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The BCS Service Team

Our service team all works with a common goal - to provide you the best service, the correct service, at a fair price. We will never perform work that is unnecessary or sell you unauthorized parts.

Laura Livingston – Laura is BCS's owner and veteran service technician, with experience dating back to 1984. She joined the service game early and has acquired a vast amount of knowledge on virtually every Bernina to hit U.S. stores. Currently her main specialty focus is Bernina embroidery products, rare or unusual issues, advanced carriers, and head frames. Laura is also currently involved in one-on-one training of new, apprentice service personnel.

Steve Coats - Also a veteran service technician for more than 25 years. Steve handles all of the non-Bernina repairs. Yes, we service machines other than Bernina! Around here, we say if Steve can’t fix your 15-year-old machine, no one can! And he will honestly assess the repair and let you know when it’s time for a new machine.

Choosing a Repair Location

Most of the local retail stores that have been servicing machines for 20 or more year have good to excellent reputations. Most of these stores do all of their servicing on the premises. If you buy a machine from a shop that does not have a service department, the work is likely contracted out to another shop or service individual. There is nothing wrong with this, other than your machine often needs to be picked up and moved to that other location. If your machine needs to take a ride to a second location, you might want to reconsider who you let service your machine ... let alone, who you bought it from!

If you plan on buying a machine from a shop that does not have an in-store service department, we would recommend you strongly rethink your purchase. Quality machines, quality dealers, and quality service departments go hand-in-hand! Not everyone who sells machines are committed to developing a service department, because it is not the “fun” or glamorous part of the business.

Things to consider ...

• NO general service should take more than a week to complete.
• Ask how often the service technician is on duty and what the average service turnaround is. The exception to the rule would be if a part needs to be ordered or the shop is experiencing an unusual backlog of machines (yes, this can happen).
• If the service department is taking longer than normal to service a machine, ask why. Sometime things do take a bit longer than expected. A good repair department will inform you if a delay is necessary and will update you on the progress.
• Will that shop offer to loan you a machine, if needed?
• Will you need to call them, or will they call you?