# Ripped off by Coldesi.. Sold a piece of junk



## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

I'm not one to take my problems to a forum, but this one has to be kniown. After much debating, I decided to go with Coldesi for an embroidery machine. At first I was told they had a used 4-head 15 needle SWF for sale. I figured that should do me good, I had 10 feet of room in the shop so I went for it. After the paperwork was in the works, I was sent a proposal from Scott Levine for a 12 needle 4 head. I called him and he simply made a mistake so he says. Okay, so 3 less needles isn't going to kill anyone.
I put the paperwork in and all is well. They keep promising me the machine is on it's way, the techs are going over the whole machine so I recieve it in good working order. Long story short, A month later and no machine. Now were into summer. Finally, April ends and here comes the machine. WE unload it from the truck and notice that things aren't what they should be.
The machine was clearly unserviced... UNTOUCHED by any tech. Our hands were full of oil and dirt. What to do now? I can't possibly run this machine in this condition, so after some phone calls, I see I start to be jerked around. They are playing who shot John. Me and my partner start cleaning the machine, figuring maybe the techs there worked on it but failed to hose it down...
They send a tech, and here we are into another month. Head #3 was leaking oil from the get go so Coldesi tells me to "just let it run out it will eventually stop" did you ever hear such trash? The button to shut #3 was also broken. They sent me parts for ME to service this thing. The hat unit was total garbage, it never worked properly, it destroyed almost every hat we tried to sew out. Coldesi told me it was a first generation unit and they will send me four separate units that "will go out tomorrow". They never arrived. So now I have a giant paperweight in my shop, I lost the whole summer's worth of work and they want the payments for this thing. Not a penny to be made.
Coldesi lied to us from the get-go about the machine. I will attach some pictures and hopefully some video to show the horrible state they sent the machine in. It obviously was never at the Coldesi headquarters being worked on. Now my lawyer is preparing to sue Coldesi for the full amount of the machine. If you are going tro buy from Coldesi, be prepared with your lawyer handy. You'll need it. Attached you'll see some pictures and hopefully some video of the condition of this wreck.


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## Cathy91722 (Feb 26, 2010)

Oh my gosh Paul! Those pictures are worth a thousand words. I hope everything works out for you.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Cathy91722 said:


> Oh my gosh Paul! Those pictures are worth a thousand words. I hope everything works out for you.


Hi Cathy, I assure you that the story is an abridged version. the pictures aren't nearly as bad as the in-person view. I just got off the phone with the finance company and they said that Coldesi is ignoring their calls as well. He asked me to have my attorney jump on this asap so it doesn't spin out of control for my credit. Their is a fun part to this... if they don't refund the money, I get to drag all the players into court here in New York. I'm going to name them all personally in the suit so they have to appear or pay for lawyers. I'll keep everyone up to date on this horror story.


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## mike gammons (Mar 9, 2012)

shirts456 said:


> Hi Cathy, I assure you that the story is an abridged version. the pictures aren't nearly as bad as the in-person view. I just got off the phone with the finance company and they said that Coldesi is ignoring their calls as well. He asked me to have my attorney jump on this asap so it doesn't spin out of control for my credit. Their is a fun part to this... if they don't refund the money, I get to drag all the players into court here in New York. I'm going to name them all personally in the suit so they have to appear or pay for lawyers. I'll keep everyone up to date on this horror story.


I had the same problem with another SWF Distributor so I TOLD him i would rent the house next to his and spend all summer making his life HELL…..I GOT A NEW MACHINE THE NEXT WEEK.


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## Rickster (Aug 23, 2012)

This story sucks. To send you parts and tell you to fix it is insane. I hope you get it all sorted


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## Tallyplayer (Aug 10, 2010)

How familiar this story sounds. This equipment is not cheap and to be treated so by a company making that much money is ridiculous. I hope you or somebody can shut this company down.


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## PiPsodin (May 14, 2012)

This kind of guy's should not open a company never again, there is a lot of people that are honest and fair and are waiting in line!


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## inobu (Dec 29, 2010)

Paul, 

This post is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for me. Its funny how we all can see clearly standing on the side lines. My initial thought was why did you accept the equipment in the first place. Then I put myself in your shoes. Waiting months for a new business tool makes us over zealous and we have the tendency to make exceptions to issues and factors (I have done it many times) that hind sight clearly stamps RED TAG. 

I will always keep your story in mind and suggest that others do as well.

From now on I will tell the salesman to have a perfect delivery. I will refuse delivery on any irregular issue that has no a benefit to me or my business. 

Factory Shipped had factory packaging.
Factory Refurbished has factory packaging with refurbished marking.
Other party servicing has it marking
Anything else will stay on the truck. 

Thanks for the lesson/reminder and hope things work out for you. 

Inobu


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Thanks for the comments everyone. I recieved a phone call from the service manager and he told me that the owner of the company is going to call me tomorrow (Thursday 9/5) so we shall see. Should I hold my breath on this one?


