Anatol Titan thoughts

[alan802]

I bet 99% of people will probably be perfectly happy and fine with Anatol. The issue is the 1% are probably having more issues with their equipment than they should so I think some of the Anatol bashing is uncalled for in a sense. And like others have said get the press that you are most comfortable and that fits your requirements and you will be fine. As long as you are not that 1% 

I believe it's much higher than 1%.  Just from my research it seems much closer to 40-50.  Assuming that less than 10% of screen printers are active on forums and the amount of negative posts on those forums puts the numbers much higher than 1%.  Unhappy customers are always more vocal than happy, but there is still an alarming number of posts out there from people who didn't join the forum just to talk about their issues with their press.

I really hope that Anatol is as concerned about what their customers have said and can use that to be better at keeping customers happy than they are this thread.

Frog edit
Alan, this is not exactly fair or necessarily a very accurate image, as you note, these bright red "in-your'face" clipped posts are without names and dates, we really don't know how many of these are the same person and the same issue, and also, we don't know how and if and when it was resolved.
Not really fair, a little like slanted journalism.   

You're right, I didn't post the happy customers' posts but I don't agree with it not being fair.  I didn't tell those people to post their thoughts.  And Frog, not sure how it can be innacurate, it was all clearly typed and posted by owners of their equipment, I simply put in a neater package that was much easier to read.  All I did was a google search, copy/paste, done.  And as far as if it were resolved in one way or the other isn't really a concern of mine since the concern is in the issues that the customers were commenting about.  If someone has to go to the effort that some have to get a resolution should the actual resolution really be praised?  I understand that not everyone can fix an issue on the first try or at the first sign of a problem, but many companies try and you can tell those that have tried and those who have not.

Ask yourself why there isn't a thread like this about M&R, or Workhorse, or MHM, or Sroque...not that there aren't a few unhappy customers, but it's a much smaller percentage compared to some manufacturers.

[Prosperi-Tees]

There are a couple 8 color Statuses sitting in a corner of a large shop collecting dust in my city that the owner refuses to use and nobody in town will buy them off of him.

[TCT]

I bet 99% of people will probably be perfectly happy and fine with Anatol. The issue is the 1% are probably having more issues with their equipment than they should so I think some of the Anatol bashing is uncalled for in a sense. And like others have said get the press that you are most comfortable and that fits your requirements and you will be fine. As long as you are not that 1% 

I believe it's much higher than 1%.  Just from my research it seems much closer to 40-50.  Assuming that less than 10% of screen printers are active on forums and the amount of negative posts on those forums puts the numbers much higher than 1%.  Unhappy customers are always more vocal than happy, but there is still an alarming number of posts out there from people who didn't join the forum just to talk about their issues with their press.

Ok Joseph, here ya go, and we're all liars.

Here are copy/paste posts from a quick search.  I'll try to cut names since those who wrote these have no idea I'm posting them.
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i had similar issues with the anatol equipment i have used. in my opinion there machinery is built with cheap hardware. the designing of their presses are unique but inadequate. for example i have tried several techniques to print a good underbase with a single stroke on one of their horizon autos. it couldnt do it. at least not in one stroke. i am also not a big fan of the side clamping autos. but any ways with out getting too involved, i have been in a lot of shops and had a great deal of press time on a lot of different machines. not all of them but most of them for sure. my advice to any one is to go with m&R it is hands down the best equipment i have used. or if you cant afford it go with workhorse. the falcon i had ran actually had M&R operating system. i dont know if they all do. also i have never ran any of the workhorse air presses. like the freedom. Both m&r and workhorse have great dryers and exposure units as well.good luck.
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What type of trouble!? Let's see I've dealt with lying(MULTIPLE TIMES), fixing a problem that breaks right away again, committing to do something then not EVER following up, I was even told that my TEMPORARY super glue fix on the auto press was a good fix instead of them sending me out a new part. One time I was actually told my equipment was on a ship(cargo ship I assume) that was lost. But in all reality what can you expect from a company that seems to have new reps, or techs every few months(I have had 3 different cell numbers of techs taped to my press)? I know I am going on and on but my frustration level for them can not go any higher! I really could write all day about the problems, but I guess if you want to know more or care to know more just email me.
It is unfortunate, because I really like the company I bought through and their rep(not an anatol rep.) but I need to figure out how to have him get the commission from another company's machine they don't sell!
Really, I have found their machines are such a P.O.S. that I needed to start fixing the stuff my self! Here are a few pics of my handy work. Might give up printing and be a anatol tech for 3 months or so!
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I've had similar issues as mentioned above. Anatol dryers are overengineered and problematic to say the least. The presses are'nt bad but when I have to call back next week when the techs return from a trade show well thats a problem.  Yes but when you can't get a tech on the phone due to the fact that he is at a trade show well, again, that is a problem is'nt it?
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While I do agree you sent out the switch(The EXACT same one you were paid over $200 to "fix" in April, a wonderful fix that lasted 3 months) I was told "how sorry your company was about my issue, and a new functioning switch would be sent out at no charge whatsoever". You can imagine my delight when I opened up my UPS statement and saw your company was nice enough to charge the shipment to my UPS account WITHOUT authorization. Although the charge is minimal, it is the principal here that is the most frustrating aspect your company seems to constantly overlook. That has been my issue since anatol let me down time #1, 6 YEARS or so ago...

