I took my Brother CS-6000i in because the bobbin case was causing issues as well as my needle kept…read morehitting and breaking. I called before I went and was told that a general cleaning started as low as $24.99 and went as high as $89.99, but averaged about $69.99. I took it in without doing much research into other repair locations because it was the closest to my house and I was part way through sewing a quilt.
On arrival, about 25 mins after calling, there was a Masks Required sign on the door, which I was wearing one. I went in and the bells on the door rang. I stood at the counter in an empty showroom for almost 5 minutes, finally calling out, "Hello?". No one came. My machine was heavy by then, so I shifted around to the side of the counter and when I placed my machine up, I must have made enough noise that I was noticed from the back room. There were several masks scattered around the employee side of the counter, but the staff member never put one on, and another employee entered behind me and they did not put one on either, though they stood at the counter and talked to the first person.
The staff member glanced over my machine, turned the knob and noticed the needle was hitting, wrote my information down. Questioned the zip code I gave him, even though I've lived at this address for over 3 years, then wrote down that it would be $69.99....with almost zero time spent looking at the machine. BTW, they have signs all over their location advertising that they are Singer and Baby Lock dealers....I should have left at that point.....or the gentleman should have told me when I called that he doesn't specialize in Brother machines.
I returned 4 days later after receiving an abrupt phone call telling me it was ready. When I went in, a different staff member, still unmasked, was on her cell phone. She proceeded to "help" me while dealing with customer service about her personal business. On the notes section of the sheet, it says that my needle plate is worn, but it's not worth replacing at $69.95, so I should just buy a new Baby Lock Joy machine for $250.00. I LOVE my Brother machine, but I sat down at the Baby Lock and wasn't impressed with the plastic, cheap machine that was there. If I'm going to upgrade my machine, it should be an upgrade, not a cheaper machine!
I got home after a bill of $122.11, $69.99 for the "tune up", $2.98 for a needle, thread an bobbin....which I had brought a bobbin loaded in my machine and received a different bobbin back, and $39.99 for "labor".
Immediately at hmy machine acted as it did prior to my dropping it off. The bobbin case was jamming and cutting the top thread while still in the process of loading it and the needle was still hitting the needle plate...which hadn't been replaced.
I called the company and because I was working on my machine I put the phone on speaker. My husband and I were shocked at the rude tone the staff member used when I said that my machine was still not working. She told me to "bring it back in if it doesn't work", then hung up on me.
My husband decided to take a look at it and inside there were several screws and bolts that were not tightened, and the belt was partially off (which shouldn't have been maneuvered in the first place.
Needless to say, my husband solved the machine's issues and I wish I had saved the money in the first place.
Edit to add: The owner called the following Tuesday to explain that an error had been made and the receipt had been misinterpreted by a new employee. He had not meant to charge me the $69.99, but had been out of the store when I arrived, and if I brought my machine back in, he was willing to refund the money. I appreciate that he took the time to call and fix the problem.
