No way is the sewing machine repair guy in this town EVER going to touch one of my babies!! This guy is an idiot, that tries, after I've told him what I want, to tell me that I don't know what I'm talking about and don't know what I need! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.....

I went in there today to see if he had any Singer Motor Lube for this 201-2 of mine with the "potted motor". He proceeded to tell me that Singer doesn't make or market a motor lube! (I know better!) and then tells me to just use sewing machine OIL on it!! (again, I KNOW better!) :evil: And this man wants me to trust him with my machines when they need tuned up or repaired!!

He has a couple of old machines in the shop for sale....a treadle, and I can't recall the name on it, but it's nice...he wants $300 for. The other is a Singer. When I asked him what the model was, he told me that Singer didn't have model numbers, they had serial numbers. I can't recall the last 3 numbers, but it's an AG 638*** so it's either a 17, 19, or 114. Allotted 1946, and only 300 of each model made that year. He wants $150 for it...and I'd be tempted to give it to him just to get it away from him if I had the money!

Be glad that you had enough sense not to trust this person :lol: Imagine what he is doing to the machines for people that don't realize he doesn't know what he is doing :shock:

All I can say is, OMG. This man is in the wrong business!

I can just picture Charlee giving this man what for......lol

Did you show him your war face? Give him that look that terrifies Moms give their kids?

It's sad that a person with no experience would accept his information as being reliable and have work done.

My SIL and a friend of hers had trouble with repairs of their modern machines. My SIL had a short in her foot pedal, he cut the cord and rewired, not it doesn't reach the floor.

Her friend went to the same place (at the same time) and had hers "tuned" up. After paying and bringing it home, when she opened the case her tension was in pieces. All they wanted to do was refund $50.00 of the $100 plus repair bill!! :( :(

She didn't speak up, and ended up buying a new machine elsewhere. I may have done that, but I would have gotten a full refund plus the cost of having the machine fixed elsewhere.

Thank goodness you knew what to do. He could have ruined your baby! I have a 201-2 and love it!

Good luck Charlee! :)

Charlee, you know so much about the old machines, I thought maybe you had a machine repair business yourself! Maybe you should, if that guy does, you'd knbow more than HIM!

Well there you go Charlee....a 2nd job!!! :thumbup:

Marsye, we need to find a job for you.....you could tell fortunes in a ciggy depot! LOL, you are probaly some beautiful lady hiding behind that awesome picture, LOL! Just cracks me up....

One of the many reasons I love living in a small town next to smaller towns. lol. Most won't take advantage of customers and certainly would not tell them they don;t know their own machines. What a bum!!! Funny about the machine for sale. Wish you could get it too and turn the tables on him. lol

I would print out everything with pictures right from the Vintage Singer websites and tell him he needs to get some smarts because his ignorance is embarrassing to have to listen to.

I have an aversion to know-it-all people! Good for you sticking to your guns!

I bought a tube of Singer Lube not long ago, it's a heavy grease shaped into a tube that you push into the round hole for the motor.

I agree, aren't you glad you know enough not to have him touch one of your machines.

Good for you Charlee!! Oh man....I'm soo glad he's not near me because I wouldn't have know the difference. I'm not all that knowledgable about the mechanics of my machines :oops:

Singer lubricant - found at JoAnns and larger Walmarts...
use for gears and potted motors...

says so right in the 221 (and other) manuals!

Good for you Charlee, Sorry to say lots of repairmen don't know what they are doing, we've had a furnace repairman tell me because I was able to get the furnace to come on, I had wiped the problem out of the computer and he couldn't tell what was wrong with it. He still charged me $90.00 for the service call, didn't even know how to get the door back on it. You can bet he won't be called again. Had a bad experience with an authorized Juki sewing machine dealer also.

Boy, you have to be careful, don't you? I just got a beautiful Singer treadle at an auction for $15.00!!! Now I need to find someone to carry up to my sewing room! Wish Billy lived closer so I could have him look at it!! They also had a white treadle, but the cabinet and machine were so beat up that no one even bid on it. Will post pix later.

Bless you taking your machine from this nut.
I ask a so called certified Pfaff dealer just to look at one thread tension on my machine. I told him NOT to do any repairs.
The idiot said no problem. He BROKE my machine. It cost me over $800 to get what he did repaired. Another Pfaff dealer that knew what he was doing. Now I tell every person I see don't let "Sewing in the Carolinas' touch your machine.
My friend went there they sold her a broke machine.
They would not take the machine back. Thank goodness she had paid by credit card. This was before we new each other.