If stating the truth in a public forum, and using a reliable timer from my high school days is what it takes to get anatol's attention, then mission accomplished.
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Have an Anatol horison 8-7 mini. Can set the dwell time for 4 seconds or more and the press runs fine. When it is set at 3.9 seconds or less we get an intermidentant skipping problem. The press will print and index and before you can get the shirt all the way off it will index and print again. It may print 48 shirts fine and then skip or 500 to 600 and never skip then it may skip 2, 3, 4 times in a row. Was told by Anatol this is a software problem but have been waiting over 10 weeks for the fix. Am very tired of cleaning pallets. Not only does this slow production but am waisting a lot of time cleaning. Is any one else having this problem??. Anatol will NOT say why it is taking this long to fix the problem!!

This morning started a 400 shirt run and the #7 head will print part of the design sometimes, no of it at others and just sit and do nothing at all some of the time. Called Anatol about this and was told "service is busy and it may be awhile before someone gets back to you". That was over 2 hours ago so here I sit with my finger where it doesn't belong having to back up the press and manually printing the #7 head about every 5 - 6 shirts.. Don't I just LOVE this service. Is anyone else having problems like these not only with your press but also the Service.
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appreciate them trying to contact me but why has it taken 10 weeks for this to happen?? and only after calling and asking to talk with Anatol ( the owner of anatol ) and the posting of this message.
like the machine when it is running right put this is the problem, it has issues

Anatol: Did Anatol get you going??

