PSA: Avoid using Clifford Roberts - Page 2

I would not get anything from him anymore, nor I would recommend him and here is my story and my reasons:

I placed an oder with him early in May 2011. I wanted something exactly in Shannon's balmoral boots from Edward Green but in Burgundy and the uppers being suede and with Dinite sole.

Today which is 13th of January of 2012 I finally got the boots. Cliff is communicating really really badly and finally in Novemver 2011, after not hearing back from him, I sent him an e-mail asking him to refund my deposit. After a couple of weeks, he said, he had to buy the suede, blab balb and thats why it took him so long. Then right before Christmas, he said, the boots are ready (and he'd never sent me any photos of them either in the meantime) and I also he has changed the sole from Dinite to a double leather without asking me. In that point, I said, fine but send me a couple of images because I want to make sure what you have made. His reply was that he could not find his charger! and I replied, I can wait until you find it. Last weekend he finally sent the photos and the boots looked fine with a detail being missing which I could not be bothered in that time to get into an argument with him. He also charged £20 for postage within the UK which is way too high. A recorded special delivery for a pair of boots is not going to cost you more than £7. Did I receive those boots the next day??...... of course not. It was until after a week when I e-mailed him reminding him that I am still waiting for the boots that she finally sent them. The boots arrived in a shoe box at least 2 size small, the boots where essentially squeezed into it and he had wrapped the box with tape, instead of putting the box in a bag and send them, so not only the box is useless, it needed to be ripped in order to get the boots out. Thus, in one world, one of the worst customer service you can imagine,,,very very frustrating.

 

now to the construction and the boots itself.

they are good, but they are no match for neither Edward Green balmoral which I own nor the Wigmore Gaziano Girling which I also have. They both cost about twice as much as Cliff's but given how long it takes him to make the boots and his very poor customer service, I suggest, you look at the deals which pops up on Seasonal sale. I spotted almost the exact style of boots, I wanted from Mr Porter, by Mr Hare only in brown which were down to £330. Unfortuntaly next time, I want to save some money, I get my shoes from somewhere else.

how do your new boots differ from the gemmed ones you already have?

I'm waiting for him to post them, so no ETA yet.

My shoes?

They are based on another pair Roberts made for a forum member.

Pictures of that member's shoes.



Pictures Roberts took of my shoes.

They are not as cleanly made. They have toe caps which has brouging on them. The line of the toe cap is not straight and also arches to a degree and the punches for brouging are somewhat chunky. Having said that, in some cases it may add to the character of the boots. I think the best I like about the boots is the shape of the last. Its got a narrow waist and looks quit balance to me.

 

I don't think there is anything wrong with Cliff, he is a good artisan but without valuing good customer service, he is not going to have many returning customers.

I appreciate some people have extremely high expectations of their footwear. I've previously had a pair of shoes from Cliff and have just received another. Whilst not the fastest delivery, I'm over the moon with the quality and finishing. I don't know anywhere else who can provide a pair of BESPOKE shoes for this price. I will be ordering again. You take a chance on these things and mine has worked out fantastically well. It's a pity others hasn't, but I wouldn't let that put anyone off.

Pics x-posted from the shoe porn thread.

depends on your destination.

wonderful shoes and i like the trees a lot. i got a hold of a vintage pair recently. they are great.

I ordered a pair of button boots from him in April 2010 and they still haven't been finished. To be fair, it was a pattern that he has never attempted before but still. I eventually managed to weed out a free pair of black Balmoral boots (which I do love and is of wonderful quality) from him last month as compensation for the ridiculous wait time and he did promise to be able to make the boots 'in a few weeks time'. This was last month and now I've decided to send weekly e-mails to him to pester him into getting it done by demanding progress reports (though the last e-mail I sent him failed to deliver). He tells me it is the closers who were delaying, etc. Initially, it all went well save a few problems which I had to advise him on in the first six months but after that it all dragged on for longer and longer. I'd preferred it if he told me straight whether they can be made or not rather than telling me he can do them when he could not in reality. Would save me the wait and I could have my deposit back and spend it on something tangible.

 

I think he could benefit employing a dedicated customer service/administrator person who would read and reply to all the correspondence and essentially nag him to get jobs done and keep track of all orders, etc. If you've got so many orders coming through and to complete, you need someone to whip you from time to time, especially when you're a one-man-band...

Interesting thread. It seems that Mr. Roberts is well intentioned and skilled and produces fine work but perhaps he is in need of an apprentice or three? Kudos to those of you who are respectful of the process and have the patience for this type of purchase.

I received my shoes 2 weeks ago and was again very happy with them.

He told me that he was moving from out-sourcing to in-house, having the clickers, closers, etc under his one roof. This was last year and it seems he's still out-sourcing them.

Just to clarify something:

 

I was offered refunds of the deposit by him but since it was nearing 2 years I felt determined to see it through to the end and have the button boots as they are within my grasp! He offered me the Balmorals as compensation for the long wait which I accepted in lieu of refund of the deposit. So far, he has promised they will be completed by next week so fingers crossed.

Edited by chwolfenbloode - 3/8/12 at 3:16pm

sounds good

what did you buy? pics? what was your inspiration?

Right, I am in a stalemate at this point in time. The boots are finished but there is an unresolved issue that needs sorting. However, my e-mails keep bouncing back and I have a feeling my previous three e-mails have not been received by him and hence why some of this things he wrote in the meantime seem to be oblivious to what I had written in the previous two e-mails. I have tried sending them from my two other addresses to no avail.

 

I am so close to a satisfactory conclusion and this is extremely frustrating to have communication channels broken.

 

Does anyone know his physical address so I can send an actual letter to him? I really do not want to resort of open letters and full public correspondence here to end this saga..

 

I will post a summerised account of the unresolved issue at hand in due course if I still can't get a hold of him, when I am left with no choice.

Edited by chwolfenbloode - 3/20/12 at 5:01am