I am sorry you had this experience. It's not the experience I have had with Coles. I have dealt with Harpswell for the last 10 years and have had nothing but great service. When my DT-11 was ready for service, Rich Cole was going to be in Maine for the summer and Rich used my gun to show Jim (main gunsmith in Maine) how to work on the DT-11. Jim has been the only one to service my gun without any problems. I drive up the 2 hour ride to drop offf, and back to pick it up. My most recent service was in October and the young lady that I talked with said about 4 - 6 weeks, got the call in 2 weeks it was done.

 

You should NEVER have to speak with a "REP". Deal with one man shops so you can speak directly to the person dong the work. Better yet, do the work yourself. You will learn a lot and have great degree of satisfaction.

 

I hope Cole's isn't "out growing" their capabilities at this time. Everyone including them, is used to great work being done at an affordable price in a timely manner. Maybe they are still trying to keep that level of service with an overwhelming workload and gunsmiths who are not "as good" as the one's that their customer base is used to working with.
Just thinking out loud...

 

So, who or what do you believe. 20+ years of excellent reviews from the people right here, or the guy who joined in May and we know nothing about? I have been to the shop in Naples several times and always had a totally positive experience. Also dealt with Rich Cole in San Antonio during the old SW Grand, and again, nothing but perfection. And to complete the story, also bought a Zoli via the website and, guess what, perfect again. I'm sorry but I just don't believe we have the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

 

Unfortunately, when they offer a service, they are open to criticism by anybody who purchases that service. I’m happy to provide any additional detail if you believe any is lacking. So far most of my concerns are with the customer service front as time will tell with the repair.

I knew this would cause some heartache to the fan boys, I’m just leaving an honest review for a service I purchased and was unsatisfied with.

 

It's easy to claim honesty. And just as easy to claim a problem when you are the reason behind it. I'm no boy , but I am a fan and the reviews prove me right, What proof do you have?

 

You’re hard to please Joe.

I’ve listed all the interactions I had with their customer service team in the post above if you spend time to read it. I’m glad you had positive experiences in the past, but I think you believe my bad experience discredits you’re good. New people new faces new experiences. Might be one out of 1000, but it was worth posting about in my opinion.

 

Sorry for your experience with Coles, I have personally never dealt with them [ I prefer other quality Italian guns] but have shooting friends who have and they’ve never had anything but praise for Coles.
Needing a custom machined locking block due to excessive wear undoubtedly in the locking lugs is unfortunate. Sounds like they saved you money actually by what they did.
Good luck with the gun .

 

I purchased a new 28 gauge silver pigeon from Cole’s that had a defective trigger and bent rib, Cole’s was of no help and Beretta was not any better. The sales team at Cole’s was great, the gunsmith was an arrogant prick, his suggestion was to stop shooting AAs and shoot Fiocchis lol

 

I’ve shot this gun and I’m still shocked they let the thing out the door let alone pretty much refuse to address the issues.

the rib isn’t slightly bent, the thing is so crooked Stevie wonder would let you know about it. Not to mention the trigger issues

 

Interesting story. I know someone that had a Beretta and the gun shot great with great lockup. He sent it to Coles for a service and they redone everything and it cost $1,200. I believe personally it did not need anything done, and if so maybe a few springs. After I saw they charged him for a new block also, I would be cautious sending anything to them.

 

It sounds like you had a bad experience communication-wise. To be fair, they told you about two months wait time and that’s how long it took. That $400 blanket fee doesn’t cover special parts or projects, that fee is to cover what is normally needed. I agree it would have been nice to call and tell you what was going on with your locking block situation. I’ve never used Cole for service, just for parts.


For what it’s worth, Beretta rebuilt my DT10 for free back in May.

 

That’s what I would think too with the $400 fee but I was still charged for springs and such. Also they only replaced a single firing pin not both?

 

So, how has the gun performed since you got it back?

 

Taking it out today to see. I’m hoping I don’t run into problems as I don’t want to have any added work done to the gun.

 

It seems odd to me that long time membership of this board gives one bonafides. I've seen it before where we were asked to doubt the honesty of a member due to his short tenure on TS.com

 

....and God forbid, a member has less than 50 posts, then all heck breaks loose!!

 

I have a small covey of 40 to 45 year old Berettas and have never had a problem with any of them. I don't need anything they came up with since. What's with this new model every year when the 682 does everything you will ever need?

 

I have had Coles do work as well as Philip and Brileys. I think that they all have raised their pricing by a substantial margin over the last several years...but who has not??

*Skeets in OK still always surprises me with a lower than I expected bill!

 

i have a ASE-90. same style locking bloc as DT-10. maybe they are identical? i replaced the locking bloc. cost was in the $50.00 range. they come in various sizes (oversize) it took me around 1 hour to fit. i will stay away from Coles

 

I need to add to this post about Cole's. I have sent two old Berettas to the Maine shop. In both cases, the cost was fair and the work was excellent.

 

I’ve heard similar stories about past work from Coles. I’m wondering if my experience is a more recent trend based on increased work. The vibe I got was to hurry up and get whatever work done they could justify and move to the next job without maintaining customer satisfaction.

 

I have posted elsewhere about a couple of bad experiences with Coles over on the Shotgun Forum.

