Bad experience with factory

[Gary]

Have a 36 whose riser/mixing elbo failed. I was instructed by a dealer to send it to Catalina.I traveled 900 miles to retrieve it two days after they received it, only to realize that they had NOT even touched it. The nxt week I received a call from Jerry Douglas, whom I had not spoke to up to that point. With no previous discussion I was told that they were doing me a FAVOR in fixing it (AND CHARGING ME). I was also told that I was impatient! Ha what a laugh. I was anxious because I am the captain of a Catalina fleet and want to sail with the fleet!!AND I have my boat up for sale with the anticipation of getting a 42....Well that idea is now changed....I will continue to sell my boat..but I am wondering is getting another Catalina a wise idea with this kind of customer service. (I still don't have the repaired part!!!!) turn around time is two days in my area on the repair.----live and learn

[Chris Bloor]

We've not had good experience with Catalina home office either. We ordered new rubber flooring for our galley over a month ago by fax through our marina as they instructed us to do. We don't want them to cut it to shape -- we only want a 7' x 3' roll of the stuff. Follow-up calls yield nothing. The customer service department (or whatever they're called these days) is wonderful with answering questions about the boat, thecompany, other boats, etc., but we agree that the parts department is terrible. Love our C-42 though -- we just try to outfit it through WM/E&B or Boat/US rather than going to the company direct! Good Luck and Happy Sailing!Chris BloorC-42 Great Escape

[Bob Teeter]

I have had the oposite experience with the factory and the parts department. They have been responsive every time I have called. Many times have have been sent directly to the supplier (Seaward, Maxwell or whomever) and I have found that Catalina supplier is even more responsive and helpful.  We have had two Catalina Yachts, 1979 C25 and 1990 C42 and we think that they were both the most boat that you will find for the dollar in todays market. The resale is great and the boat sails well.CamelotC 42 #215 Bob Teeter

[Mark Johnson]

I agree with Bob. My experiences with the parts department at Catalina have always been very pleasant and responsive. I've ordered a few things and they arrived from CA to CT in a reasonable amount of time. For the most part they even knew what they were talking about. MPJ

[Phil Herring]

...that all sailboat builders (even the largest) are small businesses, and that they survive by efficiently building and selling boats. Of course they sell parts, but I have yet to hear of any major builder handling repairs. The fact is, they probably -are- doing you a favor.And since they don't have any standard ops process for this repair, you can bet it will take a while. I guess my question is, if you can get it done faster locally, and turnaround is the top priority, why send it to the factory?

[Charley Eddy]

I have had a Catalina 42 since 1992. I have dealt with the factory numerous times - from buying bits and pieces of hardware for various projects, to buying a new elliptical rudder, to discussing service issues with Frank Butler. I have visited the factory. My experiences have only been positive. They run a very lean operation and get a lot accomplished without a lot of unnecessary overhead. They listen to what the customer says and are constantly incorporating that input into the boats. Thats why the boats give such value for the dollar.

[Gary]

A favor is something you do that you never throw is someones face! Catalina was told my time constraints UP FRONT!!!!!! If they could not preform in the time frame that I asked for-----then they would have done me a favor in telling me to get it done locally to meet that time frame.What I missed while my boat was down was planned and a few people were unhappy about it====including myself. If I had known, I gladly would have got it done locally...It certainly was no pleasure driving from S F to L A for not!!!Besides that they did not fix the boat,they resupplied a part for a product they originally sold.