My old trusty Singer sewing machine sprung a spring in the bobbin area. I could not fix it, so I took it to a repair man. Thankfully they gave me an estimate before they went to work. They wanted over $180.00. That is more than what I paid for it. So I took it back. It was only to put a spring back in place! :cry:

Sorry you are having problems with your machine. Do you have a stand by machine? That does sound like a lot of money to replace a spring, but maybe it is a time consuming thing to do. If there is another sewing machine shop in your area, you might try getting a second estimate. I hope you can find a solution, it isn't fun when a machine you use a lot and have a great relationship with is sick.

I had a wonderful old Kenmore that needed to be tuned up. Unfortunately, it would have cost me over $100. I gave the machine to the Salvation Army and bought a new Janome.

I have two others but I loved this machine.

My guess would be because repairmen don't live on air and have bills to pay. They have building rent and utilities to pay plus since it's their only job they also have homes and cars and such to pay for. Life ain't cheap.

The trick to avoid all this is to 1) marry a sewing machine repair man or 2) hope your daughter marries one and you can get family, servicing benefits:>

that would be great!

I think you just need to find another repair man! Yes he may be supporting his family, but so are you.

You are right about going to another repair shop.

That is so funny! LOL But right!!!!!!!!!!! Let's see....hmmmm.....one daughter isn't married yet. Maybe she could dump the significant other and start looking....oops :oops: Sorry got carried away there :lol:

I don't know. One place said $65 an hour and one said $85 an hour when I needed mine fixed. Guess where it went.

This is a good point, but why is the Pfaff dealer here cheaper than the Viking/Bernina/Brother dealer? So instead of taking my MQ to this dealer, I am taking it to the Pfaff dealer. It is the same machine as one of the Pfaffs just with a different name. I think sometimes they are higher than they should be.

I mainly service vintage sewing machines and I charge $65 + parts for the service and it is a complete service with the spa treatment, oil and polish to boot. I have tons of them coming in from all over the country thanks to everyone here on the board, and I have lots coming in locally. Because the local shops do not want to mess with the older machines it really adds to the mix.

The reason I can keep my prices so low is because I also am a parts distributor and I do it all here at my home and I have no overhead.

Billy

My Janome serger just had a colossion with the loopers hitting together. I need to take it in for repair.]
Hubby could always fix whatever, with my old Singer
but not sure I want him messing with this. Especially if there is any computerized stuff on it.
They told me with my White serger it would be $100.00 plus parts. WEll that was 2 years ago and the parts (only a thread guard) is still on back order. So I traded it in on the Janome.
Never buy a WHITE, you can't get repair.
Altho JoAnn's Fabric told me at the time that I could.

my dealer if you own a janome or baby lock or tin lizze you get one price for repare,if a different brand it is approx one third more

WHY DOES A TV MAN CHARGE SO MUCH? oR FOR THAT MATTER AN WASHING MACHINE REPAIR? iT'S JUST WHAT THEY CHARGE IN THEIR FIELD AND I GUESS TIME IS A MAJOR FACTOR...LOOK AT HOW MUCH AN TOLIET MAN CHARGE FOR UNSTOPPING IT? THE LIST COULD GO ON & ON! LOL...I COULD GET ON A ROLL WITH THIS ONE!

That's a lot of money! I am very fortunate, my hubby does all my repairs. He periodically takes all mine apart and cleans and oils them if needed.

For me its anything from 1860-1974, but most of the time the cut off is 1960 as far as the collectors are concerned.

Billy

When we tell someone the charge for making them a quilt we all hear: That much for making a quilt?! Ask the repairman to break the cost down to what you are paying for labor, service, and parts. You can find the price of the part online and if he is doubling the price just to oder it, you'll know. How long is his work guaranteed? Does he have a good reputation as being honest and dependable? The value of the job compared to the price is different to everyone.

Because you are not paying for what they do, you are paying for them knowing HOW to do it.

DID marry a sewing machine repair man. The only machines he services now are mine and a very few of his favourite old customers. I get mine done for free.

Isn't that the truth!
Took mine in to be cleaned, nothing major wrong. The bill was 175.00, oh well.....not much you can do.

Sorry! I had my Bernina in LQS for 6 weeks and they didn't even take the cover off yet. So picked it up and took it to another shop, Chestnut Ridge in Walnut Creek OH, they looked at it WHILE I WAITED, tried one part which didnt work and said they would have to order one and would take 2 weeks. Got the call to pick it up in one week. Total cost for replacing part AND completely going over the machine was $100.00!!! This is an older (25 years) electronic machine - runs like a dream again. If you are in this area, that is the place to go for machine repairs.

I was in the same situation, I have 2 trusty kenmores-took one in for just a tune-up [ 80 miles away] cost was 90.00 that poor machime hasn't been the same since-with that bad experience I really hesitate taking the second kenmore in...bought a brand new brother for under 200.00-alot more bells & whistles then the 2 kenmores put together but I still would like to have my old trusties for back up.

