I noticed that this store doesn't have any bad reviews. I thought that was a reflection of the…read morequality of the store, but now I am thinking the owner just says that it's a fake review.
Mine isn't a fake review, and I can provide photos, so before you visit, please read my review.
I don't know, maybe my expectations were too high, or maybe my request was just too hard? I tried to give them the benefit of the doubt, but after wearing the results, I'm afraid I have to give this two stars.
I have a pair of shoes that I've worn for two to three years straight, every single day. I love it, and bought it in Japan. Not very expensive, only around $40. Recently, it's been flaking more and more, as it's waterproof and I will sometimes walk over snow and rain. I wanted to wear it for a lot longer, so I looked for places for shoe repair. Maybe this is on me, but I just went with the first place that had a good review and was relatively close.
The guy was nice about it as I explained, and at first he said it was impossible. I just wanted to replace the leather, and I said that if he could do it, even if it was expensive, I would pay. That was probably a mistake, but I've never gotten anything repaired before, so please excuse my ignorance.
He was like, okay, what if we put real leather and change out the sides, so at least the cracked part will no longer be cracked? And we resole it and make it look like new? I explained that I didn't care what he did, as long as he kept the inside and that when I slipped on the shoe, it would be as comfortable as the first day I bought it. And so we finalized and I paid, and left to await the news to pick it up, which he said would be a week later. Let me preface this to say, I did not request a resoling, he was the one to bring it up. I only wanted to cracks replaced, and I thought, oh, if he's changing out the sides, then maybe he needs to resole?
When I got back to my car, my dad asked me how it was. I told him I paid upfront, and it was $200. He told me it wasn't worth it, and that I could've bought four new shoes with that money. It was actually closer to $226, I guess with tax? But he didn't say that when I was paying, and I didn't pay attention to the price when paying, so I assumed it was a flat $200. Also, I paid upfront, but my dad told me that I shouldn't have, as he had the shoes, and I couldn't guarantee he would do a good job.
In retrospect, that maybe should have clued me in to the product I was getting. But I also can't be sure that maybe that's how things are done in the shoe repair industry now? But I was pretty nervous and didn't think of these things. My dad also said that if I wanted to keep the comfort of the shoes, the guy wouldn't have said to resole it for me. As the soles were part of the comfort of the shoe, and the insides were not the only thing that was important.
I tried to call him after I got home to tell him not to resole, but he told me that he had already started fixing the shoe. Okay, it was too late, but I figured, since he knows about shoes, maybe the sole wasn't as important to the comfort as my dad had said?
And here's where we get to the crux of the matter. When I got the shoes, it looked... well, not that great. I was expecting better integration of the leather, and not this slapdash stitching. Maybe that's just my unrealistic expectations or that I'm an artist, fine. But the most important part, the comfort and pillowy feeling of the shoe when I put it on... it's gone. Now it's like stepping into tap dancing shoes, or those really cheap shoes you get at fast fashion stores. The sole feels flat, thin and cheap. I didn't ask for the resoling. I only asked for the cracks to be fixed. If he was only going to stick the leather on top of the shoe and stitch it, like it totally looks in the picture, why did he need to resole it? I can't guarantee that's what he did exactly, but it looks like that, and it kind of feels like that too. I guess he polished it too, but it's not noticeable because he didn't fix the other small cracks.
As a shoe repairman, shouldn't you know that when a person wants to keep the comfort level of the shoe, that a sole replacement would change that? But no, he told me that the comfort level would stay the same. That's a lie. My dad told me straight off that the sole would change the feel of the shoe, and he's a layperson. I didn't know that, and now I'm paying for shoes that don't look that great, and the soles are making my feet hurt.
Every time I wear these shoes now, I'm depressed, and I utterly regret getting these shoes repaired. This actually made me cry. These were my favourite pair of shoes, and I was hoping I could continue wearing them for two more years. Now that the comfort is gone, I don't know what was the point. I don't even feel like wearing them as it feels like I am stepping on flat floor instead of wearing shoes.
I had such high hopes, but now I'm never getting any shoes repaired ever again.
