doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Galazan: Love-Hate Relationship

Nobody has manners like the British.

That said, I find their actual performance at doing what they so pleasantly promised can be a bit short at times.

Yeah Kevin, but you are very tall. They might have been afraid. How will they treat a skinny little guy like me?

Tony Galazan is a quirky, unique character who is hard to get close to or understand all the time; a man of few words comes to mind. He suffered a terrible facial burn as a young person that has left a sizable scar on half of his face and neck area. It may or may not have something to do with how he reacts to or treats people, but he definitely marches to the beat of a different drummer. That may cause him to come across as rude or short to some people, and I understand that, but I really do not believe Tony Galazan is a mean-spirited guy. Having said that, I have had nothing but good, fair exchanges with him in years past, beginning in the very early '80's, way before he started up CSMC and was just a dealer in fine guns.

Lou Frutoso has always been a real gentleman whenever I talk to him on the phone, and I look forward to meeting him in person some day. I've spoken with him at least eight or ten times in the last six weeks or so about a 12 ga. RBL, and he could not have been any nicer. Same goes for Carol H., who answers the phone at CSM often; great gal.

Whatever the case may be, we all should remember that Tony Galazan has brought a lot more to our world of fine guns than anyone else in this country has been able or willing to, and I, for one, am appreciative of that.
JR

Ditto.

Fair enough; I have no quarrel with any of the above. I don't think any of us are apologists for rudeness and bad manners, however, especially where we enter in good faith with business.

John Roberts, I agree with your take. I waited a long time to order a RBL, but when the 12 came out I "needed" one to shoot the two or three cases of steel shot I had laying around. Well, still haven't done that, but maybe next fall. My RBL 12 ga came fairly early on and it was ok except that you could see daylight under the adjustable pad, between the wood and pad. I emailed and they responded immediately, sending a handfull of extra pads to try. That didn't do the trick , so they asked me to send the buttstock and receiver back. In a short time I got the gun back, fixed with a new buttstock of somewhat higher quality than the original. In a perfect world things would be perfect the first time, but I applaud their customer relations in my case.

Six years ago I sent them 16 ga. M-21 for correct and documented "Win. Custom Shop" rebluing, changing pistol to straight grip, and a custom splinter forend. Spoke with Tony on the phone as he examined the gun, got a written quote, and said "go". The gun came back wrong in more ways than I want to detail, and it had to go back 3 or 4 times because when the guy working on it corrected one thing, he damaged or otherwise screwed up something else. The worst was getting it back after barrel rebluing with the right barrel way off face, left one tight to the breech. Eventually they would no longer return my calls and I sent the gun to Andy W., who did good in repolishing/rebluing a poorly polished frame, and refitting the bolt to restore the takeup screw's function after they put the barrels back on face.

I expected to never do business with CSMC again, but as the reports of RBL finish quality became consistently positive, I broke down and ordered one - thinking they might care more about fixing one of their own guns if there was a problem. I did send it back to fix a minor barrel finish problem and a sticky bolt. I can't ask for anything more in customer service than I got from Adam, who assured me they'd take care of the problems and promptly did.

Jay

I read this thread with great interest for a number of reasons: 1) I came close to ordering a custom Fox on several occasions 2) I did order and return one of the early RBL's for quality of finish issues 3) My son used to order items on line and 4) I have always thought what they were trying to do may be the last time we see this from an American manufacturer and I applaud these efforts.

My experiences have been mixed and I debated ordering a custom Fox for about 20 years. I spoke to them numerous times and they were generally helpful. For a long time I just could not justify in my mind spending the money when I could get really fine used guns for less. When I was finally ready to pull the trigger in maybe 2005 I called to make an appointment to be fit for a gun and was told they don't do that. After recovering from this shock I asked them who they would recommend and they offered no assistance at all. That phone conversation with Lou saved me about $18,000. So they sell custom fitted guns but neither offer fittings or know anyone who will provide a fitting - very strange compared to any of the Brits.

The issue of quality of finish on the RBL'S has been beat like a dead horse so I will only say they made absolutely no effort to correct the problem so I told them to send me a refund and they did.

My son used to order items on line and then their e-mail system was hacked and his credit card number was stolen, items charged and it took him awhile to straighten all of that out. CSMC offered no apology for his problems, nothing.

Despite all of this I still think what they are doing is great for the double gun world. It is beyond my comprehension how the experiences noted on this thread can come from the same company. I wish them well because when they are gone I doubt we will see another any time soon. They don't fit my needs for guns but clearly do for many folks. I still purchase gun cleaning items from them.

P.S. Don't buy the soft gun case (canvas/leather) the zipper stinks and the thing is huge.

Oddly enough, my experience is similar to what Kevin describes above. I'm somewhat local, being from Massachusetts, and have spoken with Adam on the phone several times while ordering my RBL-12. I was planning to be in the Hartford, Ct, area today so scheduled an appointment with Adam this morning to discuss some work I'd like to have done on my RBL. He was very friendly and polite and let me poke around their show room for a while and play with an A-10 they had on hand.

I have absolutely had nothing but pleasant experiences with CSMC. But then again, I tend to be very polite and perhaps that helps. Despite the adage that the "customer is always right," some in business firmly believe in sending certain clientele to their competitors, with good reason. We shouldn't need to earn a company's customer service but should not be rude and unreasonable customers either.

I have been dealing with Galazan for about 4 years. During that time I have had an opportunity to visit the shop twice and have had multiple dealings with Carol, Adam, Lou and Tony. The service has always been great and I have been treated as a valued customer and a friend. I have traded guns, bought several RBL's 28, 20, and a 16. Workmanship very good and the wood nothing short of spectacular. I always try to be polite, and have been treated with respect in return. I am sorry there are those who have not had such experience as mine, It does surprise me.