QuiltFaerie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Listen, my dear friend also has a Prodigy and has the same issues with thread shredding, thread breakage, skipped stitches and pathetic customer service from Prodigy and yes, she has spoken to the owner of the company, Charlie (editted from Richard) Broken promises of call backs and locating of a "mechanic" to assist never materialize. She has timed and retimed that machine so many times that when I ever need to time my machine, I will be calling her. She is a pro at it now. I bought my Millie used in 2006 from APQS and I have never ever regretted my purchase nor have I ever had one lick of trouble with it. And.... I put the thing together myself. Anytime I have reached out to APQS I have received help and assistance in a very short period of time. This is a great company with outstanding customer service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IQ'd Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Joan has reached out to Charlie Presler who is the owner of the company. She says he has been very difficult to deal with. To my understanding Richard is a dealer and sets up machines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltFaerie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Based on my friend's experience with Prodigy, I would rather jam pins in my eyes than recommend them to a sworn enemy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wannabelongarm Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Should we ALL send emails to the company suggesting her money be returned or a new machine in good working order be exchanged for the 'old' one? Tell them we heard all about the problems on a public forum? just a thought, sometimes they get me into trouble! Joanne Flamand Artistic Quilt Designs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ffq-lar Posted March 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I just received a second reply to my personal email to Charlie of Prodigy. He is disappointed that our discussion here was "hateful and one-sided" though it would be two-sided if he would just contact Joan and ease her mind about her four-month old non-working purchase. No mention of helping her, just a vague ramble about standing behind their product and "continuing to produce a great quilting machine and give the good support it has given in the past to it's valued customers". He did mention Joan, so maybe this can be resolved. I also received a couple of emails from Prodigy owners and all are happy with their machines--mentioning the great stitch regulator, for example, but all mentioned the difficulty in getting support after the sale. Reading between the lines, I suspect there really isn't a support staff in place--sort of a one-man show going on there. Sorry Charlie if I disappointed you--I do believe your product is a good one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IQ'd Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Linda, Thanks for relayig what Charlie has said. If this has been "hateful" it is only because we have stated our experiences with this machine. Nothing said here has been untrue and I have not gotten on here and said what I have said to bash the company or all the Prodigy owners out there that are satisfied. Joan would have been thrilled if she had gotten a working machine, and she probably would have told other people about her Prodigy experience. I think these are pretty good machines, the only fault lies in the unwillingness of the company to deal with the occassional lemon machine and unhappy customers. If you make all wonderful machines that is great but I live in the real world where there are sometimes bad ones for whatever reason. You then can't just say "but I make wonderful machines" and let it go at that. You need to try to make all your customers happy. I think he missed a good opportunity to improve his company by giving good customer service. I am sure that that is why APQS has such a stelllar reputaion. They take care of the customer after the sale!!! Cone on, Charlie, show us we are wrong about your company!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quilting Heidi Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Unfortunately Charlie's way of doing business is what has lead to this thread. If you are going to sell a machine like this then you need to man-up and make it work. I feel sorry for anybody that is duped into buying a machine to enjoy their love of quilting only to find themselves frustrated and unable to quilt! Very sad that Charlie doesn't stand behind his product and make it work. If he really cared he would make sure that machine was stitching and his customer was happy, happy, happy. I have been on the losing end of customer service more times than I care to think about. Thankfully I made the right choice when I purchased my APQS. I have had nothing but 100% satisfaction. It is one thing to say you stand behind your machine and another to be willing to do everything in your power to make it function correctly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gator Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I believe you and that you never even indicated that this is a "hate" Prodigy campaign, you just want your machine to work. I can read attitude all over "Charlie's" email. It doesn't matter if there's two sides to the subject, the customer comes first and must be happy. Keep up what you are doing. I agree that you should contact the BBB and get the word out about service. Hit a few more forums and Yahoo groups, especially concerning "Charlie" as a dealer. Did you pay cash? If you used anytype of credit/finance contact that company about the purchase. I didn't catch what state you're in but most have "lemon laws". What ever you do, don't be quiet and keep an eye on your warranty date!!! I'm not saying that Prodigy does this but some not so good companies will drag the issue out until the warranty expires. Please whatever you do, keep us updated and let us know if we can help. I have half a mind to email Charlie also. YOU GO GIRL we're here for support!!:mad::mad::mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltFaerie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Is it "hateful" and "one sided" to expect a company to stand behind their product and provide decent support or to speak your own opinion based on first hand knowledge of a friend's utter and complete frustration? I don't think so. If the president of a company makes me a promise, I expect him to follow up and follow through. Unfortunately, that has not been the case for my friend. So, does his lack of response in resolving my friend's issues mean she is not a valued customer? Makes you wonder. Here is one more thing... When my friend begged them to come and service her machine, they refused. Nice, eh? The best they would do is try and find someone local to help her. And to date, that has not happened. I guess they are still looking, eh? I don't care how great your machine is, if there is not solid company support behind the product, I won't touch it with a ten foot pole. Before I ever stitched a single stitch on an APQS, I was completely and utterly blown away by this company's customer support both on this forum and by other APQS SATISFIED customers. APQS ROCKS!