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Anyone ever hear of Cobbler Union?

beargonefishing

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Picked up these to replace a pair of brown Cole Hann captoes that are coming apart (I bought the CH before I knew better).

The finishing on the sole is really nice. To be frank, the sole finishing looks nicer than the sole finishing on my two pairs of Vass. There are some inconsistencies, and the heal pad added to the back makes a squeaking noise (not sure if that will subsidize with use). I also probably should have gone down half a size, but overall they are not bad.
 

007Bond

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So I don't own any Cobbler Union yet, but I am committed to buy one on Massdrop.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/cobbler-union-winchester-ii-boots?utm_source=linkshare&referer=FM246D

That is if one more person commits at this point they have 3 sold and 1 commited 5 needed for lowest price.

I am surprised as the boots look very nice but even with the MD price the interest in the drop is very minimum.

Anyway looks like a decent pair of boots I hope the interest increases and I get my pair for $359.99.
 

silverprelude

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So I don't own any Cobbler Union yet, but I am committed to buy one on Massdrop.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/cobbler-union-winchester-ii-boots?utm_source=linkshare&referer=FM246D

That is if one more person commits at this point they have 3 sold and 1 commited 5 needed for lowest price.

I am surprised as the boots look very nice but even with the MD price the interest in the drop is very minimum.

Anyway looks like a decent pair of boots I hope the interest increases and I get my pair for $359.99.

I have the Louis boot and I think its on par with my Carminas and Aldens. definitely above AE (which I had but returned).
 

007Bond

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Kinda shocked.

https://www.massdrop.com/buy/cobbler-union-winchester-ii-boots?utm_source=linkshare&referer=FM246D

Only 4 purchased I was the one commit but with only a few hours left I converted to buy since even at the $379 it's almost $100 less than the reg web site and I really wanted to give CU a try.

But odd there were almost 400 that clicked interested in another drop and only 1% actually bought.

It would have been great if just 1 more bought than all would save another $20 off.
 

Trqmaster

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I think part of the problem is they keep putting the same boot on MD. Most people probably went it in on it before.
 

007Bond

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I think part of the problem is they keep putting the same boot on MD. Most people probably went it in on it before.

That is probably part of it.

But I was just thinking about this angle. I seen many post on the Massdrop discussion page but no replies from anyone at Cobbler Union or MD. I posted my concerns but days later no reply from anyone! Finally I sent a direct email to CU about the sales tax issue and only then did CU post a reply.

Right at the end of the drop with only 4 sold just 1 more needed there was a post about what size to buy. Seeing the post going unanswered and knowing just 1 more sale was needed to unlock the lower price I answered the guy and he made the last minute purchase and it unlocked the lowest price.

So here is a new customer who does not even own a pair yet answering questions on a discussion page so that more boots can be sold. Sure I wanted to unlock the lowest price but is it my job to answer questions about products so that sales can increase?

Even if you think about this thread are there any post from anyone at CU?

Now I also love and own J Fitzpatrick shoes and boots all very high end and he has had several Massdrops with more success. BUT one BIG difference is that J Fitzpatrick monitors the Massdrop discussions and quickly post replies to any and all questions himself. Also on this forum (his thread) you will find him very active responding to again any and all questions about his products.

So when you have a small batch shoe/boot company and you want to make every possible sale it's very good to be interactive with your potential and current customers on forums and discussion pages of products you are hoping to sell or take orders for.

Anyways the CU boots at least in pics look awesome so I am looking forward to receiving them. As for the company I think they could do a better job of watching the Massdrop discussions and these forums to increase sales or maybe they are already big enough and don't actually need the extra few customers or sales.
 
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Trqmaster

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I totally agree with you. Justin definitely puts customer service at the top of his list and he is very active on social media. I think CU only uses facebook. Though, I'm sure they coordinated the MD sale so I'm not sure why Daniel wouldn't answer questions there. I do like the CU shoes but their social media activity is lacking.
 

clee1982

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Justin was a shoe salesmen (Neiman Marcus?), though agree at this age spend time on social media is probably one of the top priority in these ages, would imagine they sell more online than they do in physical store...
 

007Bond

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Both of you are correct.

Todays age social media is king.

When I see a boot listed on MD for several days and only 2 sold, 3 needed just to make the drop happen, 5 needed to unlock the lowest price. That indicates a drop that is struggling to just happen at all. Then you have potential customers posting concerns and questions going unanswered for days. Customers posting in order for me to buy I need an answer... Customers just asking simple questions so they and buy with confidence. And this is a drop with low activity drop so it would just take someone at CU a few literally a few minutes to check and answer.

