Ray’s Sewing Machine Center

I’m really sad this didn’t work out. I brought in my grandmother’s old Sears sewing machine to be serviced so I could use it for the first time in years.
Ray told me it would be 4 – 5 days. Told a nice story about when he met Prince. Said my machine was a «good old machine». Was kind.
I waited patiently for over a month and heard nothing.
No one ever called me to approve repairs or expenditures, or update me, or extend the service time table.
So I just decided to go get my machine today.
The woman who helped me sort through and find my machine was very nice but couldn’t help beyond giving me my machine and apologizing. Which I appreciate very much.
The tag says «need plate». I can’t tell if anything was done to it.
I don’t know much about sewing or machines. I’m willing to learn and trust — but I need communication to do either of those things.

I’m in the middle of a sewing project and my Elna starts acting up… I call Ray’s Sewing Machine Center and spoke to Joanne told her of my dilemma she response was can you bring it in, we can fix that, I said sure I’m on my way…20 minutes later I’m at the store and she (Joanne) and Ken are looking at the machine and did a few things and it was fixed… they are amazing. I was out the door and headed back to finish up the project. I took me longer to drive there then it did to take care of the issue. I just want to thank Ken and Joanne for the great customer service… one in a million family owned business.

Stopped by because I had a Singer sewing machine that I couldn’t get to work properly. Turns out I just had the wrong bobbin. Bob came out to help me and he was extremely helpful, friendly, and informative. He explained why the bobbin I had was causing problems for the machine.
He even provided me with the correct bobbin at no charge! I will definitely be bringing any and all of my sewing business here.

Terrible customer service.
I wiill no longer be doing business with this company. I have tried for two weeks to get the owner to to call me back or respond to my emails and nothing. Every time I call the store (5 times) the owner is not in and the employees can’t do simple things like, properly take my name and number down or look to see if the have specific parts in stock. It’s a joke. Why is it the owner is the only one who knows if they have parts in?
I spent a lot of money on a crappy machine and terrible customer service. I won’t ever buy a machine from them again.
There are a lot of other great businesses in the area where the employees, not just the owner, are knowledgable and available to assist.

The absolute worst sewing machine repair shop! We took our sewing machine in for repair on 11÷21÷15 and I was told «it should be about a week, we’ll call you.» A week and a half goes by and I had to call them and the female who answered the phone promptly says «did we call you?» I said «no, that’s why I’m calling you, they told me it would be about a week when I took it in» and she said «oh no, it’ll be more than a week.» I waited another week and heard nothing and called again and a woman answered the phone and said, «did we call you to tell you it’s ready?» I said «no, but I’m wondering how much longer you’ll have my machine?» The woman said «I don’t know, we’ll call you.» Another week and a half goes by and I don’t hear anything and I call again, another woman answers and tells me that the sewing repair technicians aren’t in right now and will be back in the afternoon and I could call back then if I wanted. I told her that I wanted to know what was going on with my machine because they have had it almost a month and I haven’t heard anything. She told me that sometimes they have to order parts that have to ship in from out-​of-​state. A month hits and still no word on our sewing machine and so we drive over to the store and go in and calmly say, we are here to pick up our machine because you’ve had it for a month and we just want to get it back. The lady that helps us asks if we have our claim ticket and we say «yes» and my spouse notices it right away sitting in the same spot they put it when we dropped it off. THEY HADN’T EVEN LOOKED AT IT TO TROUBLESHOOT IT OR TO ORDER PARTS, they had done NOTHING in the entire month they had it. I think they actually know they have poor repair turnaround because every time I called they NEVER asked me for my claim number so they could check to see what was going on with the machine. They just kept giving me standard answers like «they probably had to order parts.» When we first took the machine in, the guy who had us fill out our repair slip said to us «it’ll be about a week.» Had they not said that to us, our expectations would not have been to think it was going to be fixed in a 1 – 2 week time frame. On our way out the store with our «never looked at, never touched, nothing done to it» sewing machine, the lady who had assisted us when we came in said «come back to see us if you need to buy a new machine!» We both walked out laughing to ourselves knowing full well we would NEVER go back to that store for anything.

I bought a sewing machine at Ray’s a few years ago and took it in for servicing. I had issues with bird nesting, especially when using the lock stitch button. I took my machine in and when I got it back I still had the issue. I gave them a call and the owner of the shop told me to come back, that he would take a look at it. He tried briefly the machine only and told me to use a different stitch that would automatically lock the stitch instead of the button, that it would solve my problem. I got back home, sewed a little bit more and I still get thread bunching up under the fabric no matter what I do. I waisted time and money and I’m done with Ray’s.

About two years ago, I bought my second sewing machine from Ray’s. (The first one got stolen! Can you believe it?)
I am, right this minute, doing some work with my current unit, and I felt I had to stop and post a quick review. This machine is a pleasure to sew on. Ray’s gave me a very good price on both of the machines I purchased from them, and they were extreamly helpful as I tried to select a unit that would meet my needs without paying for features I would not be using.
I’d call my experience a total success! (Now, I better get back to my stitchery.)

Great Guy
Went to fix my sewing machine 2 months ago and Ray fixed my timing alignment for free. Appreciate it very much. Very nice chap and service. He has some other sewing machine made in Japan. Great demo and I can tell it is a good sewing machine. Will try to get one later. Would recommend him.

Stopped by to look for a new sewing machine. Not a very comfortable experience. Won’t be returning even though they sell the type of machine I’m interested in. Ashame, because they are close to home and work.