Having had been in a service biz I certainly understand that but.....where I live its 90.00 just for a cleaning/tune-up and they want to keep the machine for a week or more.

I agree there, paying them for what they know. Recently had the motherboard go out on my Pfaff. It took a few months waiting for the part to come in from foreign lands to the tune of $324.00, about a 1/3 of that was for labor. Two months ago, had our new flat screen TV go out, lucky for us it was still under warrenty. Tech I talked to said the repair could run over $600 and on up. We won't even talk about car part$.

Thank goodness I have a brother who is a Ford certified mechanic, or I would be walkig.

Wow my service man charges $45 for cleaning and the top I have seen in my area is $75. They are pricing themselves out of business. That is what is wrong with this country Greed. I call my service man and ask him how busy he is because I drive and hour where ever I go for service. He will tell me if he can get it done in a few hours or not and I arrange to shop and eat lunch with a friend while he does his thing. Guess I am spoiled. Some of my machines he has taught me to care for, but my Vikings he does.

Or, if you are at all nimble fingered, go into the sewing machine repair business yourself. LOL
I think part of the high costs are because to get the tiny little replacement spring in as fast a time as you want/need it the parts supplier charges through the nose and the repair person has to meet his costs and pay for his time etc.

I can see both sides to this as my husband is in a service industry and people dont understand why a small cat is more to shave then a lab (thats because cats can and do regularly eat you alive lol)


But I also think that it is pushing our society into a throw away society.
If it cost more or more then half to fix it why not just get a new one. The old one goes to the dumps.
If everyone did that then there would be no more repair man.

Think about it.
When was the last time you took a TV to the repair shop or even seen one.
I know for me that was 10 years ago and the TV was more expensive to repair then to buy a new one.



Just something to think about.

There are always two sides to a story.

(I am thankful I have found a groomer that doesn't charge $20 an hour to groom a poodle. I couldn't afford that. If I could work it would be different.)

I am trying to figure out what spring you are talking about. I have been sewing all my life and have never had my machines serviced. I take care of them myself. Cleaning and Oiling as needed ...mainly cleaning!!

I have an old single a 15K, that sews like a top. I paid 75.00 for it years ago. I wouldn't trade my singer for any machine.

Maybe you could explain the spring to me.

I take my Bellaboo to a groomer for a bath and nail clip every month. No grooming and it's $20 including tip.

The closest machine repairman to me is about 2 hours away so I have to include the price of gas, use of my car, and my time in the repair/service bill. I've only had one problem I couldn't repair myself and the man showed me how to repair it if it happened again. That is a good repairman and I send everyone to him that needs work on their machine.

Here is another way to look at it........

When someone wants to commission you to make a quilt for them and you give them a reasonable price for handcrafting them a nice full size quilt.

They look at you like your nuts because they could go to Cracker Barrel or BB&B and buy a quilt in a bag for 1/3 of what you just quoted them.

Your not going to give your work away and your not going to give them the materials at your cost. Your going to mark the price of materials up 10% and charge a fair amount for your labor.

Why should the guy repairing your sewing machine do it for free and charge half price for parts. You are paying for someones knowledge and expertise in that field just like you would for an auto mechanic, Dentist, Doctor, etc..

Like I stated earlier I service vintage machines and I charge a very fair price and the work that I do to them is over and beyond the call of duty compared to other sewing machine repair shops. They blow out the dust, oil it up and put on what ever part it needs and there you have it.

I tear them down to nothing more than just a case and start back from there.

Kerosene Spa treatments are a standard with me. As I put them back together I am cleaning and polishing every single part on the machine. I set the tension with a gauge top and bottom, and always include a piece of broadcloth with the stitching under the feed dogs to show you that it has been tested and runs like it should. And they never leave my bench without a good final polish!! :-D :-D

Billy

I mainly sew on vintage machines, which are mostly Singer and one Necchi Supernova. I usually spend $50 per machine at Estate Sales or Craigslist. I have two newer machines, a Singer and a Brother, but I absolutely love sewing on the vintage machines. I refuse to pay hundreds of dollars to repair a sewing machine. I guess it also depends on what one can afford.

Have you considered ordering the part and putting it in yourself? Check for instructions online - there must be something there! Good luck.

I do ask that too, be cheaper just to buy another sewing machine. But it isnt repairing the machine as the labor cost!
Anyway thats my thought on the subject.

and if we could find a good manual to repair our own machines, that would be great. We do it for other things like car, stove, ref, fans, even computer! so why not find a manual for our machines that tell us how to? I am all for it too.

You gals are so funny with your responses, that's why I luv this site. Fortunately, I have0several machines and I luv them all I keep them oiled and oay attentin to how they work. I also have found a reasonable repairan here in the atl. Good luck and always get several estimates (but smart quilter know this). Leamelon

Luckily I have a son who is very good at fixing things. He went and replaced a part in my machine and also services it regularly. Beats taking it to a shop. Just cleaning costs us $50 at the shop, but after watching the guy clean it once, (it was a rush job and told him I would wait) told DS what he had done and now he cleans it.