Again I'm happy with Marktplaats. Within 2 weeks I have nearly converted my whole Disney video collection to DVDs. I'm waiting for a sending of 6 dvd's and there's 3 titles that I still miss (101 dalmatians, Hercules, jungle book). And within one day of posting my call for help with my serger I received a reply from a man in Hengelo that has the thing I need: a new thread guider for my Brother 546D.

So, it's not just the 'for sale' advertisements that work, the 'looking for' also works.

Service is just a word these days, it seems. I had contacted Brother via the official ways to ask if they could help me with the broken thread guider of my second (maybe third) hand serger. The short reply I get is "parts for this type of machine are no longer produced". No "we're sorry" or "perhaps you could try <possible solution>". The sewing machine repair shop here in Amersfoort isn't much better. After waiting a whole minute the phone was finally picked up and the guy on the other side snappishly told me that he does not receive parts from Brother so therefore he cannot help me. His tone of voice suggested that it was all my fault or that in the least I was a nitwit for asking. No suggestions or "I'm sorry" there either. So much for service.

I hope that the Marktplaats deal will work out. I got a reply to my 'cry for help' with a short message and a phonenumber. The man that picked up the phone told me that he has an old fashioned repair shop and that he had some old parts lying around. He said he'd send me the thread guide for € 25. Might sound like much, it's only a bent piece of metal, but if that is what gets my machine working again and saves me from spending € 200+ on a new machine, for now I'll take the deal.