Cattylink.com Good to Deal With?

[rodge827]

Hi,
I was just wondering if anyone has dealt with Cattylink recently?
I'm in the market for some gear and their pricing is real good.
Experiences good or bad are most welcome.
I'm in the US, so it would be good to hear from the locals.
Thanks,
Chris

[acebritbiker]

Rodge,

I know one of their nominal "suppliers" quite well but according to their sales manager, cattylink don't buy the products from the actual manufacturer (in China) and in her opinion the same goes for most of the advertised products. They (a very well known and respected "high end" tube amp maker) have absolutely nothing to do with cattylink. She has been contacted in the past for help from people who've bought "her" factory products from cattylink that didn't work. They may or may not be "genuine" but the prices are so far below the normal ex-factory prices that it's a mystery how they could make any profit. The real manufacturers in mainland China are well aware of rip-offs for sale to innocent internet buyers but there is little they can do about it. Cattylink (and others) use genuine factory product photos etc. but buying their products would be a great risk. On the other hand, the bona-fide makers are great people to deal with and can often give good prices to enthusiasts. They will also get you good information and advice about matching to your system. I for one would not buy from cattylink, no matter that the "discount" might pay the $250-$400 worth of DHL shipping.....

[rodge827]

acebritbiker,
Thanks for your very infomative reply. I was thinking the same thing about the low pricing myself. How can the gear be sold so low and still make a profit? I guess this might be a 21st century internet con game. Oh well guess I'll go to a bonified dealer and pay for the peace of mind.
Chris

[acebritbiker]

Rodge, I looked at MingDa's web site yeterday and they'd just updated and added a pop-up window warning about fakes in general and cattylink specifically...! I know they will also tell you if a certain serial number is real or not, as they started serialising all their amps a year or two back. The manufacturers direct shipping is also no higher and can be less (as they don't try to make on the shipping) than the wholesale ripoff shops. One of the Hong Kong shops is apparently famous for the shipping profit (and its already so high.....!)

[tubes@home]

Hi everyone,

I can only warn from buying at Cattylink - they have been cheating people all over the world. There are a lot of warnings everywhere, and whenever some warning appears in a forum there is immediately a super positive post from 'someone' new to the forum.
There are also other companies warning from buying at cattylink:

h**p://www.xindak.com/en-us/choice_brand.htm
h**p://www.jungson.com/node/124

Aftersails seem to be another issue:
h**p://www.xtremeplace.com/yabbse/index.php?topic=69752.0]My bad experience with cattylink[/url]

Some more links with information:
h**p://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=19416465#post19416465]Cattylink??? - AVS Forum[/url]

Don't buy there - they will grab your money and you will not have any chance to get it back !
Peter

[rodge827]

Peter,
Thanks for the warning. I have already gone and purchased what I wanted from an authorised dealer. I will leave this thread gong so that anyone who has had a bad Cattylink experience can post. Also anyone thnking about dealing with them can find this in a search.
Chris

[tubes@home]

Hi Chris,

good to hear that you bought locally - leave the thread open - I just found this interesting info:

h**p://grantfidelity.com/factories/?p=140

Cheers
Peter