I normally never write a review but I really appreciate the work done on my sewing machine!
The lady receiving my sewing machine didn’t impress me at all in regards to the mechanics of my machine properly getting fixed… But dropped my machine off anyways because a friend recommended this place.
Got a call the next day from Bob saying that my machine was tuned, timing fixed and he even gave me tips on how to avoid messing up my timing while sewing super thick materials.
In the store, the owner, Ken, was able to provide even more information regarding types of needles best used for thick fabric… Something about the nickel coating and stronger metal. I also learned that needles are good for about of 8 hours of continuous sewing before needing to be changed, great to know and it makes sense… But never considered switching my needle before it broke or bent!

Extremely helpful staff and great classes. I bought a sewing machine from them 4 years ago and came back last year to upgrade it. They have a great upgrade policy. I have bought 3 machines from them in the past year (sewing, embroidery, serger). Ken and Lindsey are extremely knowledgeable and go the extra mile in customer service. Highly recommend!

Since I’m an avid quilter on a quilt guild Board of Directors I’m always looking for vendors, shops, that I can pass the word of superior customer service… this is a place I will definitely not recommend.

I am a professional sewing instructor and have known them since our kids were little together (26 years). They are very friendly, helpful. Ken fixes the machines well and always has more work than he can do. They sell gently used machines as well as state of the art. I now have 8 Janome machines because of Ken and Lindsey’s help. They also offer classes.

Personalized service at its best. I went on a Saturday afternoon and spent two hours fooling around with a machine, and got tips from the owner and his daughter. I went back three days later and bought the machine and some extra feet, and they tossed in an extra foot and a bunch of free bobbins.
I absolutely love my new Janome 3160 and I won’t hesitate to buy another machine from them in the future. fantastic service :)

I’m a 3^rd generation customer of Ray’s. They provide knowledge, service and a friendly smile. I took my Baby Lock sewing machine here after I inherited it from my Grandmother. It hadn’t been serviced in 10+ years, but they got it all spiffed up and working good-​as-​new. I highly recommend them for service or if you’re looking for a new machine.

I received the most attentive and helpful service here when looking for a new sewing machine a few weeks back.
I live up in SF and had tried visiting a local shop only to get no attention or help trying evaluate their machines.
Found Ray’s Sewing Machine Center from a google search and called ahead to ask if they had some models I’d been looking at online in stock.
Even over the phone, Ken took the time to explain their offerings and ask what kind of machine I was looking for and make some recommendations.
Went in the next day and he spent at least an hour with me explaining the different features and letting me try out the machine. I really couldn’t be happier with the service, the machine, or the price!
I wouldn’t hesitate to buy from them again.
Give the Janome 8200 a whirl if you stop by, it’s a pretty great machine for a quilter.

I wish I could give them 10 stars! They helped me choose my first machine with no pressure to buy the most expensive one they sell. She even honored a sale price that was going to start two days later. I felt welcome and comfortable even though I am a complete novice in this field. If you want a new machine this is the place to go!

I bought an Elna serger from Lindsay last month. I was so impressed with her knowledge of sewing machines that I visited the store again to look around at the other machines they carry. I wasn’t going to buy anything because I thought that it would cost too much ($ one thousand or two) to get a good machine This time Ken was showing a Janome sewing machine to another customer. As I watched, I saw that has it had a ton of useful features for the kind of sewing I do. I asked the price and realized that I could afford the machine easily.
What I want to emphasize is that both Ken and Lindsay (his daughter) totally know the sewing machines they sell. Ken knows the repair end of the business, so they don’t carry machines that are not worth owning. We are lucky to have this kind of sewing machine dealer in our area!

I bought my Janome sewing machine here a few years ago, and I absolutely adore it. It had 15 hours on it after it was used at a trade show the previous weekend, so it was practically brand new, and I bought it for almost half off. The woman who sold me the machine was spectacular and very knowledgeable. I took a sewing class through LG Recreation, and the instructor told me Ray’s and Janome were the best, so I knew I was in good hands.
I also attended a how-​to-​use-​my-​machine class with Ken shortly after I bought the machine. The class was just okay; nothing to write home about. It was actually sort of a brag session about all the different sewing feet that he’d invented.
I recently took my machine in for service because my kids lost one of the screws, and I thought I needed a tune-​up. They were done days sooner than they quoted me, and I didn’t have to pay for rush service. Lindsay helped me close the transaction, and she was very kind, helpful, and generous. I will definitely return for all of my sewing needs.

Buy your next sewing machine here! Seriously.
I had a horrible experience over at Eddie’s Quilting Bee/Dawn’s House of Sewing in Sunnyvale. Coming to Ray’s and working with Ken was such a relief. He spent my lunch hour showing me all the cool features on a Janome machine I had my eye on and he gave me a great price on it, too. No pressure to buy on the spot.
Part of the buying process was I had to sell the POS machine I’d bought from Eddie. I sold it on eBay and Ken was kind enough to offer (pre-​Janome purchase) to help package and ship it for me. What a life saver. It even saved me a ton on shipping expenses.
Unlike EQB, Ray’s doesn’t sell fabric or offer a wide selection of classes, but they will work one-​on-​one to answer any questions/​show you how to use your machine. Also, they’ve sort of partnered up with Prairie Queens Quilting store in the Cambrian area of San Jose, where you can sign up for tons of classes or sew-​ins and shop till you drop.
Everyone I’ve worked with at Ray’s has been super friendly, especially Ken’s daughter. She’s such a doll. I love that it’s a family-​owned business. Wish them the best of luck!