Frustration

I discussed this in depth with Coach and on facebook but I'm still irritated.  I bought an old serger off a facebok buy/sell/trade over a year ago.  I love it.  It was perfect, and I really loved the way it serged (sergered? no idea).  But the knives (if you don't know what a serger is, check this out and it'll kind of explain why those knives are important) are dull.  This wouldn't be a problem if I hadn't totally become accustomed to using it for a wide variety of things I never thought I'd want it for.

I got spoiled.

Then I also tried to find new needles for it.  They don't exist unless you special order them.  Aka $$$$$$$$$$$. So I put it off hoping I wouldn't break one.  Then the knives stopped cutting through much and then the machine would jam up as the fabric got stuck.  This almost ruined a custom order dress or two.  So I got frustrated.

I spent the hour I got alone Tuesday as Coach took the kids to the park making random phone calls, then decided to use The Google to find a shop that could service it.  It should also be able to gather fabric but doesn't, which wasn't a big deal but if I was going to have to haul it to a shop for repairs might as well get it serviced.

WRONG.

Six shops around the metroplex, and all quoted me this:  service on a serger begins at $99.99 but could cost up to $139.99--not including parts.  New upper and lower knives cost about $40-60.  I just.... WHAT!  A service on my fancy-pants pilot-the-space-shuttle Bernina quilting machine only cost me $75!!!  How????

I had a freak out.  Do I sink money into this old thing or just buy a new one.  Which, by the way, would only cost me $190 and come with a warranty.  And needles I can buy anywhere and replace easily.  And it would gather fabric.

I really didn't want a new machine, I like this one.  But I did it; I bought the new one.  The gamble was too high fixing a 20+ year old machine to buy it time to possibly die.  But why did a service cost that much? I'm just flabbergasted.  Do they not realize that you can find a brand new machine for that?  I'm clueless.

Poor Coach. I had promised no new machines after the 440QE and the embroidery machine at thanksgiving.  I had just started turning profit enough to put away for the trip I'm so desperate to take to NOLA.  Now I'm back at square one.  I mean lucky I'm already booked with orders in the shop through June, so it'll be fine, but I'm still really sad about this.  Poor old serger.  You lived a good life, boo.

This came in Thursday and I set it up yesterday, which is good because I have a stack of things I couldn't serger with the old one.  Sorry buddy, you have been replaced.