I have a nice 687EELL that I sent into them 4-5 yrs ago. Bought used and it needed a going through! While there I also requested that the trigger be tuned to reset the second barrel for the .410 tubes that came with the gun. I got the gun back and it would not reset the second barrel. Called them and they said send it back, which I did. This repeated a total of 4 times until it was fixed. The bottom line was that a younger/less experienced gunsmith had done the work. It took 3 more trips down to Florida to fix. Bottom line was Rich had to redo the rebuild and add in new parts.

I continue to occasionally do business with Coles mostly for parts on my small fleet of 303’s, 391’s, 390’s and A400’s.

i believe that Cole’s has enjoyed a lot of success with the growth in Clay shooting. Unfortunately Cole’s can’t keep up with the demand. Good gunsmiths are getting rare.

Rich Cole and his crew are good people.

 

I have posted elsewhere about a couple of bad experiences with Coles over on the Shotgun Forum.

I have a nice 687EELL that I sent into them 4-5 yrs ago. Bought used and it needed a going through! While there I also requested that the trigger be tuned to reset the second barrel for the .410 tubes that came with the gun. I got the gun back and it would not reset the second barrel. Called them and they said send it back, which I did. This repeated a total of 4 times until it was fixed. The bottom line was that a younger/less experienced gunsmith had done the work. It took 3 more trips down to Florida to fix. Bottom line was Rich had to redo the rebuild and add in new parts.

I continue to occasionally do business with Coles mostly for parts on my small fleet of 303’s, 391’s, 390’s and A400’s.

i believe that Cole’s has enjoyed a lot of success with the growth in Clay shooting. Unfortunately Cole’s can’t keep up with the demand. Good gunsmiths are getting rare.

Rich Cole and his crew are good people.

From doing some research it appears the older DT10's had a 10 degree locking block vs the newer DT10's and 11's having an 8 degree.

I'm thinking my gun may have had the 10 degree block in it as the gunsmith stated it did not have A,B,C,D punched on the top. He said he could see an 'M' but didnt know where this would have come from.

I believe this is why he had to put an 'oversized' 8 degree locking block in with all the added labor, which may be the culprit of the sticking if closed hard.

I dont know if there is a good way to tell if my gun is one of the older models that may have had the 10 degree locking block and barrel bites, but now I'm concerned if the wrong locking block was installed what the impact would be to my barrel and life before the next rebuild.

 

I've owned several DT-10's, one had thousands of rounds through it before I bought it,,, never needed any locking block replaced on any of them,,,, crazy that they need to make a custom one at all,,, Just seems odd to me ,,,, lube that slide

 

I've only heard good things about Cole's, but to me if you're selling an expensive gun or anything, that there is a responsibility to the seller to inform buyer of any problems, especially a Beretta dealership like Cole's who have smiths on site to do a once over. Just say hey, your gun needs pins or springs or locking block. Would you like us to fix it for x amount of $ before we deliver to you.

 

So far my experience with Cole's has been nothing but positive. I've not had to send in a shotgun yet, but I've purchased major assemblies like a DT-11 pull-pull trigger, as well as minor parts. My interactions with Harpswell have been great, and what I've needed has been in-stock and shipped the same day.

 

I have also had work done in Harpswell and have been very happy with the quality of the work. Their time estimates were accurate and the price was exactly what was quoted.

 

I haven't had to send either of my DT10's to Coles but when I has a barrel issue with one, they were honest regarding the cost and directed me to a reputable gunsmith who would make the correction at a more reasonable cost. Everything worked out well and I'm happy with their input. I've not heard anything bad about Cole's. I can only make a guess that they may have been overwhelmed and this case may have been the result.

 

I agree, Gunsmithing is becoming a lost trade . Most are so busy that their backlog is crazy !

 

Guy at our club bought a brand new 680 something and decided he NEEDED Cole's choke tubes. I was shooting next to him last month. I saw him check the tightness of the tubes when he moved stations on trap. Third change and on the second shot heard a funny noise. Shot the tube right out of the gun. Could not find it. Like a needle in a haystack. Contacts Cole's and no warranty. Had to buy a new over under barrel. Said it was his fault. I didn't think the choke fit the barrel promptly. Anyway no warranty. Maybe gave him a little break but not much. Not saying who was at fault but I did see him check the tube.

 

I’m also within driving distance of Harpswell and have had them do major cleanings/minor service on my Teknys, 687 & 692. They also shipped my DT-10 to Florida for Rich to service. There has always been a long processing time, and quite frankly I have never tried to micromanage the process as is needed with many vendors (boatyards come to mind). In all cases the turnaround has been mostly on schedul, work excellent and cost reasonably close to what I was expecting.

 

That was why I shipped to FL, assuming Rich was smithing there and would work on my gun. Not the case. My mistake for not really knowing but for the price it shouldn’t matter either way.

 

Really sorry to hear about your experience. I have had awful work done by Beretta USA and planned to use Coles in the future for warranty work. Might need to research other options.

 

Rich Cole can't be everywhere and cannot have his hands on every gun that comes through the doors. He has to put faith in the gunsmiths that work in his various facilities. Being that's the case your going to get the occasional job that is not satisfactory. Someone mentioned they had to repeatedly return the gun to get it corrected, I'm guessing Cole's pd for the S/H. Also guessing that it was probably the same gunsmith so that person can gain vital knowledge for the next gun he may work on with similar issues. For the extreme number of work orders I'm sure they receive, I would say the % of unsatisfied customers is minimal. The other factor also, this is social media, and we all know that nobody fabricates stories on social platforms. RIGHT 😉