Hi Jan, I've had a Janome 6600 since 2007 and other than the problem I first wrote about at the beginning of this post I haven't had any problems with it.
If I were you I would try out all the machines you can within your price range. If you can get to a show where all the dealers are then you can try them at your leisure.
Make a list of what you want from a machine. If you go to a machine shop thy out then take some samples to try it out.
Hope this helps, let us know what you decide and which machine you finely choose..........Good Luck!
Anne

It's not just the brand but the service availability. I have a Bernina that I bought in Honolulu but I live in Kaua'i. I messed up the machine by sewing a slip cover project--too thick to go through the machine -- I had a service contract with a local shop that does not sell Berninas but they say they are qualified to work on them. It took 3 trips to get the machine in working condition. The repair guy was let go for other reasons--not related to my machine. It worked but my thread kept fraying and breaking. My touch screen failed and my son was visiting so he took the machine to Honolulu and two weeks later returned with a machine that worked like new. The thread fraying problem was fixed by "polishing the head" . I would love to buy the q20 when it becomes available but not sure about service availability. Sucks to be in a remote location.

Hi, Anne, do you have any suggestions about what to look for and brands that are good?

Jan ...time to buy a new machine I think?
Anne

Well I got my machine back today and they only charged me for the shipping to and from Baby Lock. I was as nice and pleasant as I could be and asked the owner about the cost of new Janome's which he sells. The machine works sewing a straight line. The owner of the shop did say Baby Lock is going to charge me something for their looking into what repairs would cost.
It may be time to look into a new machine, and to try to trade in my machine with all of the embroidery hoops etc. I have no interest in Embroidery and was interested in a machine that had a bigger harp. But those machines with the bigger harp may not fit into my rolling cart that I got at JoAnn's. I would also want a free arm and a thread cutter.
Anyway I like to be as nice as I can to whoever I am dealing with. I am glad I didn't get angry as it probably wouldn't have helped. Hopefully the machine does all the sewing I have in mind to do. It sounds like I can get a good machine for between 1000$ and 1900$. The other alternative would be to fix my machine for 500$ I don't know how old it is. I've had it for 10 years.


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It is time to call someone other than the shop where you took the machine. Can you find out who is the district manager for Babylock in your area?

It's been since Apr 16 and still no machine. I think I said I couldn't afford their price to fix and wanted it back on the 8th of May. That's 3 weeks from tomorrow to mail it back.

Thanks, Lois and Cathy. I am wondering how much I owe the shop for trying to fix it and the shipping. The shop thinks it will be back by Tuesday. Just praying it works still. Besides the luxury of thread cutting I was also breaking thread on the upper tension. I will never take it to that shop again.

So sorry to hear your problems.

Jan, I am sorry you are having so much trouble getting it repaired. I don't know about the Janomes, but the Berninas come in a range of prices. If you can not get your machine fixed, and it still works other than the thread cutter, I would just keep using it. I don't have the thread cutter on mine, so I would't know the difference. If you are thinking of buying a new machine, I would check out the dealers of the different brands. You will know when you get a dealer you like. It is very important to be able to work with them. Also think about all the types of sewing you do. So many machines have abilities that I would never use. There is no reason to pay for the extras if you are not going to be using them. Just my thoughts. Good luck. Let us know how it turns out.

The place where I bought the machine has the serial number and is going to call Baby Lock for me and get back to me by Tuesday. I bought it used 10 years ago for 900$. The lady who is checking into this said those machines go for 4000$ and that they will last longer than this. I hate to go to the Better Business Bureau. And I can't find my receipt for when I took the machine to that repair shop. I just found my receipt and I took it in on Apr 16th. I guess when you love to sew almost daily it seems longer.

I suggest you call Baby Lock. And probably the Better Business Bureau.

Judith

I am still waiting 2 weeks since I asked them to mail it back to the shop where I originally took it. Will let you know what happened to the machine. Thanks, Jan

Hi Jan, Maybe you should send it back to Babylock or at least phone them. I had a new Janome 6600 which completely stopped working ...I took it to the shop where I had bought it (it was still under guarantee ) and they could not fix it so I phoned Janome and they said to send it back to them, they even arranged for a carrier to collect it free of charge. Janome were wonderful and as they could not fix it (it had completely seized up) they sent me a brand new machine and I was able to still have the service agreement with the shop where I had bought it.
I wish you luck let us know what happens.
Anne