A very nice lady has just paid us a visit. She’d called to collect her lightweight Janome, which we had serviced for her.
She brought her Bernina 801 Sport, the one in the picture, in with her and I thought she wanted it servicing as well – she didn’t.
Instead she asked if I would buy it off her.
The lady in question was quite a slight lady and she explained that her 801 Sport was now too heavy for her. Recently she had sprained her wrist when she took her 801 from its case.
I took her over to the shelves where we offer our second-hand machines for sale and I showed her two Berninas – an 801 and a flat-bed 817 in a cabinet. We’ve got them both priced at £299.00 including 12 months guarantee.
I told the lady that if she were to sell her 801 Sport, on eBay etc., she should ask for a similar amount. The 801 Sport is a very popular choice because there are still so many of them in UK schools and colleges. I told if I bought it from her I would offer much less.
I then suggested the third option.
I said to the lady that she should keep her trusty 801 Sport and not sell it. I told her that I would bet her a box of Kit-Kats that if she did sell her Bernina – one morning, maybe not tomorrow and maybe not next week, but one morning she would wake up and lament the loss of her faithful Bernina. But then it would be too late. Like the boy you finished with all those years ago – and now you wished you had him back.
I popped the top-cover from the 817 and revealed the still gleaming mechanism inside. She marvelled at the engineering. I said, your 801 Sport is just the same inside and that’s why it’s lasted all these years and sewn so well.
I told her to take her Bernina back home and find somewhere in her house where it could be left out and ready to sew. So, in future, she didn’t have to lift it and risk sparing her wrists. Your Bernina is too beautiful to sell – I said.
The lady looked me in the eye and she smiled at me and said she would take her Bernina 801 Sport home – where it belongs.
I packed it up, picked it up and carried it outside to her car and put it in the boot of her motor.
She gave me her hand and I shook it.
