Hi My call to Catalina was answered right away by kent in tec. services. I explained my problem of a broken casting at the mast end of the boom and he sent me an e-mail with a picture of the part I needed. with instructions to e-mail or call dani in parts to order what I needed. This was done and the parts arrived on monday with a thur call and the holiday weekend. This was great however it was the wrong part. When I questioned dani she said that the picture was not included in my e-mail, however I wonder if she didn't look at the full e-mail. The right part is being sent as I type these words"I hope'' It seem that it was my fault as it was played back to me by dani. I don't think so. Kent thought that the casting was part of the total set up. However in the ffinal they were very, very prompt and very helpfull and dani answered right away and I didn't have to leave a message.

Ray Kalinsky Little Miss Magic #2253
PS I will send the casting to frank I think their might be a flaw in it.

Bill,

I had fairly good luck with Catalina but, have not dealt with them in the last year or so. I have seen a good number of posts regarding their lack of response to calls.

I hope that this is not a sign of the condition of the company Catalina, new boat sales are down over fourty percent and the employees may be a bit stressed about the viability of their jobs. Of course this is when customer service should be its absolute best in order to preserve the customer base. Lets hope you just called after the person you spoke to spilled her Starbucks in her lap.

My one and only attempt to contact Catalina yachts was a disaster, unfortunately. I won't repeat the details of several calls over several days, but it was bad enough for me to write a letter to Gerry Douglas and Frank Butler.

The reply was contrite and they promised to do better. I sincerely wish for Catalina Yachts to prosper. They lost a multi-thousand dollar sale with me and they won't prosper long if too many customers get the run-around that I did.

I've called Catalina on several occasions over the last few years. Whenever I was able to reach the proper person, they were very helpful and took all the time with me that I needed. However, I have found that they never return calls from their message, but this is pretty normal with many companies I've dealt with. It's probably because they are understaffed and only have time to deal with the issue at hand - which is the person on the line right now.

I have worked in the service industry now for four years and it is quite an eye-opener. Almost everyone at work complains (amongst themselves) about how the numerous phone calls keep interrupting all the work we are trying to get done.

Yes, a third of the calls waste a lot of our time with no reward, but if the phone calls stop coming, THAT's when the problems really start.

So many companies, ours included, downsize staff without understanding that you often exacerbate the downward trend in revenues by not having enough people to properly serve your customers.

I'll get off the soap box now. :)

Hello,
Last season I bent my boom, I called Catalina, and asked for Frank Butler, I was put right through to him( which surpised the hell out of me). I told him the problem, and questions I had with having a new loose footed main built. He asked me to send him photos of the boom and where the boom had bent. I did so, and I recieved a call from Mr Butler within 2 days. Not only that he also sent me a diagram of how the bails should be laid out.
The problem that I had was the bails were not laid out correctly, "from the factory" but seing this was not addressed earlier on they would not send me a boom at no cost. But I will tell you Mr Butler told me he would send me one at a much much lower price then what they sell for.
So in the end I think the service from Catalina was wonderful. I will also tell you that Kent in tech support is great and does return calls, I am sure with all the Catalinas built they are under alot of presure with questions from all types of their boats.

So don't give up yet , and good luck:)

After Hurricane Charley hit and I needed a new mast. Catalina sold me a completly assembled mast and offered to put it on a truck that was going out in a few weeks to Tampa so I would not have to pay for shipping. Saved me a lot of shipping money.

Another time I saw a crack on the keel. I contacted Catalina by email and recieved a reply from an engineer whos name I don't remember. He told me to chip off sme bottom paint along the alleged crack to see if it is where the keel is attached to the keel stub, which is was. The problem was not a crack in the keel, but just a crack in the layers of bottom paint. He sent me a detailed email explaing why the paint cracks.

I have a great idea. It may be that Catalina's move to Florida will improve their factory response, and it occurs to me that the next time I am down there, I would like to visit the factory and talk to them about the change and how support response might be affected. But an even greater idea would be to ask our Punta Gorda contingent to visit Catalina and find out first hand about these matters and report back to the Forum. You know...What can we expect in parts response? Fax response? Voice mail call backs? Who are the best contacts for what type questions? What are the best phone numbers to call? Will they remain open late to accommodate the west coast owners?

It's not a long drive up there from PG. What do you think, Mike & Duane? Heck, you could even go by boat.

I have visited the Catalina plant twice. The plant in Largo Florida is open to visitors I believe on Wednesday afternoons after the production lines close for the day which is about 1530 hrs. The tour last about an hour or so. That was thier policy the last time I was there which is about four or five years ago. The tour starts in the area where the hull is made and ends at final assembly.

Largo is about a 2 1/2 hr drive from Disney World and just a short drive from Bush Gardens in Tampa. If someone is going to Disney they could leave the kids at Disney for the day, drive over to the Catalina plant and get back to Disney for a late dinner. I would call the plant first to make sure they still offer the tours.

If in the future if I go to the Tampa area I would like to go on another tour of the plant and I will ask the questions.

I am coming to Orlando for the National Business Aviation Association convention in October (and before/after to the Venice area to visit my mom), and I would like to convince Steve Frost to join me at the factory after NBAA. But first I have to convince him to go to NBAA. Help me with that, would you?

I don't need another tour, but I would like to sit down with them to discuss support issues.