Katchy Original

The item arrived broken :( I am SUPREMELY disappointed because I was so excited at the thought of having an effective method to combat my nemesis that is the mischievously thriving fruit fly colony which plagues me, and this item arrived this morning broken. :( The blades of the fan internally are not connected and are banging about inside. Though I don't normally pay full price for things unless necessary (I either wait for a good sale or use applicable coupons/promo codes), I took the plunge on this purchase due to my need for a competent and efficient resolve combined with it's GLOWING reviews! First, I had to wait 9 days to receive the item, which I wasn't happy about, but not upset either. I have literally been checking tracking daily and looking forward to it's arrival. Then it arrives *HAPPY DAY*. I opened the package, removed the unit (felt/heard something odd but didn't think too much of it at that moment), reviewed the directions, plugged it in and although the light came on, the fan did not. I thought maybe I need to press a particular button or what-have-you, so I re-read the directions. Nope, it should be automatic. So I then began inspecting the unit and realized the fan blades were not connected. I then even looked for a way to open the unit without busting it so that I can fix it myself (I'm incredibly handy and that's how much I wanted this to work!). No go. I could probably open it up, but then it wouldn't be returnable. Ok, so THEN I go to the item link on Amazon and as of earlier today, it said "This item is currently unavailable" followed by something to the effect of 'and we don't know if or when it will become available'. I attempted to contact the seller to no avail. My only viable option was and is to return it. I don't want to return it for a refund or leave a bad review. Rather, I want the working unit I paid and patiently waited for. Errrrr. I decided to go about my day knowing I'd come back to this later and here I am. ... I pull the item up this evening, it is in fact available again, but instead of the $39.79 price I paid 9 days ago, it is right now (6/15/2018) listed at $54.49. Whaaaa?? So I am leaving this review in hopes that the seller will contact me and make good on my purchase, at which point I would update my review to reflect the working conditions of this seemingly enigmatic device. In summary, this 1 star review encompasses only that the item arrived broken and therefore did not operate as intended. A working unit may very well be worthy of all it's positive reviews. And maaaaybe even the new $54.49 price. I hope I am a unique case. I also hope this review was of help to you. Update 6/17/18: The seller contacted me today apologizing for my inconvenience and explaining that Amazon is responsible for the damage done during the shipping of this product. I responded immediately that I appreciate the response and although I completely understand that Amazon assumes the shipping responsibility, I am also concerned that I cannot repurchase a working unit at the price I paid 2 weeks ago. I inquired how this can be rectified, stating that I fully intend to update my review according to their level of service and the actual benefits of a working unit. And now I await their response. Honestly, if I have to repurchase at the higher price, I won't and I'll leave my review star at 1. It's not the price as much as the principle. Products can be damaged in shipping, that's understandable. But the seller is also responsible for commitment. So I'm really hoping they come through with a reasonable resolve that honors the price I paid for a working unit. I'll keep you posted. Update 7/1/18: The seller not only replaced my originally bought unit, but included extras as well. They have been extremely diligent in correspondence and I can honestly say that I am not only satisfied, but impressed. With that said, I would not have altered my review to 5 stars for customer service alone. ...these units works amazingly! The home I live in was built in 1924 and does not sport insulation the way a new home would. So pests are/can be/were a problem. The units do in fact attract flying things very well! The sticky pad of results had 2 bugs I didn't know I had and don't recognize. I am extremely happy with my purchase! And may very well buy more. The unit itself is aesthetically pleasing and is relatively quiet. Night is the best time for results since that's when it's darkest and the bugs can 'see' the light. The blue light transitions in brightness, which is even more effective in attracting it's prey. I'm changing my review from a 1 star to a 5 star. I saw other reviews stating it was a flimsy design. I do get what they're saying, but how thick must this unit be to rectify that?? It works as intended and looks good doing it. The bottom is easy to open to check and/or replace the sticky pad. There are only 2 buttons so it's super easy to operate. And it doesn't look like a bug catcher at all. No one would know. So I feel it's 'flimsiness' (is that a word?) is of no concern. As long as it performs, who cares how heavy or thick it is? This is 5 stars from someone who had to work for it. I hope this review helped you! Happy bug hunting :)

So, I had high hopes for this product. However, the sticky pads weren't effective against fruit flies, so it was a complete failure on the first day. On the second day, I decided to try a different approach. I took a small Tupperware lid, added some apple cider vinegar, and a drop of Dawn dish soap. BOOM! So many fruit flies disappeared. (I also lightly wrapped the mesh area at the bottom with a dish towel to ensure that the flies stayed trapped.) I believe I've created the most effective trap for fruit flies in the world!