I've certainly had my share of so called repairmen who supposedly knew their stuff. There is a certain dealership in Wichita FAlls TX that I refuse to darken their door for this very reason. Instead, I will drive the extra distance to Denton Sewing Center where they know what they're doing.

Charlee -- hopefully that was someone in Redmond and not Bend, right???????

My mother had a Singer.....the repairman was an idiot (I think he's dead now, so it's not the same guy). Mom couldn't sew more than 5 stitches before the thread would break. FINALLY, after 10-15 times taking it to the shop, after a new repairman came to town, the new one discovered a piece of sharp metal down in the machine where the needle goes in. I'm sorry to see repairmen haven't improved any over the years!!!!

Sharon, could this be the same guy who was working on your machine?

On the positive side, I wouldn't trust my machine with anyone but the guy who has worked on my machines for years. His name is John and he knows what he's doing. :thumbup: John!

Charlee, This almost makes you want to take a photo of this guy and post it at the local fabric shops witha caption" Don't let this man near your sewing machine" Susie

I can't believe someone like him is still in business. Most of us know our machines like the back of our hand. I feel bad for those who don't know how a machine should work and take theirs to him. Bad, bad, repair guy!!!!

Well, you don't actually grease the motor, you are filling up the motor tubes. You never want grease or oil in the motor rotors. Here is a hint that is in a machine REPAIR manual:


If your motor is running slow and just doesn't have any zip anymore, loosen
the clutch to disengage the needle and step on the gas. Run it at top speed
for a long time until you hear the motor change its sound. Then its run
itself clean. It might take 10 mins, but you will hear the change in the
motor's sound when it's finally cleaned.

You're right Bella, my objection was to his suggestion that I use OIL in the motor ports.

What you're lubing is the gears...you don't want the lube on the bushings, etc. Once the motor is lubed, then you run it to "throw" the lube away so that it's just a coating on the gears...

Or that's the way I understand it anyway...

Charlee your a better person than I!!

I would have punched him in the mouth!! :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Billy

Yep...this proves you don't have to have a brain to set up a business. Nothing peeves these kind of "repair" guys than a woman knowing more than they do. Rock on Charlee and I hope no-one gets ripped off by this charlatan.

Ouch, Thanks for all the informaion. My guy retired, and got dumb! He doesnt have the knowledge to work on the newer electronic machines without access to the company techs! Who knew?

Scary ain't it.

Charlee needs to drop this printed information off at the shop where they have hired an idiot to work on machines.
D in TX

OMG! We have the same problem here in El Paso. This guy says he specializes in Singers. I took my viking in to have him remove thread that got entangled inside. I left it and I didn't feel good about leaving it there. I went back 15 minutes later and they did not want to give it back. They had put it on the shelf. They wanted to charge me for doing nothing!! I left with my machine and $$.

LOL, love your idea, and I would soooo tempted to do it!!

I once took my Brother machine in and when I got it home (one hour one way) the side piece was TAPED on with scoth tape!!!
Took my Elna to Bernia dealer and when it got home the throat plate was not even, come on now, is this guy an idiot??? It went back with the message that I would not be paying any more $$$ to have it fixed.

I don't know much about the motors, what is a potted motor?

Grammy, a potted motor is one that is on a machine that is gear driven instead of belt driven. It's an enclosed (or "potted") motor on the back of the machine...if you go to page 12 and look at the pics I posted of my 201-2, there's a picture of what it looks like on the machine... :)

Bad part is Diana, he OWNS the shop!! :lol:

I have a third generation repair man I can go to in Mooresville. He stopped what he was doing and took the time to look at my Featherweight for me. I wanted him to see it before I used it (got it for my birthday last year). He went back into his work area and came out with a plug to put on the machine when the machine is in the case. Plug was vintage as my machine is. No charge. Small hometown business. And he said I had a nice looking machine too.

My thoughts exactly!

Have you thought about complaining to the better business bureau? I shudder to think of the damage he might do to our sewing machines!

I agree with Sylvia77, file a complaint with the BBB so there will be a file on him. I would tell the local fabric stores just in case someone else is looking for a sewing machine repair and for them not to send anyone to this character.