Thumbs Down on Bell Charter Oak Holsters!

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sloman

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In October I ordered a "Jet" holster for my S&W 642. I was told it would take 5-7 weeks for it to be made. I had to pay in full in advance before work was ever started on the holster. During my wait, I made 2 calls to see as to it's status. I was treated rudely and with disdain. After waiting over 5 weeks for this standard holster from Bell Charter Oak, I was sadly disappointed when it arrived. I noted that it was canted like an SOB holster making drawing from the holster difficult when worn on the hip (as it's intended purpose). I called the company and asked about returning it. I was told that they would NOT accept the unused holster back, citing it was "Custom". I was told that since I ordered it like their website picture showed, it was basically my fault. Well, it's not a custom holster. This is a standard design they make for many 642's (as I was told when I first ordered it) and secondly, a picture is not the real thing. What are we suppose to do, cut the small pic out and put it to our belts and see if that will work??? Do they buy clothes like that? I am greatly disappointed with this company and will not do business with them again. They take your money, make you wait a while to get the product, treat the customer with disrespect and care more for their money than their customer's needs. Beware dealing with this company!
 
Can't really say that I blame them entirely. Like other "custom" holster makers, they make them per order, and not on a high production mass assembly line like Galco and Bianchi. 5 weeks isn't really that unexpected. The more notable holstermakers can be backed up a lot more than that.
If they were to take it back they'd have that time and material waiting for someone else to order that exact same model for that particular gun.
Looking at the picture, it's pretty clear what you're ordering. Pretty clear what type of forward cant it's got. You just don't see a pic of what you want, place an order for it to be made and then see if it's what you really want. I've never heard of this company but looking at thier other holsters, they don't appear to put much effort in boning thier holsters. Can't say that his work impresses me either. They actually look pretty cheaply done in my opinion. Maybe some additional homework should've been done in finding a repuable holster maker. Seeing your pic in the FS thread, it's pretty clear what cant it's got. Gotta ask though, in this thread it's "not a custom holster" but in the for sale thread iyou state " It is a custom job, like all Bell Charter Oak Products." Which is it?
As an aside, for my money, I'd definately go with a maker that's got a more reputable history and following. I'd think an investigator would look into something a bit more before committing. For my money, all my leather comes from Mitch Rosen. Still got a wait and a little more money but you can see the diference in quality and thier customer service is great. I've ben to thier shop and those folks ARE great to deal with. Well worth the cost. Of cousr, again, you see it, you order it, you own it.
 
If you go to the website and look at the image of the "jet" holster:
cjet3.jpg
It is *painfully* obvious that it is a canted holster. Just in case it isnt as obvious as I think it is, here is the description direct from the page:

The original snap mounted revolver scabbard design. Fast, Fast, Fast! The high speed Charter Jet features include a forward cant, wet case molding and convenient integral snap fastener belt attachments. Pictured with the Charter 2000 Undercover .38 and is available for most similar revolvers in it's class. 2 to 3 inch J, D, K and N frames from S&W, Colt, Taurus. Options available are reinforced mouthband and thumb break.

For the sake of comparison here is a picture of the very holster in question posted in another thread by Sloman:

attachment.php


It would appear from a reading of your story that you recieved the exact holster that you ordered within the exact timeframe that you were promised. Where I come we call that "excellent service".

The fact that they promised a holster within 5-7 weeks and that you chose to start calling them before even five weeks had passed does a pretty handy job of explaining why they treated you with disdain.

Furthermore, the fact that you consider this *excellent service* to be worth complaining about on an open forum sheds some light on why they might not be willing to bend over backwards to help you out.
 

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This is what he sent me.

I received this holster on Friday and I called the guy today about the gouges that look like a set of bite prints. He said this is normal from his sewing machine and is unavoidable. Do you agree?

He said he would take it back although he didn't agree that there was a defect in craftmanship. His attitude was surly and he did not seem interested in making another holster to replace it. I would not do business with him.


http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/nancejo/DSC00951.jpg

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/nancejo/DSC00950.jpg
 
sloman,
Please add my business to your list of companies to avoid.
You received the exact product you ordered in a timely fashion.
You are in the wrong here.
:scrutiny:
 
From the vantage point of my computer chair, that Jet holster looks fine to me. The one with the bite marks should not have left the shop, IMO. Even the cheapest of cheap leather holsters don't look like that. :rolleyes:

I've had BCO holsters in the past (c. mid-late 1990s). Not bad, but nothing special either.
 
Yes, AskNight it is a Bell Charter Oak Holster.

JohnBT here are a couple more pics of the holster.

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/nancejo/?action=view&current=DSC00959-1.jpg

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/nancejo/?action=view&current=DSC00960.jpg

And here is another pic of the damaged holster that was sent to me.

http://s32.photobucket.com/albums/d14/nancejo/?action=view&current=DSC00950.jpg

The semi-circle stitching was his "customization" of his standard holster (sized to fit a S&W .38 spec) to make it fit my Colt.

I didn't get mouthy or start yelling, but his attitude was that he did not consider it a defect and if I didn't like it he didn't want to do business with me. He never admitted it was a problem and refused to make me another, even in a different style that fit my gun. He refunded my money, but I am frustrated to have had to wait that long and to lose money havng to send it back.
 
Look at the dates in this thread, the followup post came nearly two YEARS after the last post. I would imagine that some events may have taken place in the mean time?
 
Don't worry Roger, I would not glamorize any of your products by buying one. You've probably got an attitude like some of these other so called "custom" builders. Of course, anybody can make a website, proport themself as a customizer and put some pics on it..whoopee. You can make yourself out to be anything you want and unfortunately, many will fall for it. Obviously, you value your pride more than you do customer service. I would hate to spend my hard earned money on someone like yourself who thinks they walk on water when it appears they are just all wet!
 
From the vantage point of my computer chair, that Jet holster looks fine to me. The one with the bite marks should not have left the shop, IMO. Even the cheapest of cheap leather holsters don't look like that.

I concur wholeheartedly. OP has a bur in his arse, and that holster with bite marks is inferior to leather work I can do, and I have seen better leatherwork done by teenagers with only a couple months of experience.
 
C_Yeager,

What are you implying?

I don't think there were any implications in my question beyond the obvious nature of the question itself, which you haven't answered by the way. You scrounged up a 2 year old thread for a reason, i was curious as to why and what had happened in the intervening time. Seems a pretty reasonable query to me. Doesn't seem all that complex either, really.
 
Ok, now I know what you are asking. I was confused by the way you stated your question. I found this post while googling "Bell Charter Oak Holster" trying to find an email address for Lefty Lewis. I was going to send him a photo of what the holster looked like. After I spoke to Lefty about the holster I thought I would share my experience on this thread because I got the same bad attitude the originator of the post got. He makes crap and is a bad business man. I don't want anyone else to experience what I did. There are a lot of good holster makers out there and we should support those and not Lefty.

I have never met Sloman and have no association with him. I only added my comments so people can learn from my experience. I have no idea of what happened between when this post was first new and when I first posted.

Does that answer your questions?
 
Sloman

Sorry, but you do not have a beef with Charter Oak. You received what you ordered in the time frame ordered and just wanted to grouse about not getting what you "thought" you ordered. You ordered it, and they delivered, suck it up.

Now, as to the other holster. The sewing machine does leave marks and I have worked with a number of them. Most will leave a small dent where the foot holds the leather. This does seem to be an extreme case. I have never seen a foot that is that far out to the side. They need to put a smaller head on the machine and maybe use a hand cranked machine for that particular piece. Also, light colored or dyed leather shows the marks far more readily than a black holster. Even with that, this one does look bad.

In this case, the holster is not finished very well, IMO. So, I am free to disregard Sloman's argument against them, but I have to admit, the quality of that last holster is not up to my standards.
 
What I don't like is the fact that you will only know if you like the holster once you try it on. The OP stated that he bought it and didn't like the way it felt. Too much cant IHO. If thats his opinion and the holster is still new and looks like it he should be able to get his money back. It's not the OP's fault for not being able to try the holster before hand. I think customer service is just as important after a purchase as it is before the purchase. This OP should be able to return the holster with a restocking fee at least. As to the wait, I wouldn't complain about that. The **** attitude from the maker is also unacceptable.
 
What I don't like is the fact that you will only know if you like the holster once you try it on. The OP stated that he bought it and didn't like the way it felt. Too much cant IHO. If thats his opinion and the holster is still new and looks like it he should be able to get his money back. It's not the OP's fault for not being able to try the holster before hand. I think customer service is just as important after a purchase as it is before the purchase. This OP should be able to return the holster with a restocking fee at least. As to the wait, I wouldn't complain about that. The **** attitude from the maker is also unacceptable.

I completely disagree. Custom holsters are made to order. You order it and they make it, by hand. Once they make it, unless there is a defect in workmanship, its yours. If everyone could just send back their holsters that they didn't like people would just order a bunch of holsters and send back all but one.
 
I have been told no before and accepted it quite well. It is all how well you say it and how much you care about finding a solution that can benefit both parties. This maker has a bad attitude if you don't agree with what he puts out, tough, he doesn't care. That and the willingness to send out an inferior product makes this guy a very undesireable person to do business with. YMMV, but I wouldn't do business with him unless there are absolutely no other options for what you are looking for.
 
I have never dealt with BellCO holsters. It appears to me that the OP got what he ordered as to cant, etc. I have no idea as to the quality.

The holster with the "bite marks" would be totally unacceptable to me.

Having dealt with folks like Brommeland, DelFatti, Kevin (K&D), and Sparks my experiences have been great, and the couple of times there were problems the maker did not question, but said send it back and he would correct it. Those few times have not always been their fault completely.

I ordered a left hand holster from Matt DelFatti for my son-in-law. It took a long time, and when received it was a right hand holster. There were reasons that I did not think it was completely Matt's fault. I called Matt, and he did not care whose fault it was. As far as he was concerned I did not get what I wanted. He told me to send it back and the next holster he made would be the replacement. I got it in less than two weeks as well as I remember. Maybe in a week.
Now that is caring for the customer. See why he has a looong backlog? Quality and Service!

It is easy to see why some are at the top, and cannot keep up with the work. Not only is their work superb, they want the customer to be completely satisfied.

Makers that I mentioned will insure your satisfaction. Of course, I do not go at them like a bull in a china shop. Treat them with respect, and I assure they will bend over backwards for you.

Maybe a little long here, but there are superb craftsmen who take the time and effort to make sure you are satisfied. You might have to wait, though.
I have not named all of them, but just the ones I personally have dealt with.

Regards,
Jerry
 
I posted a review on Bell Charter Oaks and it never got posted. Any idea of why???
 
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