I have been going through quite an
ordeal with my sewing machine. The original sewing machine was a
hand-me-down from my mother because she upgraded to a newer machine
for her quilting. It was and is a Singer workhorse; a fantastic
strong machine. Well it decided it had enough of sewing paper. It
needs a tune up in the worst way and just can't handle, well, how I
like to abuse it. So I looked on Craigslist for a sewing machine,
something used and industrial. I found someone advertising just that,
after looking at 100 different pictures and descriptions I thought
I'd found the ONE and I emailed the seller. We worked out a date and
time. I drove out after work to a town far away.

I took one look at the machine and
instantly thought to myself I don't think this is the one in the
picture. I tested it and it seemed okay, with a strong motor, didn't
skip a stitch and looked good. I told myself that I was being
paranoid and that the machine I was thinking of was from a different
ad.

I get home and attempt to wind a bobbin
only to find that the winder works but not well. I can't figure it
out. I left the light on and got a cup of tea. Came back later to
find oil all over the case. The case was oozing oil from every seam.

After that it started to skip stitches
and has issues. I got conned by the “sawdust in the transmission
case” trick; the oldest resale trick in the book and I got caught
in it. The sewing machine itself is great, a real workhorse, a 70's
singer all metal case, metal gears, strong motor and a great machine.
But when it had been serviced it looked as though an entire bottle of
light machine oil had been dumped into it. I took it apart and there
wasn't a single area that the machine wasn't dripping in oil. They
had drenched it in so much oil that the timing belt on the bottom was
skipping, hence the skipped stitched. Oil and belts don't mix. Sewing
machines aren't like cars, they use light oil for a reason. If one
part is off it affects everything. So I figured lesson learned.

The machine is fixed and does what I
need it to but it wasn't what I expected. So I decided to sell it and
start fresh, I looked again on clist. I found a different ad
different location similar offering. I responded. We worked out
details. I was set to pick up when she gave me the address.

It was the same address I had bought
the over oiled machine from. I queried her, asking her questions, are
you the same person? I went through my emails and found the emails
from the first purchase, email address was different, name was
different but the physical address was the same. I questioned her
again mentioning the specific machine, wrote we'd talked for a long
time, mentioned specifics from the conversations we'd had. She
denied.

I couldn't do it. I wrote her back said
I was skeeved out by several things #1. Different email addresses.
#2. Different names. #3 Her refusal to acknowledge I'd bought a
machine from her in the past. As well as the misrepresentation of the
item I originally bought from her. I never heard back from her. But
if Kayla had emailed me back and said, “oh you must have bought one
from my sister Kim,” and explained the situation better I'd have
felt better. I'm someone who can write the machine off as a business
expense I wanted a good machine, yes for as little as I could spend,
but I can't do it with someone who has cheated me once. For instance
if they had told me the original machine would need work, it had
been oiled and would need work I wouldn't have been cheated, I would
have gotten into it knowing that I'd have to buy new belts and have
the machine serviced.

Anyway, I have the sewing machine I
bought tuned and working specifically for making jotters. It does
okay. Because of the original snafu I'll probably be listing several
bulk seconds sets.

(If you are in the North Shore of Mass, feel free to email me for the 2 email address and the physical address of the persons running the scam. I'll write publicly that the persons are in Methuen, MA and claim to have inhereted a closed sewing machine repair shop from their father.)