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

inobu said:


> Paul,
> 
> This post is a PSA (Public Service Announcement) for me. Its funny how we all can see clearly standing on the side lines. My initial thought was why did you accept the equipment in the first place. Then I put myself in your shoes. Waiting months for a new business tool makes us over zealous and we have the tendency to make exceptions to issues and factors (I have done it many times) that hind sight clearly stamps RED TAG.
> 
> ...


I couldn't have said it better. That is EXACTLY how it went down. You wait and wait for this piece of machinery to arrive, you get a few guys to push it in the shop. You're excited to get things started so you don't see the forest from the trees.


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## Tallyplayer (Aug 10, 2010)

yeah hold your breathe I was told three times the owner would be calling me. he never did even after I left a few messages

Sent from my SCH-I500 using T-Shirt Forums


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Tallyplayer said:


> yeah hold your breathe I was told three times the owner would be calling me. he never did even after I left a few messages
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I500 using T-Shirt Forums


WOW. Roy, This is unbelievable. I'm taking their word (you'd think I learned my lesson) that he will call tomorrow. If I don't get this refund quick, My lawyer is sending subpoenas to all the people I spoke with. This means they all have to appear in court in New York. I look at it like this... I get my refund and they get a vacation to New York. It's a win win situation... Right?


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## drdoct (Jul 26, 2011)

I've got an old brother 416a I'm not sure how old it is but it's from the 1990's. It looks 20X better than this. I'm betting that they shopped around and had this thing drop shipped to you from someone they purchased it from. They have probably never even seen the machine in question. What's odd about it is that coldesi is supposed to be a reputable company and I'm sure you way over paid just to be getting a machine that was gone over by a SWF distributor. It seems well worth the price to me if it were what was advertized. But this looks like an ebay purchase gone bad. 

Hard to believe they would trash their whole name and reputation doing something idiotic like that. But happens every single day. Please say you didn't spend over 15K for this. This machine was obviously run by people who didn't look after their machines. I can't stand to have dust on my exposed areas. Maybe the inside only gets cleaned once a year around the computer components, but all that **** isn't from storage. Hoping you get it resolved or get a crane and drop it on the CEO's house, something.... anything!


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

The machine would have cost me some $20K after all said. I assure you, this isn't over.

The funny part of this post is, There's a ColDesi ad above it.


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## league33 (Jun 30, 2012)

Paul,

I have been in the same situation with ColDesi when they were SWF East. I bought a 'floor model" 4 head with sequin attachments. I received it on time but after visits from 5 technicians on 5 different occasions over 6 months the sequin function never worked. SWF told me I had "no integrity" because I would not sign the Delivery & Acceptance (on equipment that did not work as it was supposed to). So I said, "here is my integrity, you can come pick up your machine". They sent 2 hacks with a pick up truck and a winch (for a 31K machine). I had to document that event with photos to cover my butt and actually believe what I was seeing. I then bought 2 Tajima machines which are awesome and have been for 6 years. (some things do happen for a reason) 

I feel your pain and completely get your frustration. I wish the best for you and hope that someone from ColDesi can get their head in the right place and give you everything you obviously deserve. I will be thinking of you tomorrow while you turn blue waiting for the "phone call" to come.

I refuse to buy anything from ColDesi.


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## inobu (Dec 29, 2010)

Susan,

I don't understand something......what was the woman there for? 

"They sent 2 hacks with a pick up truck _and a winch_"


j/k 
Inobu


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## suzamac (Mar 18, 2008)

Sounds like a company on the brink of failure.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Update... No phone call as predicted. I did get a letter from their service manager, Bill Snyder. here it is...
Paul,
Sorry you have not been contacted yet. I met with the owner and the sales manager Alex Duran about your situation and they said they would take care of it. Alex told me that they have begun speaking with the leasing company on this. They need to work with leasing company on the logistics. 

Bill Snyder
Service Manager, ColDesi

I'm filing court papers next week should I not have a positive followup. They can't even make a phone call let alone fix a machine...


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## Tallyplayer (Aug 10, 2010)

Same players, Bill Snyder and all that led up to my demise. We really need to stand up and get this company shut down.


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## league33 (Jun 30, 2012)

inobu said:


> Susan,
> 
> I don't understand something......what was the woman there for?
> 
> ...


 
Inobu....I am still chuckling about your response.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Tallyplayer said:


> Same players, Bill Snyder and all that led up to my demise. We really need to stand up and get this company shut down.


I assure you that something will be done if they don't act and quickly. They're playing with my business, my credit and my patience. The New York court system will never put up with such foul business practice. If I have to appear in court, they're all coming.


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## royster13 (Aug 14, 2007)

shirts456 said:


> I assure you that something will be done if they don't act and quickly. They're playing with my business, my credit and my patience. The New York court system will never put up with such foul business practice. If I have to appear in court, they're all coming.


