I am sure you have tried removing the em unit and unplugging the machine, then replugging. Something resets I am told when we do that. Then try re-attaching the em unit. Sometimes it is just a loose connection, I am assuming she did not ship it with the emb unit attached!

Have you checked that the Seller accepts returns? If you cant get to a repairer than maybe just return it for a full refund as it was not working when you received it. Or if this isnt an option look to see if there are any groups that own these machines, they usually have many members who have knowledge on the errors who can help. Good luck Jussy :)

If you cannot return it and you paid for it with PayPal, I would contact PayPal.

I wish I did have a suggestion for you other than returning it. I can empathize with you.

Sorry to hear of your problems. As has been said, it is worth checking on the conditions of purchase both from the seller and with EBay. Also, check to see if the seller dispatched the machine with any insurance cover. One further avenue would be to contact Brother via its Solutions Centre website. I have found the UK arm of the company helpful in the past. I presume that you are in the USA. Final thing, do a search for forums that operate with your machine.

have you tried removing the embroidery unit and reconnecting it?

Sorry to hear this. My dealer has a lot of machines sent to him that customers have bought from ebay often described as 'lightly used' he uses other words instead. I would try some of the suggestions mentioned below. My last comment that if I were sending something of that value I would insure it first, so was it insured? If it were damaged in transit it could also be said it was not packaged well enough to withstand the odd bump. Please do let us know what the outcome is on this AND good luck

Tracy did it have the user manual with it?
If so, I would look through the back of the manual to the section for problems and remedies, or something like that and see if it gives any answers that might be useful.
Some of my machines have sliders that must be pushed into position for the electrical terminals of the embroidery unit to connect. So hopefully it could be something as simple as that.
If it doesn't have a user manual, you should be able to download one from the Brother.com website.
I had two machines shipped from the States to Australia, one worked perfectly, the other one I haven't been able to use and still haven't figured out the problem. I hope you have better success. hugs n roses, Meg

Sorry for posting twice. I ment for this to be at the top...
The embroidery unit was not attached when it was shipped. I did try reattaching it several times, properly turning it off and on. I even tried upgrading the software. I also downloaded the manual and read it over and it only says to re-attach the embro arm...Brother's email said to take it in for repair. I filed a claim with Ebay and PP so that they would be aware of a problem if we can't work it out ourselves. I just have to beleive people are good and would not sell a bum machine on purpose. Wish me luck...Thanks for all your wonderful advise.

My machine is not brother but Husqvarne and I can tell you that they do not like to travel and you need to be extra careful with the embroidery arm. So it might have something to do with the transport. Is there a brother dealer near you, Maybe take it there and see what is wrong. Might be very small thing. Good luck

I would send it back,I would hate to pay for something and then have to pay to have it repaired. Let the seller deal with it. What happens when you do get to the repair shop and they tell you it is a 1 or 200.00 dollar repair. Something to think about.

If it were a sewing/emb combo. I would ask if you have connected the foot pedal, cause you only use the on/off button with the arm attached. The error message you get does sound like (hopefully) there is just not a good connection.

I've just downloaded and gone through the manual for this machine and thought about some of the issues identified. Although I'm sure that you have tried all this but I thought that I should mention it anyway.
1. Have you made sure that the embroidery unit release latch has correctly engaged, and 2. Do a careful visual inspection of all connections (with the power disconnected) to chech for any distortion and or corrosion at terminal points. In particular, check connection terminal between the embroidery unit and the machine. The follow the manual assembly for connection and powering up again IF you see no evidence of damage mentioned above.

I am going to return it to her. I talked to several local places and the only local Brother person is backed up 2 weeks. Thanks for all your help and advise. She really was a doll about the whole thing. My faith in humanity is instact.

Happy everything worked out well ;D *2U