LRM

How long does it take for your dealer to make repairs? My Bernina has had to undergo two repairs recently and my dealer takes forever. Or at least it seems like forever. The first one took 3 weeks and this time I am now going on four weeks. Is this typical??

zozee

I think it largely depends on whether yours needs parts from another country, how intricate the repair is, and how experienced your repair person is and how many jobs they have in queue. For annual servicing at one shop took a week, at another it took two weeks because he had a lot of machines ahead of mine and he was the only repairman.

QuiltE

We have no idea as to the extent of repairs required for your machine.
Nor, whether your dealer has looked at it, and diagnosed the problem.

I've had my Bernina repaired in a few minutes, while I have waited in the shop.
Another time, it was diagnosed in a few minutes, but the part was no where in Canada.
It took 6 weeks for it to come from Switzerland. Meanwhile I was given a loaner machine.

As above, repair time is highly dependent on whether it is just labour, or parts required.
Then, the question whether your local dealer has the required parts in stock.
Or if it needs to be ordered in.
Some Bernina dealers keep an extensive parts inventory.
Some keep very little beyond the popular basics.
Mine is probably one of the larger stocked-dealers, but that one time, I was out of luck!

As you have now discovered, something that needs to be considered before making a purchase.
While they can't predict 100% the turnaround, they have a good idea.

Another factor that can affect turnaround ....
If you bought your machine there, it may get looked at faster
than someone who only comes with a breakdown, and no previous business with the shop.

rryder

It also depends on whether they have a full-time in-house tech. One of my LQS only has part time repair people (their repair folks keep trying to retire) and it takes forever. They once had one of my mechanical machines for nearly 2 months. I've had them take a week or two just to do routine cleaning/maintenance with no repairs necessary. I hate to say it, but that's why I won't buy a new machine from them (they are our local Brother dealer, so any machine under warranty would have to go through their repair techs). Much as I would like to support the local dealer, and they're very nice folks, I am not on board with having a machine out that long.

We have another local dealer (Babylock) who manages to get my machines back to me in 1 day, sometimes it only takes 1/2 day. They've done a great job for me with both the PQ1500s and the PC420. Their tech is full-time. They're the folks I'd go to to buy a new machine (if I could afford one LOL).

Some of the other places in town take as much as 2 weeks for a regular cleaning/tune-up on out-of-warranty/vintage machines--you drop them off and they send them out somewhere. For my mechanical vintage machines, I do the regular maintenance/cleaning--they've never really needed any adjustment--and not worth it to me to send them out.

We have a Bernina Dealer in town, but I don't have a Bernina, so don't know what their turn around time is.

Rob

QuiltE

Yup!
*shudder*
The number of "dealers" that send machines out to be serviced.
All too often, a Recipe for Disaster, IMHO!

UFOs Galore

I work at a shop with a repair tech. The lead time also depends on the time of year. In the springtime, many people put their machine away and forget about it. When they pull it out in the fall, it still has the same problems it did in the spring or they want it serviced for winter sewing. Summer is pretty dead with a quick turnaround. In the fall, sometimes you will have 2 or 3 machines a day brought for service. It also depends if the repair tech is any good. A good tech will have lots of customers. If you have a previous relationship with the shop, your machine can be "fast-tracked" in an emergency. But, that card cannot be played too often.

quiltedsunshine

We try to get them out in less than a week. Sometimes The Boss will start on a machine, then come back to it several times. Sometimes we only have time for the easy machines. The more difficult ones may need several hours, and when you're in the retail business, you don't get uninterrupted time. This Saturday, I fixed 4 machines while the customer waited (2 were simple, 1 was complicated, 1 was a mystery, but I really hope we got it right), and we only had a grand total of 2 employees running the store that day. One other customer wanted it while she waited, but it was frozen and squealing. I will have to go in extra early on Monday to get it done before the store opens. Sometimes we have a machine for over a month. That's when it takes uninterrupted time to figure out/take care of the problem or we can't get the part. We only send a machine back to Bernina, probably once a year.

Dolphyngyrl

My dealer has about 7 stores so it takes anywhere from 10days to 3 weeks depending on how many machines are in for service. I do agree parts from different companies can take a long time

Tartan

It depends on how busy mine is and I always ask what the wait is before they can get to mine. It is usually 2-3 weeks and I always try it out before I leave the shop.

Jingle

We have maybe one in my area. I haven't needed his service yet so don't know how his service or time to fix a machine is.