Originally Posted by Boater4444

I am experiencing this feeling at the moment but only because the Dealer that I bought my 18" Innova with AutoPilot is so new to longarm quilting that my buying experience has been absolutely horrible. I researched and test drove every single brand I could find for the past 4 years until I finally decided on the Innova and took the dive in March when the manufacturer had a great special on. I live just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and found an Innova dealer in Toronto so I figured "BONUS", since he is the ONLY Canadian dealer listed on the manufacturer's website. Well... first off, they "lost" my machine in transit. So the dealer's 7-day delivery promise turned into 21 days. When the machine was finally delivered, the dealer and his sidekick proceeded to put the unit together by reading instructions and arguing with one another about what went where and in what order. Talk about inspiring lack of confidence. They started at 12:30 pm and 8 hours later - and I mean a SOLID 8 hours later, no food or restroom breaks even though I offered coffee, etc., seeing as it was going on 8:00 p.m., they decided to wrap up and return another day to finish the job. After they left, I realized that the machine, as set up, was way too high for me, so made a note to point this out when they returned. Two days later, they returned, lowered the unit to my satisfaction, then spent another 4 hours finishing the installation. Having become understandably nervous by now that my $24,000. expenditure was a good investment, I asked them to demonstrate the machine. The dealer (and this is the owner of the shop) gave me a funny look and said "Of course!" whereby he turned it on and sure enough, the needle went up and down and the carriage moved around. I gave them the rest of the payment, satisfied that the machine was operating satisfactorily, they left, and I spent the rest of the day pouring over all the on-line literature and tutorial videos. The next morning, I decided to inspect the machine more closely, and to my horror, discovered that the head of the machine actually rocked on the carriage, as neither the left rear wheel nor the front right wheel were making full contact with the carriage. To add to this, two of the belts that operate the robotics of the machine are rubbing together and creating terrible drag as the machine is pulled forward. I immediately called the dealer and explained the problem and his response was "Oh yeah, I noticed that rocking motion before I left your place." I just about fell off my chair as I responded "And you left it that way???". He then promised to call the manufacturer and "get back to me" but I haven't heard from him since and it's been more than 24 hrs.

Quite honestly, this experience so far has been a bit of a nightmare - and my husband, who is extremely handy and mechanically inclined, is fuming but not willing to tinker with anything for fear of voiding the warranty.

Buying an expensive toy in our current economy was a big leap of faith on my part. Now, I'm wondering what I've done. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE to quilt and have made more than 25 quilts in the last several years - many of them Queen sized on a domestic machine. But after carpel tunnel surgery last year, a longarm with robotics was the only way I could myself able to continue doing what I love. I just hope I didn't make a mistake with the choice of machine and dealer.

Originally Posted by Boater4444

I am delighted to say that within hours of my above post, I received a personal phone call from Neal, the President of Innova. He was thoroughly gracious and professional. He apologized for the problems I was experiencing, admitting that the dealer had not been properly trained by Innova, particularly on the AutoPilot. He offered to fly an Innova technician from Houston to Toronto first thing in the morning to complete the installation. Now, THAT's customer service! As I am not running a business, I couldn't honestly say that my situation required that sort of urgency, so I agreed to give the dealer another chance, on the understanding that I would request an Innova technician, if the dealer failed to perform once again. Neal gave me his direct phone number and e-mail address and assured me that my installation would be completed to my 100% satisfaction at Innova's expense. I was very impressed and my confidence in Innova was restored.

The dealer returned that same evening, and spent a solid 2 hours tweaking the carriage assembly and belt drives to my satisfaction - as well as my husband's, who is very fussy. The machine appears to now be operating solidly, although I won't know for sure about the belts until I engage the AutoPilot. But as it stands, I'm a happy camper.

I am now looking forward to learning this machine inside and out and making some beautiful quilts. As for the dealer... well, let's just say he's more salesman than techie and he's got a huge learning curve. But I'm a generous spirit and I'm willing to work with him, knowing Innova will always be there for me.

Thanks Neal.

Originally Posted by Boater4444

I am experiencing this feeling at the moment but only because the Dealer that I bought my 18" Innova with AutoPilot is so new to longarm quilting that my buying experience has been absolutely horrible. I researched and test drove every single brand I could find for the past 4 years until I finally decided on the Innova and took the dive in March when the manufacturer had a great special on. I live just north of Toronto, Ontario, Canada and found an Innova dealer in Toronto so I figured "BONUS", since he is the ONLY Canadian dealer listed on the manufacturer's website. Well... first off, they "lost" my machine in transit. So the dealer's 7-day delivery promise turned into 21 days. When the machine was finally delivered, the dealer and his sidekick proceeded to put the unit together by reading instructions and arguing with one another about what went where and in what order. Talk about inspiring lack of confidence. They started at 12:30 pm and 8 hours later - and I mean a SOLID 8 hours later, no food or restroom breaks even though I offered coffee, etc., seeing as it was going on 8:00 p.m., they decided to wrap up and return another day to finish the job. After they left, I realized that the machine, as set up, was way too high for me, so made a note to point this out when they returned. Two days later, they returned, lowered the unit to my satisfaction, then spent another 4 hours finishing the installation. Having become understandably nervous by now that my $24,000. expenditure was a good investment, I asked them to demonstrate the machine. The dealer (and this is the owner of the shop) gave me a funny look and said "Of course!" whereby he turned it on and sure enough, the needle went up and down and the carriage moved around. I gave them the rest of the payment, satisfied that the machine was operating satisfactorily, they left, and I spent the rest of the day pouring over all the on-line literature and tutorial videos. The next morning, I decided to inspect the machine more closely, and to my horror, discovered that the head of the machine actually rocked on the carriage, as neither the left rear wheel nor the front right wheel were making full contact with the carriage. To add to this, two of the belts that operate the robotics of the machine are rubbing together and creating terrible drag as the machine is pulled forward. I immediately called the dealer and explained the problem and his response was "Oh yeah, I noticed that rocking motion before I left your place." I just about fell off my chair as I responded "And you left it that way???". He then promised to call the manufacturer and "get back to me" but I haven't heard from him since and it's been more than 24 hrs.

Quite honestly, this experience so far has been a bit of a nightmare - and my husband, who is extremely handy and mechanically inclined, is fuming but not willing to tinker with anything for fear of voiding the warranty.

Buying an expensive toy in our current economy was a big leap of faith on my part. Now, I'm wondering what I've done. Don't get me wrong - I LOVE to quilt and have made more than 25 quilts in the last several years - many of them Queen sized on a domestic machine. But after carpel tunnel surgery last year, a longarm with robotics was the only way I could myself able to continue doing what I love. I just hope I didn't make a mistake with the choice of machine and dealer.