A crafts forum. CraftBanter

If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Go Back   Home » CraftBanter forum » Textiles newsgroups » Sewing
Site Map Home Register Authors List Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read Web Partners

Most popular sewing-embroidery machines



 
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old January 19th 04, 01:18 PM
Terry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Most popular sewing-embroidery machines

We are still on the search for a good machine that does both sewing and some
embroidery. Pfaff, Brother, Janome, etc are on the list being considered. We
are interested in a good machine, a mainstream machine that a lot of sewing
folks own, a machine that is well supported by the company, a machine that
seems to have a lot of support from 3rd party sellers of software and useful
gadgets. For example, I had a great beta videotape player years ago. The
beta format vanished leaving me with useless tapes and an unsupported
machine. I don't want this to happen with a $2k sewing machine.

Since we are just getting back into sewing after 20+ years of not doing it,
we need help with this. Again, what is a reliable, well supported
sewing/embroidery machine that folks enjoy using. I'm sure there are several
good makes and maybe or maybe not the ones I've already mentioned are on the
"good" list. We just don't know and don't want to trust the retailers.

Thanks!!




Ads
  #2  
Old January 19th 04, 02:56 PM
Polly Esther
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Things to think about: Where will you be if you buy a machine and there is
no local qualified and acceptable support? If you are willing to box one up
and ship it back (and they will take it back) if it turns out to be a
bummer, that's one thing. If you just must have closeby support, that's
quite another. It won't do you much good to find that "X" brand is the
favorite but there's nobody around to troubleshoot for you (if you need it.)
What I'm saying is - I have the finest serger in the world, but I am
really out here "on my own" with it. Nobody within a 100 miles to help if it
goes wonky and the nearest dealer has not been to charm school, for sure.
Good luck on your quest. Polly

"Terry" wrote in message
t...
We are still on the search for a good machine that does both sewing and

some
embroidery. Pfaff, Brother, Janome, etc are on the list being considered.

We
are interested in a good machine, a mainstream machine that a lot of

sewing
folks own, a machine that is well supported by the company, a machine that
seems to have a lot of support from 3rd party sellers of software and

useful
gadgets. For example, I had a great beta videotape player years ago. The
beta format vanished leaving me with useless tapes and an unsupported
machine. I don't want this to happen with a $2k sewing machine.

Since we are just getting back into sewing after 20+ years of not doing

it,
we need help with this. Again, what is a reliable, well supported
sewing/embroidery machine that folks enjoy using. I'm sure there are

several
good makes and maybe or maybe not the ones I've already mentioned are on

the
"good" list. We just don't know and don't want to trust the retailers.

Thanks!!






  #3  
Old January 20th 04, 12:44 AM
the other one
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

"Polly Esther" wrote in message hlink.net...
Things to think about: Where will you be if you buy a machine and there is
no local qualified and acceptable support? If you are willing to box one up
and ship it back (and they will take it back) if it turns out to be a
bummer, that's one thing. If you just must have closeby support, that's
quite another. It won't do you much good to find that "X" brand is the
favorite but there's nobody around to troubleshoot for you (if you need it.)
What I'm saying is - I have the finest serger in the world, but I am
really out here "on my own" with it. Nobody within a 100 miles to help if it
goes wonky and the nearest dealer has not been to charm school, for sure.
Good luck on your quest. Polly


And in this same vein, check carefully the reputation of the dealer
you intend to use for troubleshooting, advice, repairs. Our local
dealer is just nuts when it comes to repairs and customer service. I
not too politely told one of them just what I thought the last time
the sales girl told me my machine could not make a stitch without a
new PRESSER FOOT!! Excuse me, it was doing just fine until the timing
slipped out. We got into quite a shouting match right in the store,
and I took my broken machine home and fixed it myself! Parts are
another problem. It takes these people over 6 months to get anything.
I now take my machines to another place, totally service oriented, an
hour and a half's drive away. And how long will it take them to fix
it? This place wouldn't touch anything until all the replacement
parts they want me to buy come in, which means my machine could sit in
their store for 6 months or more. And I sew for a meager living!
  #4  
Old January 20th 04, 02:52 AM
Polly Esther
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. Polly

"the other one" wrote
And in this same vein, check carefully the reputation of the dealer
you intend to use for troubleshooting, advice, repairs. Our local
dealer is just nuts when it comes to repairs and customer service. I
not too politely told one of them just what I thought the last time
the sales girl told me my machine could not make a stitch without a
new PRESSER FOOT!! Excuse me, it was doing just fine until the timing
slipped out. We got into quite a shouting match right in the store,
and I took my broken machine home and fixed it myself! Parts are
another problem. It takes these people over 6 months to get anything.
I now take my machines to another place, totally service oriented, an
hour and a half's drive away. And how long will it take them to fix
it? This place wouldn't touch anything until all the replacement
parts they want me to buy come in, which means my machine could sit in
their store for 6 months or more. And I sew for a meager living!



