I would like to begin this review on a positive note, the store manager, Carl, is very polite and well informed of the sewing machine products the store carries. He fully explained the benefits of each machine I was interested in purchasing. I did decide on purchasing a machines, I also wanted to trade in a machine I purchased from the Norfolk store in 2011. It is a very high end machine, the value they were willing to give me was $150, which is their right to offer; however, the value is way below the average price for the machine. Which is around $500-$900. The product was the floor model, of course I thought I would be getting a brand new, never out of the box machine. One can only hope that the floor model is indeed barely used, as I have no idea how long it has been a demo. About 5 hours after I finalized the purchase I found a machine with many more options, as well as a much lower cost. Both brands, Brother NX700, which was purchased from Tidewater, and Juki either the QVP or the Elegant are at the same level of performance and quality. Prior to purchasing the Brother machine from Tidewater the NO REFUNDSpolicy was not explained,there is in small print on the receipt some verbiage informing the consumer what may happen if an invoice is not paid in 30 days, where as the words NO REFUNDS is listed. One can easily wonder if the terms are no refunds on merchandise not picked up or purchased from the store. I called the manager asking to return the machine, please note the machine was never out of the box let alone my car at this point. During the call is when Carl informed of the no refund policy. He did ask me why I wished to return the machine I was very honest and let him know that the Juki was about $500 less that the Brother. Carl called corporate office of which they would not budge on the policy. Nor did they try to offer me a better deal on the machi8ne I purchased. Should I take some responsibility, yes, perhaps I should have asked not doing so could easily be viewed as my oversight. Would it have been appropriate for the corporate office to refund my money, even if the said they would charge a 10% restocking fee given that the machine never left my car. I think the answer is very clear, yes, they should have as doing so would have made this review at least 4 stars for customer service. Can I recommend this store, no. It is not the personnel it is the corporate office that seems to keep the sale in lieu of gaining a customer, in terms of passing along to others to at least consider a high end purchase. Will I still like the sewing machine, time will only be the judge of this fact. Bottom line Tidewater Sew Vac does not attempt to work with a disappointed customer, money in the till is more important than the possibility of a customer returning and sending others to the store. Penny wise and very pound foolish. read more