Finally got the new boards in end of last week. Had a few cliches but got them fixed. So far seems to be running fine. The only reason I was given why it took so long was "we forgot about you", oh well.
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Please help! I have a Mariah 1 gas dryer and it is not firing after the first attempt and I get a "Ignition error" light and a delightful alarm noise... I talked with Anatol earlier this morning but no dice at this point. Their day must end at noon or something... Any help? Please!
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run far run fast from Anatol. We have had our Titan with quartz flash for just over a year. The customer service is terrible. We received our press with a bad cpu and struggled with it for 6 mos doing their diagnostics and never getting the issue resolved when the press finally quit, just wouldn't turn on. We were down for 8 DAYS in NOVEMBER because they didn't want to send the part. They also had a supplier send them a bad batch of chopper cylinders, that I think we received the majority of, and they acted like we were doing something wrong. The latest is they sent us the wrong part, that we paid freight for and now to send the correct part they want us to pay freight again - on a warranty! Their mistake, it's warranty and they want me to pay freight twice?! You would think that we would have heard from someone in ownership or upper mgmt after all that we have been through but we haven't which tells me they approve this level of customer service.
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Anatol makes a good machine for the money. Their service, company and business morals are a total joke however. If you go with Anatol you will get a good press, my advice though is to make sure you have a number of a independent tech that is able to work on it if necessary. You can PM me if you would like the info of one I have used, he is great and travels all over. I know I will probably get some heat for this, but I'm just speaking from personal experience with two of their products.
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Hey, I just wanted to check and see if anyone ended up purchasing an Anatol machine. We've had a Titan for about 3-4 months and unfortunately we've had quite a few issues with it. The first couple times it shut down it was an electrical problem. Then recently it sprung an air leak from one of the valves. We've lost probably 10 days of work with the machine down. The guy who Anatol contracted to help us install it has been very helpful but the company itself hasn't. They seem unwilling to acknowledge that our machine hasn't performed the way they said it would. The sales rep who sold us the machine has taken the all-to-familiar "I just sold it to you, it's out of my hands now" approach so we've been less than thrilled with their service and support. When the machine is up and working it works great. It's possible that there are just a bunch of small snags that have to get worked out or that we just got a problematic machine. Either way, it would be nice if we could just run for even a month without an issue. If anyone else has any experience with Anatol I'd be very curious to hear what they thought. Thanks!
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Our exact story as the above post. Machine is JUNK! Anatol sucks with customer service after you purchase your machine. Haven't heard from or seen our salesman since we purchased the machine in November! Have spoken to just about everyone at that company with no satisfaction. Now threatening legal action. Machine has not worked for a consecutive 2 weeks since we got it! Not to mention it sat on our loading dock for 3 weeks before my local rep. contacted someone he knew to install it. Absolutely no training as was promised and tech spent 5 days here after it was set up trying to get it to work properly! Save yourself and buy something else!
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I have the same situation. Have not received a straight answer from anatol since the day I committed to it. Delivery was about 2 months later then planned. Machine has never ran like it was supposed to and has continually gotten worse to the point of not even worth it to turn it on anymore. Finally got a service rep to come and he couldn't fix it. Engineer was supposed to be here today, but now that is delayed also. Couldn't be more frustrated with my purchase at this point....
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Has anyone ever had an issue with an Anatol Horizon 6/8 Air Press? We've had the machine now for 2 months and every week have a different error message or malfunction. Anatol keeps blaming a bad batch of sensors, but with so many issues I'm wondering now if it is a lemon. I'm very disappointed in the machine and am now losing money and business due to being down all the time...
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Same here, even after the electrician worked on our machine for a day and a half we are still having issues with our sensors. Not only do we have to fight to get more than one sensor, now that our machine is 3 months old they want me to pay for them to be shipped, even though they admitted they manufactured machines with bad sensors. $27,000 machine and they are worried about $20 to ship replacement sensors...I wouldn't care if it had worked properly once, but it never has.
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My story is basically the same as yours. We received the press in April. We are constantly receiving error messages. They are constantly blaming it on sensors, software, etc. I don't really remember how many sensors have been replaced. They have updated my software twice, installed a new monitor, new computer boards (2 I think). Since the original install they have sent techs on 2 occasions. 2 weeks ago was the last time. 2 days after he left, Head 1 made a clicking sound and died. It still isn't working.
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Wow I wish I would've read this post before I decided to put out 20k deposit on a Horizon that was said to be in stock and ready to ship! Lies, excuses, and b.s. seems to be company policy at Anatol. I've put my business on the line by betting on the small guy when I should've taken the safe blue route:/...I've lost weeks with no equiptment being that i sold my old equiptment to make room for the new, I've lost 2 1000+pcs jobs (hopefully not the clients) that were in house ready to print being that I was told to have jobs ready for the tech to run while he setup and trains my guys, and I've lost hair due to the stress put forth by a company who could easily be direct about any issues that may or may not cause delays which is understandable and isn't something I'd even consider posting on TF about since things happen. I thought my understanding of this was made clear to them and all b.s.'n would be out the door after I fought tooth and nail to find out the horizon that I was told was in stock and would ship 3days later only to find out the next day it wouldnt even be state side till June due to a miscommuciation between dept's at anatol. At which time I spoke with "upper management" who told me a loaner press (Titan *downgrade) would ship 2days from then and be swapped out in june when horizon arrived. I thought this to be positive since they accomodated an unfortunate but understandable situation and a great start to our newly established biz relationship...its been over 2weeks and no press and plenty of reasons why from missing a chip, next for quality control, crating it now, to I have no idea (per sales rep). Total disregard for a customer/ a customers $/ and a customers business is what I've experienced from Anatol up to this point with all the blaten lies and misinformation..I didn't post 1 complaint when I purchased the first Anajet mPower 10 in Aug '11 and didn't receive it till jan 12. It was only suppose to be 1month lead time, but anajet was straight forward about things as they came, and I've been grateful to have purchased equipment from them! Maybe Anatol should try Anajets direct and honest approach to customer service..