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IQ'd Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 I want all of you to know that I appreciate each and everyone of you! When I have had questions, problems or just want to share something you guys have been there. Just knowing there is support makes all the difference in the world to Joan and I. Even if there are differing opinions it makes for a lively conversation and I know I can learn something new everyday. I about cry when I think of the situation with Joan. I know her and she is not a hateful person-in fact she can't even see hateful from where she is. I will stick with it and try to help her as much as I can, unfortunately we work different shifts so our time together is limited. Everything will work out in the end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 That is just plain bad business practice. Customer service will either make or break your company. Corey Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjul31 Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Joan, You didn't mention how you paid for the machine. If you did pay with a major credit card. If so, I would contact them asap. They have a lot more clout than you with this matter, i.e. they can just suck the money back out of the account it was paid into. You would qualify under reason code 53. Definition: Merchandise/Service Not As Described or Defective Merchandise. Merchandise/Service Not As Described or Defective Merchandise * The customer claims the goods or services received did not match the description/picture on your Web site or other documentation/information they received from you, or * The merchandise arrived damaged, defective or otherwise unsuitable for the purpose sold. * Additionally the customer claims they either returned the merchandise, canceled the service or attempted to resolve the dispute with the you. I looked up Prodigy and see they are out of South Carolina. I would also contact the Attorney General's office there and see if there have been other complaints. For any of you making a major purchase, visa/mastercard is usually the best way to go as you get their built-in protections. Oh and the merchant will be responsible for sending a pick-up/shipping service to get the machine - not you. Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogiquilter Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 All I can say is, WOW! I am so sorry! I hope you get some sort of satisfaction soon! I am sure you feel terrible! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltFaerie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Sewbee, I have passed your email address on to my friend. I think she has recently licked the skipped stitches by doing as you suggested. I'm telling you, the woman has become a pro at timing machines. I want to thank you for offering your help to those who are struggling. May your words of wisdom, hard earned through trial and error, help others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
weeie2828 Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Joan, I am so sorry but trut me as a Prodigy owner I can certainly feel you pain and have many of the same issues you are currently experiencing. If I find any answers I will be sure to let you know. Louise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraJ Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 The experience I have had with my machine - my dealer swings by whenever in the area if I need a tweaking or simply to have them check the timing I recently did to make sure I did it correctly - at no charge (and I timed it a-ok easy peasy) I can get someone 24/7 and they call back within 15 minutes to within the hour after I leave a message. Charlie should book a plane, train or get in his car and get there himself to adjust anything necessary to keep his reputation in good stead. If not, his local dealer should be getting there as many times as necessary to fix it. Personally, I would get a refund and tell them to come get the machine and purchase from another manufacturer, APQS being one of them to look into. Our quilting is not just a "hobby" or "craft" it's an income producing outlet, or creative and inspirational juice flowing venture. Good luck and let us know what occurs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
asmfjmc Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Hi everyone! I can't thank you all enough for all the support you have shown! I just told my husband it is not a good idea to mess with a quilter as they stick together and have each others back! Thanks again! I really don't want to make this unrespectful. I am a person who will do anything to avoid conflict. But the bottome line is I spent an awful lot of money on a quilting machine that will not sew. I paid for the machine outright so I do not have a credit card company to help me. However, after all this news on this wonderful website I got a call this morning from Prodigy. They are going to send the service tech that has been at my house once before back again this Friday. They told me not to let him leave until I am completely satisfied with how the machine is working. They are also going to pay for this and send me a check for when I paid for this tech's first visit. He is also supposed to show me how to time the machine etc. I do believe that the Prodigy is a very good quilting machine. I just think any company can sometimes make a lemon. Hopefully the problems I have been having will be fixed. I still believe although they make a good machine Prodigy has very poor customer service, no users manual to speak of and I would hope this would give everyone something to think about when they are shopping for a quilting machine. Again thanks so much to all of you for your support! Joan C. