The sun is finally out

Who knew that it would just be starting to feel like summer in August? Finally it is warm and sunny here and the little gray dog has stopped fighting me when I try to take him out. Feels like it rained everyday for a year.

Unfortunately, the company I purchased my 7470 from e-mailed me on Monday and let me know that they will not give me my money back. I can return the machine but have to pay for the original shipping because it was free shipping on my end and they have to cover their costs. I understand that they had to pay to ship it to me, but it's not my fault they sent me a broken machine.

They will issue me a store credit (gee thanks, that's just what I want, another broken machine from you that I have to pay to ship). The store credit will be good for one year. I have to admit I'm a little pissed. I purchased from them because they had the best price on the machine ($299) and they offered free shipping.

Unfortunately I failed to read their return policy which says they will NOT offer ANY refunds, even for defective merchandise. They also stated that refurbished machines are a better deal because they come directly from the factory and are more likely to be in working order since they have been thoroughly checked by a technician (yeah right!). I've never purchased anything that I could not return and I feel tricked. Yes I should have read the policy, but who doesn't allow you to return something and get your money back if you're unsatisfied?

What ever happened to "the customer is always right"? or even "if you're unsatisfied for any reason we will return your purchased price"? You sent me a broken machine I don't want to take my chances with you again, why is that unreasonable? That's why I'm a tried and true L.L Bean shopper. If at anytime (even 20 years later) you're ever unsatisfied you get your money back no questions asked. They have the best customer service I've ever experienced and I will be a loyal customer for life. When it comes to customer service, they really "get it"

Sometimes there are some major benefits to purchasing from a local dealer, unfortunately I learned that the hard way.

In more happy news I did purchase another singer locally. It's a precision 7444 and works like a charm. Quick bobbin winding, see through bobbin case so I can tell when I'm going to run out of bottom thread, and fast straight stitches. Everything worked so well I was able to sew together all of my blocks for the old red barn quilt in about 3 hours. It's slightly smaller then a queen size and I'm debating whether I want to add borders to make it big enough to go on a queen bed.

K-

Oh the Frustration

My new singer 7470 arrived today and I am terribly disappointed. After many days of anxious waiting, the UPS man finally delivered my new machine. I promptly took it out of the box and noticed that the instruction manual was missing. That should have been my first indicator that things were not going to go as planned. I searched online and found the manual, but had to wait for E to bring it home from his work because there was no way I was printing 100+ pages (1/3 of which were in languages I can read) on my little home printer. When the downloaded manual arrived I immediately read it cover to cover and proceeded to begin winding my first bobbin when...disaster!!

I threaded the machine exactly as described in the instruction manual (and the same way I've threaded my old singer for years) and held the thread when I begin. Everything seemed easy as pie as I gently stepped on the foot control and waited for my bobbin to wind. Two seconds and about two rotations into "winding the bobbin" my new baby threw a fit. The machine beeped and the lcd screen went blank. I turned the machine off, re-threaded and re-read the instructions to make sure I was doing everything correctly, probably just a user error, right? WRONG! I can turn the machine off and turn it on again and the same thing happens (one or two rotations then the beep and the machine stops spinning the bobbin). I've looked everywhere on the internet, wrote both Singer and the company I purchased from and posted a "Please god help me" post on craftster in hopes that someone knows what I'm doing wrong. I'd like to think that someone else has experienced this and that it's just a little thing that I'm doing wrong, unfortunately I have a sad feeling that this is a computer problem and that I'm going to have to send the machine back. I'm trying to stay positive, but two weeks without my machine is just about enough to put me over the edge. I've already decided that if I have to send this puppy back I'm throwing caution (and good financial sense) to the wind and purchasing a Juki TL98 QE. I've heard nothing but good things about Jukis and I really don't need any of the fancy stitches or bells and whistles found on my machines these days.

Luckily tomorrow I'm headed up to Boston for the weekend for M's wedding so I'll have a little time to relax and cool off. I plan on working on my Telemark sweater which is taking me quite a bit longer then I anticipated. It's amazing the difference in how quickly fabric works up on a size 6 vs. size 8 needle. Yesterday I sewed the buttons on my orange baby raglan, so photos of that will be forthcoming.

K