I purchased a Pfaff Grand Quilter and Imperial Frame in Dec last year, and have had an absolutely brutal time getting it going. Putting the frame together was a nightmare. Had missing parts, took weeks and weeks to get everything in. OK, so now it's all together and I'm practicing away. Have done practice quilts and exactly ONE quilt.

Went back to the dealer for a training session on how to load the quilts in the frame and it was useless - they didn't end up wanting to actually unload what they had on the frame (a sample for playing with the qbot) and just talked through the process. The dealer is an hour away, I wasn't happy with this waste of my time.

Ordered leader cloths, they've never come in, and they keep promising. I gave up on that.

Tackled it again this weekend, put another practice piece together and got into a nice rhythm and ready to try it out on quilt #2 - a cuddle quilt. As soon as it goes onto this quilt, the stitches go horrid, the frame won't move on the fabric, and needles are breaking.

Got some titanium needles, and break these too! The darning plate is bowed and won't stay in place.

Made an appointment with the dealer this morning to take the Pfaff back for a checkup. Confirmed hours. Get off work early, drive an hour, arrive at his shop an hour before they're supposed to close ... and they are CLOSED.

So I'm really really grumpy. I figure they can make a house call now. Sure looking forward to that conversation with them tomorrow morning ... or with Pfaff if the dealer isn't seriously offering substantial recognition of wasting my time.

Well, that was a nice rant, and I don't even feel better about it yet :( Thanks for listening :)

that is terrible, I would contact Corporate office and complain, explain to them how this dealer is treating you, I'm sure they have had other complaints

take care and hope you get it resolved soon

Wow. I'd feel more than grumpy. Hang in there:<

Grumpy would be nice for me after all that :wink: Hang in there , and hard as it might be , try to be nice until they figure this all out. Don't want them making you wait any longer or making it worse

I am so sorry to hear that you have had to go through all of this :( I hope that you can get it satisfactory resolved tomorrow!!!

call Phaff direct and complain, they need to know that dealership is bad and not offering good service at all, so they can get rid of them

How discouraging!!

My first reaction would be to give them hell. But that would probably not get you anywhere too fast. :-( Try to calmly call Corporate & tell them about all of your fiasco's with this situation & Dealer. Ask them to please come up with a solution for you, so they will not have a very dissatisfied Customer that could really give a bad reputation to their name. They took your money & you just want to be able to happily use what you purchased. Sounds fair to me. :wink: I hope you get this resolved quickly.

I agree with Gramof6....totally.

BTW - I have a Grand Quilter....when it acts like yours (hangs up,stitching is horrible) it's because I haven't moved the back bar UP. As it gets fuller, you have to move it up so it's not dragging on the bed of the machine.

Good luck!

My Girlfriend was having trouble with her handy quilter. The lady came out fixed the problem were over a hour from the shop. Sometimes we take the top in they fix it and will go back and get it . I would call and talk to the manager if you don't get help there call head quarters.
Tell them if you don't get the help you need for it to run like you paid for it to do then you want your money back. Your going else where. And last but not least your telling the board not to buy from them. If that doesn't help CALL ME

I do hope you can get this resolved quickly! They wouldn't want to deal with me in this situation. My DH calls me a Rabid Pit Bull, lol!! Please keep us posted as to how the situation is resolved!!

That is truly TERRIBLE customer service, and at the price of the equipment you bought, it is really unacceptable.

You should contact Pfaff and tell them of your experience. And tell them you WILL NOT be recommending that dealer to anyone you know. Hopefully that will motivate them to do somthing about it.

Good luck!!

I agree - call the corporate headquarters - you've been patient far longer than I would've been. Hope you get it fixed soon.

I would cry!! Hope you get the help that you need!

Sorry for your run into trouble with this machine and dealer.

Only suggestion I have is to document, document, document...every call and visit. It may be months before it's resolved and you won't remember what they promised 2 months earlier. Who did you talk to (even Phaff Customer Service), what did they say, what's a case number, what happened, when were things ordered, when did they arrive.

We had a situation with a JERK that lasted 4 months and I had EVERY LIE he told us written down (by date and time) from day one. When I filed a complaint with the BBB, it was very easy to retype ALL THE LIES to their online form.

Aw, sending some hugs! I would be grumpy too, I am sure you really want to quilt on it, not be fixing it all the time! Good luck, hopefully theyhelp you SOON!

yep, document, document, document! And hugs.

Excellent advice! I'm afriad I'd be foaming at the mouth or broken down in tears; maybe a bit of both. I hope this is resolved quickly for you!!

I would be blowing my stack if they were not there when I called to get it fixed. I would keep a record of what is said and when. This way there will be a quick fix with the company and make sure that you tell them that you are on quilting boards and will share the results of your conversations with about 2 thousand quilters on the internet. This usually will light a fire under a bottom. And you might want to ask for a manager when you call into the phaff company. I don't speek with "pee-ons" when it comes to troubles that I am having with equipment. Especially when I am getting the run around.

Two words: Please advise. Adding those two words to the end all correspondence about a problem or complaint shows you are expecting results.

I agree to contact corporate and would request a new machine. Great advice from all. Sweetness will get you farther than being angry. I would ask for someone to come to my house, if they balk at that, is your LA still under warranty. Ask them to replace it or take it back if they can't help you. Then you can look for a replacement and know what questions to ask to investigate your next LA. So sorry, good customer service is so hard to find.

Oh, I would be grumpy too. I hope everything works out.

Linda, this is very frustrating for you as well as infuriating. So sorry this is happening to you. It is best to be polite but firm and persistent when contacting corporate. Be specific in your description of the problems and the lack of resolution. Then follow up and don't let the ball drop. Ask for the name of a contact person and latch on to him or her until you get satisfaction. Good luck.

did you call today and get anything resolved

Called the dealer today - the fella I spoke with (happens to be the owner) in the morning and made the appointment with, well, he was tired and went home early.

Yah.

So rather than have me bring my machine in he thought they could mail the part --- I said he could courier thanks. Then one of the other staff took the phone away from him (so they could read the writing of where to send it) - great idea. At least she had a titch of apologies that this had happened.

At work, my fish name (anyone familiar with the 'fish philosophy'? - actually rather fun way to build a cooperative corporate culture ... http://www.charthouse.com/content.aspx?name=home2) was "Barracuda" - I'm the technical support and get to solve all sorts of issues, so have lots of practice documenting and being polite but firm. Have no problem going up the ladder to get resolutions and restitutions.