  #5  
Old January 20th 04, 03:18 PM
Terry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Thanks to all who have responded so far. Unfortunately, no one has responded
to the initial question below. Anyway, I have a new question.

We are currently looking at a Brother 8500D. (my wife goes nuts if there is
a Disney character on anything). She has tried out the machine. I spent time
going through the PE-5 software. Brother manual seems readable and software
understandable. People in the store are helpful and pleasant. They will give
3 hours of help (class) and claim that is worth $600. They give a 20%
discount card for purchases in the store. For all this they want $2200.
Online the machine is $1500.

That's one heck of a difference. On the service, the store will service
their own machines but will send any not bought there back to Brother. The
store will sell the software, thread, stabilizer, couple of classes, with
the machine for $2900. This seems awfully expensive for a machine that, when
sold for $1500, still provides a profit to the retailer. $2200 -1500=700.
$700/1500 is a 46% mark up!! It seems to me that this is excessive! We know
that a store has overhead and employees and needs some profit. But so does a
car dealership and they don't markup 46%!

Could anyone provide some ideas on how and where to buy the Brother 8500D??

--
http://www.pbase.com/tvacha
"Terry" wrote in message
t...
We are still on the search for a good machine that does both sewing and

some
embroidery. Pfaff, Brother, Janome, etc are on the list being considered.

We
are interested in a good machine, a mainstream machine that a lot of

sewing
folks own, a machine that is well supported by the company, a machine that
seems to have a lot of support from 3rd party sellers of software and

useful
gadgets. For example, I had a great beta videotape player years ago. The
beta format vanished leaving me with useless tapes and an unsupported
machine. I don't want this to happen with a $2k sewing machine.

Since we are just getting back into sewing after 20+ years of not doing

it,
we need help with this. Again, what is a reliable, well supported
sewing/embroidery machine that folks enjoy using. I'm sure there are

several
good makes and maybe or maybe not the ones I've already mentioned are on

the
"good" list. We just don't know and don't want to trust the retailers.

Thanks!!






  #6  
Old January 20th 04, 07:13 PM
Pat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I bought my Brother online and have sewed with it since. It has not needed
service, and is now out of warranty. My "local" dealer is 45 minutes from
me by freeway, but will fix any kind of machine, so I have help available if
I need it. I bought the machine for HALF of what they wanted at the dealer,
and would do it again.

"Terry" wrote in message
t...
Thanks to all who have responded so far. Unfortunately, no one has

responded
to the initial question below. Anyway, I have a new question.

We are currently looking at a Brother 8500D. (my wife goes nuts if there

is
a Disney character on anything). She has tried out the machine. I spent

time
going through the PE-5 software. Brother manual seems readable and

software
understandable. People in the store are helpful and pleasant. They will

give
3 hours of help (class) and claim that is worth $600. They give a 20%
discount card for purchases in the store. For all this they want $2200.
Online the machine is $1500.







  #7  
Old January 20th 04, 10:03 PM
Terry
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

where did you buy? Also, any hassle with help from your local store?

terry



--
http://www.pbase.com/tvacha
"Pat" wrote in message
...
I bought my Brother online and have sewed with it since. It has not

needed
service, and is now out of warranty. My "local" dealer is 45 minutes from
me by freeway, but will fix any kind of machine, so I have help available

if
I need it. I bought the machine for HALF of what they wanted at the

dealer,
and would do it again.

"Terry" wrote in message
t...
Thanks to all who have responded so far. Unfortunately, no one has

responded
to the initial question below. Anyway, I have a new question.

We are currently looking at a Brother 8500D. (my wife goes nuts if there

is
a Disney character on anything). She has tried out the machine. I spent

time
going through the PE-5 software. Brother manual seems readable and

software
understandable. People in the store are helpful and pleasant. They will

give
3 hours of help (class) and claim that is worth $600. They give a 20%
discount card for purchases in the store. For all this they want $2200.
Online the machine is $1500.