My only negative comment is the noise produced by the fan motor. But this works so well in baiting and trapping the flies without smells, chemicals, or complicated set ups. I can see why these are used in restaurants. Super easy set up: you place a sticky-pad inside, plug it in and turn on the fan. In seconds you'll hear your first sky raisin go 'click'. I have noticed that this works even better when using the Terro Fruit Fly traps that look like small apples. Place those farther out from wherever you place this. Together, they are incredibly effective. Be sure to purchase the correct size refills for whichever unit you buy. The unit comes with four sticky pads, as I recall, but have extras on hand. Sometimes the ex-flies bounce off of the fans, so I would not place this where food is being prepared. That won't be pepper sprinkled all over!!! Instead, place it in the center of a large cookie sheet or piece of cardboard to catch the ex-flies that didn't quite make the right angle to get sucked in.

TL;DR Buy a hand vacuum for $20 and a $20 present to yourself so you can put up with hunting the bugs yourself (instead of buying this item... if the bugs in question are moths). My picture misleadingly shows a lot was caught, but this was a span of over 21 nights. (Arguably I should change trap out often, but you’d have to read on before you try making that point.) So I’ve got a moth problem. Lots of moths + kitchen area x many weeks = annoyed me. (Sorry, pun was just there.) I’ve tried a variety of ways to have this product work well. Left it near food or problem areas, kept the place dark so only light source is the UV, stuff like that. I even tried shoving a live one above the fan (after a while you learn how to catch them by hand) and clasping my hands over it so the only way the moth can move is where the fan is sucking in... I peeked in from the gaps between my fingers and it was just chilling on the plastic fan guard. If it chose to fly it would probably get sucked in but it just started crawling on the guard trying to escape without flying. I had to startle it into flying a couple times before it finally got sucked into the trap. (The first attempts had it land back and grip onto that fan guard so maybe it wouldn’t get caught even if it did try to fly) I tried giving it over a week to see how effective it was at catching anything (Manual says it is effective with moths), checking periodically. After a few nights I had about 4 or 5 caught moths. I resorted to using my dirt devil hand vacuum ($20) and within a span of 3-5 hours with occasional 30 second vacuuming, I caught more than 4 times the number of moths than the trap did (in ideal conditions for 3 days). I kept observing the next few weeks. And no, I don’t have those large moths that won’t fit through the guard. The product concept is sound on paper but actual execution falls short. This is probably ideal for smaller-lighter insects like gnats, but “can still catch” stuff like moths from time to time. If this item was for like $20, I’d try to self-argue the efficiency issue with the device being a passive way to catch things. Maybe even get a second one in hopes of bettering the catch rate. But at $40 for one with this abysmal success rate... Here is the math: My picture has 25 moths, caught in more than 3 weeks of nights, generously averaging to a little above 1 moth caught per night. (That’s about the same rate as the first 3 nights as described before.) I’ve tested the adhesive after taking the picture and it is still quite sticky and some of the recently caught moths are still moving so it’s not as if it can’t catch anymore due to poor adhesion (but I’d probably toss it after a few more days tops, just in case). Some baby fruit flies were also caught but even the manual says the device can’t be used for adult ones. The rating system is also pretty bad. Easy to use, thickness, and adhesion. Easy to use is deceptive; still gave it a 5 since it was simple but as mentioned, does the intended job poorly. Thickness? Really? Maybe it means how visually discreet it is? I don’t want to give good/bad ratings over a misunderstanding. Adhesion, small bugs that get stuck stay stuck, but only if caught; 5 rating, but again, kinda moot if things aren’t caught often. (The only thing I didn’t follow in the manual was changing the sticky trap frequently. If I did, I’d be going “Woo, 3 moths... time to change the trap”) The manual claims this to be effective against moths but that seems to be a lie... or they had the gnat sized moths forcibly crammed into the trap in their testing facility.

