mosquitosewgirl

No, our dealer is fabulous. They have a wonderful sales department and their reputation for service and education is outstanding. We would be hard pressed to find another dealer of such quality.

Candace

Actually, Bernina is still made in Europe. It's one of the only ones now. So, not all are being made in China.

Candace

My thought is this... would someone really buy a TOL Viking or Pfaff and spend 4 or 5 grand for a machine at Joanne's or another big box store? I know I wouldn't. Some people would never spend that much on a sewing machine, period. LOL. But, for us crazy ladies who have very expensive machines, I'd never buy it from a craft store. I can't imagine anyone would do this without a dealership behind you that offers mastery courses. Viking just came out with a new machine that's just under their TOL machine. I don't see how they can come out with these machines and then cancel dealership contracts.

MadQuilter

Viking is sold at Joanne - I wonder if they will pick up Pfaff now. This company cannot afford to lose an entire metropolitan area. Allthough - I did drive to Chico when I bought my GQ.

Your machine is most likely made in Germany and yes, they are good machines. Even the new ones are NOT bad machines. I compare them to the Black and Decker products. They went from German-built and lasting to the outsourced shorter-lived product. Not really bad, just not as good as they once were.

BTW: Meissner's will continue to service, support, and warranty Pfaffs and Vikings.

Candace

This is what I'm wondering too. Will Pfaff start appearing at Joanne's too? :thumbdown:

MadQuilter

It sounded like Meissner's was not fulfilling their quota - so I'm sure they have contracts lined up with other entities. (Joanne??)

Viking probably felt the pressure from the new Janome Horizon to come up with a comparable unit. Time to market, price points, all sorts of concepts play into such a decision.

And seriously, after reading the QB for a while, there will be plenty of "our kind" (and I mean that most affectionately) who go out to investigate the new gizmo and just "gotta have it" don't you think? (I know coz I have 4 machines but only 2 hands.) lol

Candace

I can't see how they wouldn't meet a quota considering the amount of sewing machines that go out their door. What I mean is, of course they'll always be those of us who spend lot of $ on sewing machines. But those people won't be plunking down 5 grand at Joanne's, they'll go through a reputable dealer who offers support and classes.

RDM

I believe in dealers. I found my machine was well taken care of by dealer who knew it best, plus had great new owner classes. I'd hate to see that go away. I'd travel to get that kind of service. This probably explains why my dealer started carrying multiple brands along with Pfaff outside the parent company. Very concerning for us and our special dealers.

NewYearsOld

I hadn't heard this yet. :( I have my mom's Viking Lily 550, which of course is an older model. I haven't heard yet whether our LQS/Viking dealer will be keeping or losing her contract.

MadQuilter

They wrote "These changes in manufacturing and distribution of their products made is difficult for us to continue selling their products at the level they had come to expect."

Maybe the company upped the quota. That was my interpretation. There is probably more to it.