Have you looked into whether or not you can sue them in a NY court?.....


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

royster13 said:


> Have you looked into whether or not you can sue them in a NY court?.....


Yes I have and I will. I have a lawyer on it already.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

So I got a call from the finance company today (Time Payments) and I was told that no call was placed by Coldesi... Which is contrary to what Bill Snyder said in the email posted above. Supposedly Mr. Colman and Sales manager Alex Duran had a pow-wow and spoke to Time Payments about the "logistics" on returning the money. It should be simple... return the money for the machine, my out of pocket costs and pick up the piece of junk from my shop. There's the logistics all figured out for them. This week should prove exciting when all the players from Coldesi get named in the lawsuit. The gentleman from finance told me in his eleven years of doing finance, these problems never went well. I assured him this one will break his eleven year record.


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## Gecko Signs NT (Aug 3, 2012)

Stick to you guns and keep us updated.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

Gecko Signs NT said:


> Stick to you guns and keep us updated.


 UPDATE: Saturday, September 8th I recieve an email from Alex Duran (Sales Manager) that he is out of town and he will take care of everything for me on Monday. 

My lawyer told me to collect all the emails. 

I hope* Alex Duran* is fixing to do a refund or I'll be *angry like the wolf...*


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

shirts456 said:


> My lawyer told me to collect all the emails.
> 
> QUOTE]
> Did your attorney tell you it might not be helpfull to air your rants in a public forum?? This past info is a good thing.... it may seem, but if you bring it up, it becomes your burden. good luck and be careful.


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

zoom_monster said:


> shirts456 said:
> 
> 
> > My lawyer told me to collect all the emails.
> ...


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## zoom_monster (Sep 20, 2006)

shirts456 said:


> zoom_monster said:
> 
> 
> > He's aware of it. Actually, he asked me how many other people came out of the woodwork. This isn't a criminal case, it's a civil case. Chances are nobody will be going to jail unless there is an overflow of bad business going on. I'm just looking for a full refund and that's it. I recieved a call earlier from Scott Levine. He was the guy who originally pitched the machine to me. Although they all sound like good people, there seems to be an underlying problem with this company. They lie. The original contract was for a 15 needle 4 head. then it turned in to a 12 needle 4 head. That was the least of my problems.
> ...


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## TheEvilElephant (Oct 3, 2011)

Brutal! I hope you get it all sorted out


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## inobu (Dec 29, 2010)

Z,

You bring up a good point but it seem as if Paul is bringing this situation up as a "matter of fact". He feels ripped off based on the money paid and the condition of the goods received. it is his opinion based on what he has. 

All comment thus far has been from an observation perspective. 

As I stated before I see this as a public service announcement warning buyers not to be over zealous in their purchases. 

Inobu


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## shirts456 (Mar 30, 2011)

UPDATE: I received a call moments ago from Alex Duran. ColDesi has contacted Time Paymet on reversing the transaction. ColDesi will submit a letter to Time Payment (today) and I will receive a call on the release of the SWF machine. Alex apologized on behalf of ColDesi (I never did get to speak to Colman...) several times and assured me that this is not the way they conduct business. He also told me that ColDesi has implemented many changes in the company's structure since this occurrence. 
Hopefully everything goes smooth from here on in. 

Anyone getting ready to make a purchase on an embroidery machine should ABSOLUTELY do your homework. I would want pictures, maybe even video of the machine (providing it's used) sewing out.
There is a plenty of people with machinery out there. ASK THEM ABOUT THEIR EXPERIENCE. 
Make 100% sure you got what you paid for. NO SURPRISES. It's very disturbing when you're trying to sew a design and pieces of the machine are flying at you.

Thanks to everyone who gave their input on the situation. I''l post again when the situation is completely resolved.


I'm glad that this problem didn't go (to date) any further than it should.


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## Stitches (Oct 2, 2006)

I'll go one further. Since this would be considered a capital purchase, you may want to invest in taking a trip to actually operate the machine. I never buy a used car without taking it for a test spin to see what is wrong with it. just my two pennies.


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## elita (Jan 25, 2012)

I have a SWF machine also, and not that long ago I purchased a cams machine and after that sale I felt like I was dropped. Now I contact them for getting a multi head machine and the sales guy can't call me back, so I call him and he complains because I purchased some 4 parts just over $200 each for $75 less. So he said I'm not a loyal customer. Just cancled my order with Colman and Company who is the same owners. I left a message for the sales manager to call me, if I don't hear from him tomorrow I will no longer be an SWF shop. I'm at a point where I want to upgrade everything so now is the time to change if I decide to.


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## gographics (Mar 23, 2012)

Same here with SWF East! What a joke.


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## helenh (Dec 30, 2007)

What was the result of your experience/purchase with Coldesi?


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## tfalk (Apr 3, 2008)

gographics said:


> Same here with SWF East! What a joke.


Did you know that SWF East changed their name to ColDesi so it's the same company?


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