THE INSTRUCTIONS STATE TO WAIT THREE DAYS TO SEE THIS UNIT IN ACTION. Therefore ,I will post review over a three day period. DAY 1 - The item arrived and it was super easy to setup. All you had to do was press a button open up the bottom compartment, place a glue-paper pad inside it (after you peel off the protective sheet off of the sticky side). Then you connect up the power cord, plug it in, and then choose a power setting from the two buttons on top (Low Setting and Standard Setting). I set it up at Standard Setting during the day, and then set it at Low Setting at overnight. I also set the unit up right beside an open bowl of Apple Cider Vinegar, to help attract the fruit fly pests to the unit. I checked it the next day, with the unit still running, and saw fruit flies flying and walking over the fan grills and not being sucked in at all. Meanwhile, the Apple Cider Vinegar bowl did it's job at attracting the fruit flies, and even killed a few that landed inside the bowl. DAY 1 VERDICT - ONE STAR, BECAUSE YOU CAN'T MDO A ZERO STAR RATING. IT STRAIGHT UP DID NOTHING. Day 2 - After turning it on the Standard setting, within a few hours, there were a few fruit flies stuck on the pad. After leaving it overnight, there weren't hardly any more fruit flies on the pad. Meanwhile, my apple cider vinegar and fly paper traps had a significantly higher of captured insects. In fact, these lure-trap combinations did better than the "Katchy", even though I paired it with an apple cider vinegar lure. DAY 2 VERDICT: It is now sucking in fruit flies, though not apparently attracting very many of them. Day 3 - The Katchy trap, on standard mode, works best in the dark. During the day, with ANY ambient lights on, insects just aren't attracted to it. Placing it next to another lure works - like a dish of apple cider vinegar. There are all kinds of DIY, Apple Cider Vinegar and soap solution traps you can pair with the Katchy, as well as fly paper strips and sheets. But the Katchy is not a one-and-done, singular solution to your fruit fly problem. Fruit flies reproduce FAST, and they lay about 400 eggs at once. They also live for 25-30 days, so you must focus on eliminate their food source, and then use traps to control their population. DAY 3 VERDICT - It starts slowly, and the results will not knock your socks off, if you were looking to this device to eradicate your pest problem. I can be used as PART of your more comprehensive pest plan, but it's not the silver bullet that they advertise themselves to be. THREE STARS. It's okay, but there are more effective solutions.

If you live out in the country then you already know the bugs are MANY (different,) kinds and PLENTY (of them.) We live surrounded practically in a forest of acres. When the weather starts to warm I turn our whole house fan on and when the air gets sucked through the windows to cool the house off with the air outside the tiniest insects get sucked in with the air -straight into the window screen holes.. , it’s along the lines of the window being wide opened …. Fruit flies or smaller insects… which a couple of them are fine , however when there’s so many of them your window seal is black from the amount of them on it that’s TO many for me. Problem is that some of these insects are so small you can hardly see them to catch and if you do they’re so lightweight because of how tiny they are that they’re hard to suck down the vacuum!.. I spent close to 2 hours trying to clean up these little bugs but they just kept coming,,, I finally remembered I had this bug catcher (I forgot I had it even though I use it every time this season when I use our whole house fan because I can’t use it if I don’t use this the night of or my house would be I fested with these tiny bugs getting sucked into my house from the window air being sucked in from the house fan. I could not survive with out this!!.. not only it sucks them in but once there in they can’t get back out and then eventually fall to the bottom where you place a sticky bug trap. (I read someone else’s tip to purchase the larger squares and make a sample to use to cut out everytime you need to replace. This thing works and works WELL. The very second I turned it on these little bugs saw the led light and they all started walking towards it and then shortly after were gone! … it’s like an outside bug zapper but without the zap and smoke lol. It’s SO worth it especially if you live in the country!!!

Works better than expected. Good quality for the price and fan sound isn’t too noticeable. Bought to catch annoying fruit flies and started working immediately. Easy to change the sticky pad and the light purple color has a pleasing tone to it.

I love this thing. Catches those pesky, tiny fruit flies. It's quiet and easy to clean.

The charger provided with the item is not EU compatible. When I use some other charger that I have, UV light and fan works but couldn’t catch a single mosquito in a dark room with more than 10 mosquitoes for several days.

This works perfectly, it actually helped us get rid of our fruit fly problem in our kitchen. When I opened the device after 1 week, I knew where all the fruit flies disappeared to hehe.

Great for small flies

cet appareil est livré avec le mauvais appareil électrique ! Nous sommes en France, PAS aux États-Unis!

Would prefer to have more than 5 stickers for the base, because it gets full really fast and now I have to try to find these stickers in the market and I don’t know where from..supplier should have it as an option when you buy Katchy to be able to buy more of these as they are essential for the use of the product.