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dtreusch Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Sent you a U2U Joan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Wow no matter what, we need to be respectful not only to each other but for the Company's mentioned. I know how eager we are to be supportive sometimes of a friend and I am guilty of such myself. This is an APQS forum and not a Prodigy forum. How could it be fairly discussed Really? Good Customer Service should be expected but this issue should be between customer and Company. There is always more to the story. We all know this in our hearts to be true. Prodigy has a Yahoo Group and it might be where this conversation should be. Not an APQS forum where there is little to no advice on the Machine that could truely be helpful to the Owner in getting machine to work as it should. Life Happens to us all no matter what machine we have. Alot of He said she said and that is just not the way to go. We are better people than that. Joan deserves to have her problem resolved in the CORRECT environment. Nothing positive at all in this discussion or that WAS PROBLEM SOLVING. Only BITTER advice and Nothing positive FED into the conversation. Believe it or Not this too can have a happy ending. All the Best to you Joan. I'm sure this will be worked out. Grammie Personally I hope APQS just removes this. It doesn't represent who we really are as people. Problem solvers not Problem Makers I would be very disappointed to find APQS being trashed on another forum knowing it hadn't been mentioned here where help is available. Do the right thing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Tammie, Thank you for your comment--- I did email Joan privately with threading & tension suggestions. The Prodigy Quilter tensioners and pigtailed bobbin case are different from APQS machines. I previously owned a 1999 APQS for several years. As a Prodigy owner for two years I tried to be helpful with some trouble shooting tips. I also inquired about what the "tech" did or said, and what the final outcome of his three hour visit was. I also gave a link to the Yahoo Prodigy Quilters group. No response from Joan. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grammie Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Kudos to you Angie That how we help one another. Grammie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparkle Posted March 14, 2011 Report Share Posted March 14, 2011 Thank you Grammie. I truly enjoy the APQS forum---I learn so much about "new stuff and "How to do" things---even if I don't own this companies product any longer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QuiltFaerie Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 Tammie, I disagree with your statement that nothing was resolved with this thread. Why do I disagree? Joan finally got a response from a company that was deaf to her complaints. SewBee posted some very good information how to get a cranky machine to stitch. My friend, who posted on this thread, got an email address of someone who might be able to help her. Thank god I sent it to her in a separate email before SewBee went back and deleted out her comments. And yet you claim that no good came from this thread. I was, unlike you, highly impressed with the power of the internet and its ability to spur an organization to action. If the comments about the poor customer service from Prodigy work toward the resolution of their longer term issues then I think a world of good came out of this thread. Not everything in life has to be sprinkled with pixie dust to be beneficial. When I was researching machines, I wanted to know it all, the good, the bad and the ugly. I am smart enough to be able to filter out what was not helpful to me and apply what is. One last thing... another one of the things that greatly impressed me about this site was that anyone with any machine could come and post both their successes and cries for help. Is this an APQS site? Yes. But to suddenly claim that someone should take their longarm toys and go to their own forum is not what I have seen this site support. If APQS locks it down and deletes, so be it but I seriously doubt they will. And I stand on the fact that I would not recommend this company nor machine to anyone in the market based on what I have seen of their product support. Everyone is, of course, entitled to their own opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IQ'd Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 I don't know what to say about Tammie's post. It was tried to be resolved in private-to no avail and hopefully now we can move on to happy sewing. Yes it isn't very good to put out all yor woes about a company to the universe but when all else fails some public opinion can be a good thing. I believed this site is for quilters, long armers or not, and owners of any machine. This was a site that I was familiar with and one that Joan reads alot. I agree so whole heartedly with Gail. Sometime back my family had a problem with Champus (military health organization) while we were overseas. Congressional inquiry could not even solve the issue. I went to the Stars and Stripes (newspaper for overseas military personel) and then the issue was taken care of. It is the power of the press and something that should never be overlooked. I hope that Prodigy gets this machine up and running and we can get on here and praise them, we will let yo all know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsbishwit Posted March 15, 2011 Report Share Posted March 15, 2011 I haven't been able to read all the posts every day and must have missed all of the fireworks. But I do agree that sometimes it is good to air out the dirty laundry once in a while, especialy when the consumer is gettig the run around from a company that won't back up it's product. However I don't believe in witch hunts or back stabbing one company on another companies web site (can't say if that was the case here since the initial post was removed that started this). I am glad that finally Joan's cry for help is being addressed by the company she has issues with, was it because of this public forum or was it because of the dermination of a few quilter's that stood up for a fellow quilter (I think it has more to do with the later than the prior but without this forum perhaps the later would never have come to past). Joan hoping for the best out come for you and praying that this company will step up to the plate and honor it's comitment to all of it's consumers, not just the ones that can ralley the quilting world behind them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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