(November 14, 2004) — CATS quickly got a reputation for neglecting its customers, but it wasn't that the company didn't care. CATS officials were overwhelmed with phone calls.

The call center was staffed with four people initially. They had to handle 1,200 to 1,800 calls a day at one point. People who wanted to book voyages couldn't even get through.

The company also faced criticism early on when it had to cancel several trips and was forced to bus passengers between the two cities.

"It's indisputable the management team made mistakes," CATS founder Dominick Delucia said. "But could it possibly have been expected that the management team wouldn't have made mistakes? It's a pioneering service. It's never been done before. You didn't have a template to look at. You didn't have a diagram to go off of."

The problems were fixed as soon as they were discovered, he said.

But the company found itself back in a public relations nightmare when it suspended service without warning customers. Those who had booked future passage or had gift certificates were left holding worthless tickets.

The complaints continue today as people can't get through to the company — which has laid off nearly all of its 200 employees. Eventually, the state Attorney General's Office intervened and ordered CATS to come up with a refund plan for unhappy customers.

The company also owes many vendors money and several lawsuits have been filed in state and federal courts.