BTW since i can't seem to contact anatol anymore, and they already have 20k so theyre not blowing my lines up anymore like the good ole pre-deposit days  any recomendations of how to get my $
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I hope that you have a good experience. My experience has been as others have posted. Had to get with my attorney once when the press stopped working completely 6 months after received - it never worked right since we received it. Having to get with my attorney again now. PM if you need more info.
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Seems like anatol comes with baggage..I can say that because I have seen the issues first hand..I don't own one but I worked at a shop that did..what a nightmare the press was..it worked but sometimes it seemed to be haunted.. LOL.. And getting the tech to come out on time or on the day promised was a crap shoot..
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I just have to give my 2 cents for whats it's worth, even though you have already purchased your press I am hoping this might save some other person looking for reviews on Anatol presses. We purchased a Titan press from the Orlando show last year and have had nothing but problems. The salesman visited my shop to sell me the machine and once again to pick up the deposit. Other than that, I have never heard from or seen him again. We received our machine (minus the sleeve platens we were promised in the sale) and it sat on our loading dock for about 3 weeks until finally one of my local screen print suppliers (and Anatol rep) arranged for someone he knew to set up the machine. After 3 days of installing, the machine did not work properly. After about 2 more weeks and constant phone calls to Anatol, they finally sent a tech out to fix it. It took the rep 5 full days to get the machine operational. Since the purchase, the machine has not worked for a consecutive 2 weeks without problem. Now I am being told there are defective switches on the machine and each time one goes out, they send me one to replace it. I have contacted Anatol on MANY occasions and spoke to MANY different employees and managers and am now threatening legal action. If they know switches are defective, why do they only send them out one at a time instead of sending enough to replace all of them? Because they only have 44 pieces of replacement switches! This is the most unprofessional company I have EVER come across. The customer service is the worst! All they want is your money and then, you are on your own! Save yourself the problems and buy something else!
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I wonder if all these people are making this up?  I know some of those posts are from the same people on different forums but that's a lot of unhappy customers considering most screen printers have never posted on a forum.  And for the record, I don't own an M&R auto and we've done very well with another manufacturer but we do have a Sprint International and Sidewinder manual press in shop so I have dealt with their service first hand.

To be fair, I think three of those were me!  

[tonypep]

The last time I talked to a "tech" he said he was previously an HVAC guy and was still learning. Had to take a pic of every problem because he never knew what I was talking about. Gave up on them helping with broken servo so I brought in a machine shop engineer who had never seen a press before (he called it the red spider). He removed it and brought it in the next day not only fixed; he beefed it up. Then came all the air lines breaking on a daily basis. Had to replumb the entire machine with locally purchased hosing. I just don't think their entry level presses are that well made. Now the Vindicator is well built but pricey

[inkman996]

Alex no doubt shipping from Poland should not take 3 months. I have had two presses shipped from Poland myself, I would say both once they left the port took less than 4 weeks closer to 3. Once they hit port in the US there could always be a hold up due to customs but that is typically less than two weeks.

[sweetts]

Never posted or responded here before, usually come here for a quick answer and that's about it.  Reading some of your "claims" and ridiculous comments that some of you are trying to pass off as "facts" I felt obligated to at least chime in...  First and foremost if any of you have been screenprinting for more than 6 months and haven't figured out that a press is only as good, reliable, effecient etc etc etc as the person operating it than you migh as well stop reading this right now.  Does anyone really believe that an M&R produces a better print than an Anatol press??  I have two Anatol automatic presses and two M&R dryers so I've given both companies a lot of my money.  While I can't praise M&R the way most of you do, the bashing of Anatol seems almost as if you're being coached, or paid, or worst of all like you're trying to get the attention of a CEO (Rich) as if he's going to call you and offer you a seat on his board, it's extremely transparent and quite pathetic. 

I would be willing to wager quite a bit that there isn't a press out there that could keep up with the Titan or Horizon I have in terms of speed.  And I read someone post that they were "lied to by Anatol before delivery" or something like that, that's the one post that I know is a flat out 100% lie unless the buyer was unclear about the "details" of the purchase, which I wouldn't doubt.  I can get ahold of someone at Anatol in every department they have 24/7, I was even given direct cell phones numbers which is pretty unheard of. 

In a little over 9 months of owning the Titan I put between 300-325,000 prints on it and I can say without any hesitation that the only problems I had were: proximity adjustment handles that broke because of an error by the operator, and one wire going from the motherboard to head #4 which I wrote off to standard wear & tear.  The proximity handles were sent to me every time I asked, I never saw a single invoice, and a bypass wire was sent Next Day Air to me again at no charge. 

Could I get the same result out of an M&R, Workhorse, even a Brown press?  Probably, but not because they're superior products but because I know what I'm doing and I take care of my equipment.  Name a press that can print faster than the Titan, I have had it up to ~1,150 prints per hour?  You can't do it because there isn't one available.  Name a press that has a more compact footprint than the Titan, it's not much bigger than my 6/4 manual Riley Hopkins?  Once again, impossible.  Give me the brand that has an equal model to the Titan that's less expensice?  ((((crickets)))) There isn't one.

