@jrkriehn – when we pulled the Janome machines, were they currently running well? I know we’d had a lot of trouble with keeping them timed.
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I believe @jrkriehn was the sewing SIG leader at the time and IIRC the issue was that they were skipping stitches very frequently and the cost to have them serviced was the same (more?) than the cost of a new Babylock Zest.
The problem (as i understood it) was that people persisted in pulling their projects through, which in turn screwed up the machine, and required repair. At $100+ per repair. It was observed that it would be just as cost effective to buy cheap machines and throw them away if they broke.
I don’t know if the decision was made during Matt’s term (he only wanted industrials, no small portables) or Serena.
BUT. For what it’s worth, these little Zest machines have held up to abuse much better. My personal opinion (which Antonio @ Mr Sewing Machine agreed with) is that the machines with bobbin cases vs drop-in bobbins are somewhat less prone to problems.
As far as whether those machines work or not, pretty sure 3-4 were running fine. The ones with possible problems had notes taped to them stating perceived problem. Since they had already essentially been pulled from service, I didn’t spend any time testing them out.
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Sounds good. Yeah, notes will be great. I, too, am not enthused about checking each one out.