  #8  
Old January 20th 04, 11:26 PM
Pat
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

I bought my Embroidery machine from a place in Florida, but I can recommend
www.MrVacandMrsSew.com They were very prompt and their price was
all-inclusive with tons of information available on the machine. There are
other reputable on-line dealers too, which I am sure others will be able to
post for you.......

"Terry" wrote in message
t...
where did you buy? Also, any hassle with help from your local store?

terry



--
http://www.pbase.com/tvacha
"Pat" wrote in message
...
I bought my Brother online and have sewed with it since. It has not

needed
service, and is now out of warranty. My "local" dealer is 45 minutes

from
me by freeway, but will fix any kind of machine, so I have help

available
if
I need it. I bought the machine for HALF of what they wanted at the

dealer,
and would do it again.

"Terry" wrote in message
t...
Thanks to all who have responded so far. Unfortunately, no one has

responded
to the initial question below. Anyway, I have a new question.

We are currently looking at a Brother 8500D. (my wife goes nuts if

there
is
a Disney character on anything). She has tried out the machine. I

spent
time
going through the PE-5 software. Brother manual seems readable and

software
understandable. People in the store are helpful and pleasant. They

will
give
3 hours of help (class) and claim that is worth $600. They give a 20%
discount card for purchases in the store. For all this they want

$2200.
Online the machine is $1500.











  #9  
Old January 21st 04, 07:57 AM
Claire Owen
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default


"Terry" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Thanks to all who have responded so far. Unfortunately, no one has

responded
to the initial question below. Anyway, I have a new question.

We are currently looking at a Brother 8500D. (my wife goes nuts if there

is
a Disney character on anything). She has tried out the machine. I spent

time
going through the PE-5 software. Brother manual seems readable and

software
understandable. People in the store are helpful and pleasant. They will

give
3 hours of help (class) and claim that is worth $600. They give a 20%
discount card for purchases in the store. For all this they want $2200.
Online the machine is $1500.

That's one heck of a difference. On the service, the store will service
their own machines but will send any not bought there back to Brother. The
store will sell the software, thread, stabilizer, couple of classes, with
the machine for $2900. This seems awfully expensive for a machine that,

when
sold for $1500, still provides a profit to the retailer. $2200 -1500=700.
$700/1500 is a 46% mark up!! It seems to me that this is excessive! We

know
that a store has overhead and employees and needs some profit. But so does

a
car dealership and they don't markup 46%!

Could anyone provide some ideas on how and where to buy the Brother

8500D??

--
http://www.pbase.com/tvacha
"Terry" wrote in message
t...
We are still on the search for a good machine that does both sewing and

some
embroidery. Pfaff, Brother, Janome, etc are on the list being

considered.
We
are interested in a good machine, a mainstream machine that a lot of

sewing
folks own, a machine that is well supported by the company, a machine

that
seems to have a lot of support from 3rd party sellers of software and

useful
gadgets. For example, I had a great beta videotape player years ago. The
beta format vanished leaving me with useless tapes and an unsupported
machine. I don't want this to happen with a $2k sewing machine.

Since we are just getting back into sewing after 20+ years of not doing

it,
we need help with this. Again, what is a reliable, well supported
sewing/embroidery machine that folks enjoy using. I'm sure there are

several
good makes and maybe or maybe not the ones I've already mentioned are on

the
"good" list. We just don't know and don't want to trust the retailers.

Thanks!!







You could try bargaining with the store point out the online price and see
if they are willing to meet you somewhere in the middle. Point out that you
are going to become a loyal customer upgrades ,servicing, attachments etc
etc. The worst they can say is no.
Claire


 




Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

vB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump

Similar Threads
Thread Thread Starter Forum Replies Last Post
Sewing Machine FAQ Diana Curtis Quilting 0 November 3rd 04 12:47 AM
"Old" Singer Sewing Machines Pauline O'Connell Quilting 12 October 20th 04 12:53 AM
Vintage Singer Sewing Machines Regina Quilting 21 January 18th 04 08:01 PM
Books about Stitches - longish list Dianne Lewandowski Needlework 20 August 8th 03 07:27 AM
CHINESE EMBROIDERY HISTORY & MORE Zoe Marketplace 0 August 7th 03 06:46 AM


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 11:37 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.6.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Copyright ©2004-2024 CraftBanter.
The comments are property of their posters.