It just makes me wonder why the customer service on social media that king of kings now days lacks so much when so little effort would be needed to just post a few replies.

Bottom line if I did not answer that one guys question near the end of the drop the lowest price would not have been unlocked and the 4 of us that committed would have paid more.

Honestly I like some variety in my shoe rotation so there is really no choice but to buy from a few brands. But based on customer service if J Fitzpatrick offered more styles, example boots like these (work boots like the ones from Thursday) I would probably just buy from him exclusively.

My loyalty is based on customer service #1 this can be seen in my changing shoe rotation. At first I had countless Allen Edmonds over 30 pairs, but once I found J Fitzpatrick his service won me over and I started to sell off the AE shoes and replace with JF. Sure one thing is AE shoes are popular, makes them easy to sell on eBay and that is good for me. Sure AE has good customer service but they are more of a department store brand at this point. Also they devaleue the AE brand with sales, example when you run a $445 boot on sale for $249 (there are many examples they do it all the time). Sure we all love a good deal but when you sell your shoes or boots for half normal (regularly) it makes most of your customers only buy when there is a sale. Funny thing is I was actually tempted to email JF to see if he could make me a boot like this since my posted question was going unanswered by CU. Sure I would have paid more but customer service has value too.

Anyway back to CU I will post once my boots arrive based on everything I see about the quality I should be happy.
 

007Bond

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The boots came on Sat. Very nice extremely well made. The color is a bit different then I expected but all good. The only negative I can say is I have a high instep and these boot are a little tight across the vamp (so are Allen Edmonds Daltons for me at first, as well at Liverpool's) so needs some time for the leather to adjust to my foot. Also I wore them today for about 5 hours and my feet are killing me, so seems they need some break in time. I have bought a lot of new boots of this style and never had this level of break in needed not sure if this is normal for this brand. Overall excellent boots great value.

But the build quality is really great, much better then my Allen Edmonds. The stitching, the cuts in the leather, the leather itself, the craftsmanship all top of the line.
 

007Bond

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Ok I have been wearing them every other day since they came.

Seems the SOHO last is not for people with a high instep that is the issue I am having. I know I can order a wider boot or a bigger boot sure then there is no issue with the instep but the boot does not fit overall so that is not the answer. The 10D that I have is my size and besides the instep it fits like it should in all other areas. So if I ordered a 10.5D or a 10E the whole boot would just be too big.

Now I figured with some time the leather would give and the boot would fit good. Well one issue is the left boot is lasted tighter then the right boot. So after a week the right boot is almost where I want it but the left has a way to go. Nope not a one foot bigger issue both feet are the same and fit good in every other shoe and boot I have so it's just this CU boot.

On the plus side I sometimes walk on wet tile floors and I noticed the Danite like sole on this CU boot is much more slip resistant than any of my Allen Edmonds or other Danite boots including my Oak Street's.

The leather on this CU is more toughf than my other boots (other brands) and seems the break in is going to be a long hard road.

I got these off Massdrop so it was a good way to try the brand at a lower cost. For now the jury is out I have to give them some time to see if I would buy another. For sure I due to my high instep would not buy another on the SOHO last the break in is the toughest I have ever had so far.
 

Trqmaster

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I'm at the other end of the scale with a super low instep so I don't have a snugness issue but a flexability problem with certain leathers. I have a couple of CU boots and it seems the break in depends on the leather they use. One of my boots uses a hard leather and the flexability is limited. I am still breaking them in so it can take some time. I also have the George boots and they were soft from day one. No break in needed. Stick to it and keep wearing them. I'm sure they will get more comfortable.
 

007Bond

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I'm at the other end of the scale with a super low instep so I don't have a snugness issue but a flexability problem with certain leathers. I have a couple of CU boots and it seems the break in depends on the leather they use. One of my boots uses a hard leather and the flexability is limited. I am still breaking them in so it can take some time. I also have the George boots and they were soft from day one. No break in needed. Stick to it and keep wearing them. I'm sure they will get more comfortable.

I agree the leather is not flexible at all I would say it is the most inflexible of any that I have ever purchased.

You know this boot being derby style I never thought that the instep would even be an issue since this should be generous by default.

Overall they are really nice my only complaint is the initial comfort and fit. Now for someone else with a different foot this may not even be an issue at all. But nothing changes the fact that the leather is some real tough leather and maybe is not the best choice for shoes or boots.

I had high hopes for these boots I wanted them to be much better out of the gate.
 

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