Augusta Sewing Center

While working on an embroidery project, the needle broke on my Bernina 780 embroidery machine. I removed the needle clamp but the tip of the clamp broke inside, so the needle would not come out. I took it to a local (I live in Savannah, GA) "Bernina Service Center" to have the tip removed. When I dropped off my B780 on December 9, 2025 the owner/technician said I would receive my machine back in a few days. On January 13, 2026 I received a call from him that he "removed the the clamp tip, but broke the plastic piece inside and that I needed to have the needle bar replaced. He also said that he could not replace the needle bar because he is no longer an authorized Bernina Service Center so he did not have the parts or tools to replace. I panicked. I immediately googled "Authorized Bernina Service" and Atlanta & Augusta Sewing Center popped up. They have two locations, and the Augusta Sewing Center was closer than Atlanta at 2.5 hours away from my home in Savannah. I called and spoke with a professional and upbeat young lady named Ashley. I explained what I was needing and also explained that I lived 2.5 hours away. So that I would not have to drive 5 hours up and back home and repeat same when machine would be ready, I asked if I could make an appointment with the technician to come up early and wait for my machine to be serviced. Ashley spoke with Frank the technican and he reserved January 28, 2026 for me. The store opened at 10:00 a.m. and I arrived at 10:35 a.m. I pulled into the parking lot and out comes Ashley to carry my machine inside. Awesome! First impression when I walked into the store, it was like walking into a Bernina Candy Store, lots of machines along with beautiful fabric, notions and embroidery threads and Bernina machine resource books and guides. I was too excited. Ashley prepared the service quote which included a full breakdown of adjust/balance thread tension, inspect and clean all wiring and connections. Oil all internal moving componants, adjust feed dog timing, polish hook assembly, recalibrate button hole foot, reset factory specifications and update firmware where applicable. With a 90 day labor warranty included. Fantastic! Frank worked on my machine for hours, and Ashley kept me updated via cell phone on the challenges frank was facing just trying to get the back cover off of the machine and how much more time needed to work on machine. Keeping in mind the B780 came out in 2012 and this was the first time it was serviced. Once it was ready, the invoice contained a detailed description of the actions Frank took to service the machine and an itemized list of the parts that had to be replaced along with the needle bar. I stopped being mad at my local machine repair person. If he had not screwed up, I would have never found Augusta Sewing Center and Frank. Thank you Ashley for your kindness and thank you Frank for all your hard work. Barbara Price

Great place to shop! High quality fabrics with a great variety. Friendly and helpful staff. Highly recommended!

First time I called I was told to call back and ask for the tech, Frank. I called back later and asked for him and they refused to let me speak to him and said they would give him the info and they would call me back. After three days, no return call. I called back and told them of my experience and the lady I spoke to that day (Sharon) said she would have Frank call me back. He called and left a message for me to call back, I called back and again the lady that answered tried to refuse for me to talk to him. Finally, they put me through. Frank and I talked, great guy, very willing to help... he and I agreed I would bring my part in for him to see if he could fix it. I brought the part in and again, the lady (the manager) was being difficult that they had to have my machine etc. I told her the agreement Frank and I made (that he would try to fix that particular part and if he could I would then bring in my machine to be serviced). Then the manager told me I would have to pay a $30 deposit. Now why am I paying a deposit when they have my part... of course, I can't get the part back without paying for it. Needless to say I told her I was done with their company and would never use them again. Nothing but a manager and some staff impossible to deal with (rude etc) and asking for deposit when I clearly cannot walk out without paying once repair of part was made. The only two people I spoke to at that company that knew how to deal with customers was Sharon and Frank.

Super friendly people very helpful will definitely come back nice selections of fabric and other supplies!!

This was my second visit to this store. I thought the first time there might have been an electrical problem. But,no! The store was dimly lit giving everything a dirty and dingy feeling. There was no explosion of color from fabric bolts to stir the senses and make the creative juices flow. The employees were chatting together and barely acknowledged my arrival. After realizing I would have to take the fabric outside or to an area with a lamp to compare colors, I gave up. As this is the nearest Bernina store to me I had come to look at the new 990 and 790 Pro. Even thought I stood looking at the machines for awhile no one approached to ask if I had questions, was interested or would like to see how they worked. Dismal store, uninterested employees and who knows what the fabrics looked like. Such a shame. Bernina reps should do a secret shopper on this location!