If you're looking to print more than 2 or 3 colors on a dark shirt than of course you'll have issues, that's not really what it's made to do.  The same people who complain that their Anatol press has issues and is always breaking down I bet are the same people who ignore their car, house, kids, pets, credit cards and employees and constantly wonder aloud why they're always letting them down.  This equipment is only as good as the user.  There's no legitimate reason anyone could give for using an M&R or any other press for that matter over Anatol when you're talking about the ACTUAL PRESS.  If you can't get the print you want from the Titan than you're just not that talented of a screenprinter, sorry to break it to you like that...   All the phots attached were printed on my Titan, whether you think they're up to your standards or not is up to you.  If you think your clients are more picky than mine, I can promise you they're not.

But by all means, keep complaining and blaming issues on everyone else but you (the user), and spending twice as much on a press that will get you the same result I get from Anatol, seriously, please keep it up.  That's the attitude that has brought me a lot of work and maybe some of it used to be yours, who knows? 

Yours,

Joseph J. DiDonato
Owner
Midwest Graphics &
8845 Graphic Design
1200 W. 35th
Chicago, IL 60609
Cell: (734) 320-1100
email: Didonato8845@gmail.com

The maintenance issue and caring for your equipment is a great point. I also believe it is reasonable to do the repairs in house but thats me.   

[sweetts]

Well I received my quote today and he did offer me a great deal that will stay very close to where I want to be for a 8-6 servo indexed with a flash,  platens, crating, set up and  warranties 30 day money back and 2 year.  I hear what all you guys are saying and I appreciate the input. It should be noted Mike reached out to me  after seeing the post and was very honest about issues they have had, that speaks volumes to me. The suggestion you guys have on other presses to look at is golden and I will be looking into each to see what fits best for me. Thanks again guys for the info, obviously there is a lot to be said about brand loyalty and some of you guy are not lacking any of that lol. So I will for sure be looking at the blue crew.  Again thanks for the info.  Now play nice

[GraphicDisorder]

I think Anatol is a fine press.  They have a lot of work to do on service and support.  I talked to many Anatol shops when I bought and that was the common theme.  I almost bought a Anatol for the record.

Let me ask you, which is easier to believe?

The blue crew are all just defending their purchases and are all covering up our problems.

Or

We are all brand loyal because it's a awesome brand worthy of actual loyalty. 

[3Deep]

I'll say again buy what you want, shut up and use it, I've had ford's and chevy's both have been good both have broken down.  It's nice to know service is around the corner when you need it, but nice to know you don't, when man made's something that's 100% you better have pockets to your ankles.

Darryl

[Printficient]

I'll say again buy what you want, shut up and use it, I've had ford's and chevy's both have been good both have broken down.  It's nice to know service is around the corner when you need it, but nice to know you don't, when man made's something that's 100% you better have pockets to your ankles.

Darryl

I agree with a caveat.  Dodge MHM neither break down

[Prosperi-Tees]

I agree. You rarely (close to never) hear about issues with Workhorse with their equipment or their service, I think that's a great testament to that company.

[Spreading Ink]

For what it is worth I own 4 Anatol machines.  None of them are entry level so I can't speak to the Titan or Horizons.  I own a 12/14 Stratus, a 16/18 Pegasus, an 8 color trident and a 14/16 Pegasus II.  All presses work daily and we print a lot of shirts.  My Status is 10 years old and probably has close to 4M prints or more on it.  Like others have posted the main board has been changed out in it once and it lost it's count, but I am pretty sure it's in that range.  Service in general is not Anatol's strongest point - that said there is little that will or has gone wrong that you can't fix yourself or have fixed by one of your crew.

I am the guy who did big prints in CA - now in Springfield, MO - big move at the end of last year.

I am happy with my machinery and it works well for us.  There are lots of very good machines on the market though and anytime you make a large purchase you need to do your own homework.  I did and am happy with my decision(s), but that does not mean there aren't a lot of good choices out there and you need to look at all of the options, features etc... and make the decision that is right for you and your company.  Anatol would not be a bad choice - neither would several of the other manufacturers.   The type press you are looking for will limit your choices somewhat, but you already know what you need, now you just have to get what will work for you at the price point you want to spend.