Sewing machine woes

[YorkshireMartin]

Does anyone know how the sewing machine retail network works?
My wife bought a new pfaff expensive embroidery machine £ 2.5 k
Working happily for 6 weeks then machine failed to work it just buzzed whilst starting up then refused to work.
Took it back to the supplier who is authorised pfaff dealer
They could not get it to work so said leave it with us...it will be 2 to 3 weeks !!!!
Remember this is a £2.5 k machine 6 weeks old...
Much annoyance as she had bought it to use anyway we had no option other than to leave it
After 2 weeks we rang shop to get progress report
Employee in shop said it hasn't been looked at yet
Shop owners at a show at the nec
So we thought we would go and have a work with pfaff on their stand about repairs policy
The pfaff stand when we were there seems to staffed by shop owners No one from the company present
Our dealer there on asking about our machine replied that it had been taken by herself to reddich which is also the home of pfaff uk
She also said that employee must have got wrong end of stick
In the next week I rang pfaff and they said no repair facility there all repairs are carried out by dealers in there own premises by their staff
After another week still no machine rang dealer and she was very evasive about our machine saying it was at repairers
This in spite of a pfaff dealers supposed also being a service centre
She wouldn't tell me where our machine was only after a lot of asking did she say it was at a pfaff dealers in Notts
Still no idea when it would be ready

Sorry for the long post and story but what should we do?
My wife wants her machine to use
Is it realistic to spend so much and after 6 weeks wait 4 weeks for a repair?

Ian

I'm sticking my neck out here as sewing machines are not my area of expertise.

However, I did recently buy one for my wife in a similar price range and spent about 6 months looking into them on and off. Below is what I was able to deduce about Pfaff, who were on the list of possible purchases for a long while.

Pfaff are no longer Pfaff as such. They used to be a high end industrial brand but I believe they are now owned by a retail group which may include Singer, also not what they once were. I think there was another brand in there too but the name escapes me, might be Husqvarna. In any case, it was clearly a retail consortium buying up brand names and making everything in China.

As is typical with these acquisitions, service has apparently dropped off and quality is dubious.

4 weeks to repair a 6 week old machine is utterly ridiculous. Unfortunately though, the way the sewing machine market is protected, the sewing machine shops act as agents, and as such are the only real point of contact. It's a very old fashioned business model but protects RRP very well.

Sucks to be a customer though.

We went with Brother in the end, because they have a dedicated division for their sewing machines and a vested long term interest in the industry at all levels. That's what won me over (keeping in mind it was a surprise gift).

 

[flh801978]

While we were aware that the same importing company lists both pfaff and husqvarna in their range the husqvarna is made in Sweden...some of the included Accesories say made in China though !!
I have a 30 year old pfaff machine that I use for sewing leather up to 12mm thick with ease only trouble is it weighs 80 kg or so..the machine has been faultless however which is why I suggested wife went with pfaff
So far (24 hours)the new husqvarna seems ok

Ian

 

[YorkshireMartin]

While we were aware that the same importing company lists both pfaff and husqvarna in their range the husqvarna is made in Sweden...some of the included Accesories say made in China though !!
I have a 30 year old pfaff machine that I use for sewing leather up to 12mm thick with ease only trouble is it weighs 80 kg or so..the machine has been faultless however which is why I suggested wife went with pfaff
So far (24 hours)the new husqvarna seems ok

Ian

It's the same as any other modern industry unfortunately. I hope it works out for you both, who knew sewing could be this stressful? lol

 

[DiscoStu]

I'd just tell the retailer that you want a full refund (do this in writing). If they don't give it to you then you can file a small claims online. I'm sure the threat alone will sort it. At that level it's a professional machine and you shouldn't expect to be without it for so long. The repairers have owned it longer than you have.

Small claims court often doesn't go to a court and is dealt with in an office.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[woodpig]

Pfaff are no longer Pfaff as such. They used to be a high end industrial brand but I believe they are now owned by a retail group which may include Singer, also not what they once were. I think there was another brand in there too but the name escapes me, might be Husqvarna. In any case, it was clearly a retail consortium buying up brand names and making everything in China.

Interesting stuff. It proves its worth doing some research if you're spending a lot of money on something.

 

[flh801978]

Stu
Unfortunately it's a domestic machine .....commercial or industrial use is prohibited even at this price level
And looking at which' s guides after 30 days of ownership you have to accept a repair and then if it fails then refund is due...if we want
Still no word as to how long it will be before we get it back
Ian

 

[flh801978]

All fixed now
machine came back... only after 4 weeks but still wasnt 100% so said to shop owner we want refund
she reluctantly agreed to that so I took machine back and she processed full refund
But she enquired what we would be replacing it with
I said what we had bought and she said "well we could have supplied that"
So I had to explain again to her that a new machine waiting 4 weeks for a repair just wasnt acceptable
She disagreed
Any wifey now happy

 

[DiscoStu]

It's a shame that she couldn't have seen that it wasn't good customer service.


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[YorkshireMartin]

Pfaff are no longer Pfaff as such. They used to be a high end industrial brand but I believe they are now owned by a retail group which may include Singer, also not what they once were. I think there was another brand in there too but the name escapes me, might be Husqvarna. In any case, it was clearly a retail consortium buying up brand names and making everything in China.

Interesting stuff. It proves its worth doing some research if you're spending a lot of money on something.

It seems to be everywhere. Rich guys get together and start a company as an investment vehicle. Go around buying up trusted brand names and organizing manufacture in China. They have no knowledge or history in the industry area, it's just all about cash.

Case in point, look at Stanley, Draper, Record(!)or any of the other once decent tool brands which these days are frankly a pale imitation of their former selves. :/

I also found out that "made in england/insert euro country" doesn't mean jack. To claim that, it only needs to have part of it assembled or something. Its complicated, but basically a ton of "made in England" stuff is, as a normal person would see it, made in China.

For the consumer, it sucks and I have to admit, it makes me incredibly angry, too.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

All fixed now
machine came back... only after 4 weeks but still wasnt 100% so said to shop owner we want refund
she reluctantly agreed to that so I took machine back and she processed full refund
But she enquired what we would be replacing it with
I said what we had bought and she said "well we could have supplied that"
So I had to explain again to her that a new machine waiting 4 weeks for a repair just wasnt acceptable
She disagreed
Any wifey now happy

Then now is a good time to sneak in the suggestion to wifey about that new tool you've been eyeing up. :lol: