Has anyone had any luck getting in touch with Charley Santoni (CS Sports)? He's had my rifle for a cerakote job since March and has not responded to any phone calls or emails since 21 July.

He's coated multiple rifles for me in the past with great results but I am beyond frustrated with his total lack of customer service this time. I emailed once in May and again in July; both times i was told the gun would be coated within a week. Since then....nothing.

Not sure what to do at this point short of calling the ATF or local sheriff.

I appreciate any insight if anyone has been in contact with him.

He drops off the map occasionally...I'm sure if you google him you will verify this. My guess is hunting season...
Did work for me in the past....excellent quality.

I had the same happen with him a long while back. Finally got the rifle. It turned out ok, but I'd not send another to have him do it for $10 a rifle and free shipping.

Hopefully he'll get back to you soon.

Had the same problem with him years ago. Not a good feeling when you can't get a hold of someone that has your stuff. It took me a long time to get my stuff back.

Yeah and I really don't understand it. It's almost like its a "bother" to some of these guys. Seems like a guy like Charlie had business coming out his ears...seems like a five second email would be pretty simple.

PM coming..

my experience was different from some of you. the work done was sub standard and it took forever to get my gun back. he tried to convince me it was my fault. I would not recommend him to anyone.

Ditto.

Thanks guys for your responses....hopefully it will get resolved somehow.

PM sent. Similar experience.

Well, I haven't had Charlie do anything in 3-4 years, but he was prompt and his work quality was great. Hope you get it worked out.

AK416,

I too, have had Charlie do work for me. His stock painting service was decent. Cerakote job, not so great(The barrel on my rifle came back with orange peel on several spots indicating that the cerakote had been applied too thick). Everytime I pick up that rifle it still bothers me.

I elected not to send my rifle back to him to be redone because I had a sneaking suspicion that I might not get it back. He pulled the same crap on me that it sounds like you are going through(kept promising it'd be shipped first thing next week). Took 4-6 weeks longer to get my rifle back(no response to emails or phone messages etc). His reputation used to be great but he seems to have changed his tune for the worst over the past couple of years.

Good luck. Hopefully all will work out but I'd be pushing the issue a bit harder with him if it were my rifle. I'll never use him again. There are plenty of good folks out there that do better work in a timely fashion. Just my experience.

I'll eventually have Eddie Fosnaugh(one of the good folks) redo the Cerakote on my rifle as I know from past experience he is a perfectionist and will get my rifle back to me without stringing me along.

Best wishes,

Leftybolt

Bingo...

While it's no excuse for not communicate Charley is in a bad way with his back right now. Last I saw him he walked like he was 80. I can't/wont speak for him but I will do my best to get ahold of him and let him know about this. Thank you.

A phone call does not strain one's back...

Eddie Fausnaugh is "the man" when it comes to Cerakote. He's fixed a few of my trashed rifles back to perfection. I'm sure he dreads when he gets a box in the mail from me..

His Cerakote sticks and does not rub off.

Update:

Received an email late last night from Charley's wife Brook stating that Charley had in fact been laid up with a back injury but that my rifle is completed, boxed up and ready to ship as soon as they receive payment.

Hopefully this will complete the saga and we can all move on with our lives.

Thank you to all who responded. I will update when I see the rifle.

Eddie is also the man for bedding.

Everything Eddie has done for me has been excellent.

Same here. Charlie did a rifle for me awhile back and I experienced the same poor communication and terrible CS. He got rude and I felt like my rifle was being held hostage. I do not recommend him.

Eric

Sent a Basner stock to Charlie yrs ago, remember it taking a few more phone calls than expected getting it back. 3 choices I can suggest....

1.Eddie at Fosnaugh customs.
2.Branden at Custom gun coatings.
3.Krylon at do it yourself.

Eddie does great work, and is a great guy.

Trey

Update: I sent a check last week for the completed work and received the rifle this weekend. The work was as promised with no issues.

While it is unfortunate that it took 9 months with terrible communication, at least the case is closed.

I will be using Eddie or Karl exclusively for cerakote from here on out.

Glad you got your rifle back and done right.. But, like you say, 9 months w/o communication is just total BS..

It's nice to hear you got your rifle back.

I hate to hear this stuff about Charley. He used to post here as CAS but haven't seen anything from him in years. I had a few back-and-forths with him and was not in the least bit concerned based on the conversations we had. I was planning on sending him work but when it came time to have the smithing done the coating got sent out to Eddie F. Since then I have sent three different Cerakote jobs to Eddie and spoken with him a couple of more times. He is top notch, does amazing work and isn't scared to take some time to talk on the phone if you call.

Everytime I see a thread titled Charley Santoni the common theme is "Has anyone heard from Charley" which tells me he's not taking the time to call his customers back to let them know what the slow down is......communication is key!!

I had 5 or 6 rifles coated by him in the 2008-2009 timeframe and each one was done perfectly within about 30 days. I had read the tales of delays and sub-standard communications but deferred to my own experience....

As they say; where there is smoke there is fire...

Only good experiences with Charley. He heads out on hunts like many of us.

I head out on hunts regularly also and I'm still able to communicate with whomever needs to get in touch.........

It saddens me to see these posts. Charley has done a couple of rifles for me as well. His comms are not the best at times, agreed. Sometimes I wonder if we, the www community don't expect too much, and get carried away.
Nah, that can't happen it's the internet...it must be true.

Now, I am probably opening up to a flame on session, but I do wonder about it.

Something that is easily fixed, if he so chooses!

I consider Charley a friend. He's finished (pillars, bedding, Cerakoting and stock painting) one rifle, a well known 9.3x62 which appears on this forum numerous times per year. It's a solid 1/4 moa rifle too. Many many compliments with several claiming dibs if I ever sell it. He also worked out a problem with my very custom wood stocked Pre 64 M70 in 257 Roberts which appears on the CF several times/year.

I've also found him to be an honorable man. I've had zero issues communicating with him, ever. I brought this thread to his attention. Several things came to light. 1) He's been a bit under the weather with back surgery. Things are coming along fine though he might not ever pass a metal detector. 2) When the customers work is done, all the customer has to do is "pay" their bill and they receive their rifle back. Simple!

Alan

If only he would communicate...

Yup. In today's world there is very little excuse for lack of communication. Heck, just charge to do so. Make clear that every email answered adds $5 to the bill; then answer emails promptly and thoroughly and bill for them. I understand that for skilled craftsmen time on the phone or computer is time away from the workbench: fine, bill me for it, but provide me with progress reports when I request them.