Yesterday, I got so mad I thought my head was going to explode.
At the end of September, I took my Babylock Aventura sewing machine to the repair shop (at the store where I bought it about 4 years ago) because the bobbin thread sensor wasn't stopping the machine when the bobbin was empty. This is a single-needle machine with an embroidery unit that detaches so that the machine can be used as a "regular" sewing machine. I use it mostly for embroidery because I have an older machine that I can use for regular sewing. I've had the machine serviced regularly, and it costs about $300.00 every time. After the first service trip, I learned that I need to take the embroidery unit so that it can be cleaned and serviced, as well.
Last year, when I had this machine serviced, it made an unusual whining noise when I brought it home. It sewed okay for a week, then it began to make a grinding noise and the motor would stall for a few seconds before it began to sew. I took it back to the shop and told them that it had been making a strange whining noise ever since the servicing. I went back to the car to get the embroidery unit, and when I came back in the store, I overhead the two repairmen mocking me: "'It's making a funny noise,' like that's supposed to tell us anything." I ignored the mocking. We plugged up the machine, and when it powered up, it made the grinding noise and completely locked up. Scared the repairmen. They ended up installing a new motor, since the machine was still under warranty.
So, think back to September. I was in the middle of embroidering 24 tote bags for a friend. I would start the machine and walk away to do other things, and come back to find that the bobbin had run out of thread, and the machine had sewed and sewed but had not anchored the stitches. Halfway through the project, I gave up and took the machine to the shop to have them fix the bobbin sensor. The owner of the shop asked if I wanted the machine serviced, said that it would cost only a few dollars more. He also said I didn't need to leave the embroidery unit if it was working okay, so I brought it back home. A few days later, the shop called and said my machine was ready, and I went to get it.
I did not immediately try the machine. Our son and his family had just moved in with us, and the children were working on a science project in my sewing room. A few days later, I came down with "the crud" and for three weeks did not feel up to sewing. Once I was feeling better, I started back to work on the tote bag project. When the first color finished sewing, I noticed that the bobbin thread was showing on top of the fabric (not supposed to happen). The machine instruction manual indicated that there was a tension problem, either with the needle thread or the bobbin thread. I adjusted both tensions, one at a time. Didn't help.
I called the repair shop, knowing that they might give me trouble since it had been a month since they'd serviced the machine. I explained that I'd been sick and had just now tried the machine. They said bring it to them and they'd look at it. So I packed up the embroidery machine and the embroidery unit and took it back to the shop (which is 44 miles from my house). I also took before/after samples of the stitching.
When I arrived at the shop, they asked me if I was using "Finishing Touch" bobbin thread. I said no, whereupon they began to blame the embroidery thread for the problem. They said that Babylock recommends ONLY Finishing Touch thread, and that when they service machines, they set the tension for that specific thread. I told them that I had been using another brand of thread for three years and had never had a problem with it. They asked if the machine sewed properly for "regular" sewing. I replied that I never used it for "regular" sewing - which was not *quite* true, since on rare occasions I do use it for the built-in decorative stitches that my other machine doesn't have. They said they could set the tension for the bobbin that I use. They then said that it could be the embroidery unit, since I'd not had it serviced; that would cost an additional $50.00. I told them to go ahead.
They called Friday and said the machine was ready. I went to get it yesterday. I brought it home and set it up, and before I put on the embroidery unit, I decided to do some decorative stitching on a receiving blanket that I was making for a baby shower happening that afternoon. The stitching looked fine on top, but when I flipped it over, it was clear that the bobbin tension was wrong. The bobbin tension was so tight that the bobbin would not spin when I pulled the thread. I finished the receiving blanket on my other machine, went to the shower, then came home and loaded up the machine and the embroidery unit and took it back to the shop.
The owner of the shop went on the attack the minute I walked through the door. It was the thread, he insisted, not faulty servicing. He said if I would just use the recommended thread, the problem would be solved. He could not explain why the same thread had worked fine for three years. He about lost his mind when I told him to throw in a spool and I'd try it.
We almost got into a shouting match. He said they couldn't keep working on the machine for free. I told him it wasn't "free," for it was costing me gas and 2 hours of driving time every time I had to bring the machine back. I finally told him, "Call me when the machine is sewing right," and turned around and walked out.
The Husband will have to go pick up the machine when it's ready to keep me from going to jail.
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