Full Version: Catania - thumbs UP!
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#1]
19 Sep 2005
To: ALL
I'm a little delinquent in writing this, but "better late than never"...
I don't believe in writing "attaboy's" for someone that is simply doing their job. At least, not usually. I am making an exception in this case just to point out how well we were treated recently.
We met Vince Frank (new Catania owner) at the show in Vegas this year, and he made a great first impression. He seemed to be the kind of person that took a personal interest in how well his customers are doing. As it turns out, he's EXACTLY that kind of person.
We had seen some of Catania's sample medals in Vegas, and Vince had sent some to us. I took some of the samples to a couple of my customers, and they really liked them.
With the combination of Vince's personality, good pricing, and a great product, we just HAD to give him a shot at doing the custom medals at one of our Fall events.
When I placed the order, I was told a date that the medals would arrive at my shop. My order arrived on the exact date that they were promised...in spite of the fact that I had to change my order TWICE in midstream! (A+ for prompt delivery)
I counted and inspected each medal for major flaws. Nothing to report except for excellence. (A+ for accuracy and quality)
When I delivered the finished product to my customer, his exact words were, "WOW, THESE ARE GREAT!" At that time, my customer told me that we were assured of their account for the next 18 months (this customer spent about $12,000 with me last year - a lot of which was for medals - , so I absolutely HAVE to keep him happy!). (A+ for customer response)
Catania will definitely have a great deal of our medal business. I want to publicly thank Vince and his staff for the way they handled this order.
To be perfectly fair and even-handed, I do have to point out one issue with their medals. Catania markets their medals as "laserable". That's a true statement...you can laser-engrave the back of the medals to vaporize the coating. However, their advertisements always show the result to be a black engraving on the gold/silver/bronze background. This simply isn't so...lasering only takes off the coating, exposing the silvery metal underneath. This is okay for gold and bronze, but the engraving is difficult to see on the silver medals. All that being said, I prefer the look of mechanical engraving on medals, so they "laserable" finish had no bearing on our results.
All in all, I would highly recommend Catania.
- They were patient with me during the quoting phase (that can be tough to do...just ask the folks at Brewer Sales).
- They did a super job making sure the order was accurate prior to production.
- They delivered what I ordered on the day that it was promised at the time of the order.
Cody Stewart
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#2]
20 Sep 2005
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#1] 20 Sep 2005
Cody,
Thanks for sharing your experience. Was it the laserable feature that drew you to Catania's product? I know that Anthony at Faro USA is trying to come up with a similar feature to offer on their custom medals.
If the laserabe feature wasn't the big draw, did you ever consider Faro USA, a great contributor to this forum? I have found Anthony and company to be second to none in the quality of their work and service. I speak from experience, having done quite a few projects with them to date.
From: LARRY (CENTURYBADGE) [#3]
20 Sep 2005
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#1] 20 Sep 2005
Cody,
How right you are. We have had the same experience with them. Vince has helped us out of two jams and we now use him for all of our medals. He has been a pleasure to work with and his work and cooperation is flawless.
Larry
From: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#4]
20 Sep 2005
To: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#2] 20 Sep 2005
Howdy, David...
Although I'm familiar with Faro (through this forum), I didn't even think about their ability to do medals. For some reason, lapel pins and epoxy doming is what I associate with them.
I will get in touch with Anthony to get some samples of his medals for comparison to Catania's.
Yes, the laserable feature was what first caught my eye. I was disappointed when it didn't work out like I expected. However, we were already in the process of buying/leasing a mechanical engraver, so it wasn't a big deal that it didn't work for us.
In my (not humble, but very outspoken) opinion, if the base metal does not have a great contrast against the finish, a "laserable" finish is a complete waste of time. I wouldn't even mind taking an additional step in the process to create that contrast, so long as it only took a couple of seconds per medal (such as brushing on an oxidizing compound, for example). However, I don't know of anything that will accomplish what I'd need.
Cody
From: Engravin' Dave (DATAKES) [#5]
20 Sep 2005
To: Cody (BOBTNAILER) [#4] 20 Sep 2005
Cody,
I suggested that the back of the medals be painted or screened black, then be protected with a the normal clear coat. This would allow those with lasers to engrave the clear coat and black away, exposing the metallic color underneath. It seems like a simple concept, but some things are more costly and involved than we often think.