessories, is sewing machine feet, extra screws to keep the various feet screwed on, a couple of extra
shanks. Never had a problem.

I bought my longarm from them. I have not had any problems with the machine I bought from them. I do not have a local dealer so was happy there was a place that had a good rep to buy from. I will do business with them again in the future.

Had no problem having my local dealer do a warrantee servicing. Why would they turn it down? This is covered by the manufacturer and they will be paid. Its like if you buy a Honda, do you have to have it serviced at that same dealer? You can go to any authorized Honda dealer -and once outside the warrantee, "Joe's Japanese car Repair" will be happy to do the work. They want the business.
I do think it is worth checking to see if the local dealer can come close to the price. When I did that, however, they would not give me an answer over the phone and told me I would have to come in person (an hour drive). I purchased online and never been sorry.

I many years I have never taken a class even when buying from a dealer, so that holds no weight with me and the few we have around here are expensive and being retired money is very limited so price is deciding factor. They come with manuals and that is all I have ever needed. I am very mechanical and good at figuring things out for my self.

Jackie, I recently bought the floor model demo Baby Lock Tiara from my local dealer. It was about a year old and I paid $4500 for it because it was the demo. I did not get the Stitch Regulator, which would have added about $800 onto that price. The updated Tiara has a timer on it so you know how much time you've put into quilting something for a customer and something that warns you when your bobbin thread is running low. I decided I didn't need either of those. The original warranty is good on the demo. I also get a class that I've scheduled for the middle of this month. I was tempted by the pricing at Sewing Machines Plus too, but decided to go with the demo instead. It was already set up and I knew it worked well.

I bought my sewing machine online but I wasn't spending a huge amount but the place I bought it from was great about an issue I had. the needle threader was broken during shipment and they mailed a replacement immediately, no questions asked. of course I didn't need lessons or anything and ive even bought accessories from them since but I live in a rural area and the nearest dealer of any kind is almost 100 mi away that's probably why I haven't invested in a high dollar machine that's a long drive for a couple lessons. I bought lots of stuff online because its a pain to have to get in the car and drive 50-100 miles to buy something I can have shipped in a couple days.
Carla m

oh the retailer was kens sewing machines in case anyone was wondering.
carla

I have never heard of Sewing Machines Plus, but, I have ordered many items online. Except for one person on E-Bay, I didn't have any problems. I have ordered sewing machines, rulers, fabrics. you name it. Except for that one time, it went through fine.

I've always bought my machines from the local store and I'm glad I did. The classes were awesome. I learned about a lot of things that I probably wouldn't have figured out on my own. Plus, their service is great. I want them to be around when I need them so I'm buying from them. If I have to pay a bit more, I'll just wait a little longer and save up the money. To me, its worth the extra to keep the local guys around for support.

Here is my recent shopping for a new machine experience.

I live in SoCal so you would think I had a lot of choices...but when I narrowed down the brand I wanted I had much fewer, so I expanded my search area and found a few more. I went to 5 different stores. I drove over 50 miles to one.

The prices varied but not really all that much. 2 did not do trade-ins and 1 has a monopoly in the area by having a lot of stores. They were my worst experience because it was most like going to an auto dealership.

One was nice and friendly and thought I wanted to buy from them even though they were about 30 mins away. However, trying to get them on the phone was a real trick. I finally talked to them again and agreed on a price, then they didn't have any in stock, was going to find me one locally and call me back....I called twice to see what the status was and then I got tired of wondering and figured I better move on. I did...and bought one at a different store (one that didn't do trade-ins)

Turned out they gave me the same price w/o the trade-in and now I have my other machine to sell and when that happens I will have gotten a very sweet deal. BTW - that store called me about 2.5 weeks later to say my machine was in....they ordered it new. Told them sorry...you never returned my calls and so I assumed they didn't like me. :)

Overall - machine dealers are very much like used car salesmen in my book. I hope to never buy again.