ARTICLE: An Examination of the Allen Edmonds Recrafting Service>>>

[Daytona John]

Originally Posted by heavyd

I have re crafted AE's numerous times over the past 10 years. Let me say that I agree entirely. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I no longer wear them.

The sole wears down quickly to begin with and the re crafted shoe always has problems.


Thanks for the kind words!

 

[TomW]

Originally Posted by Daytona John

What hidden agenda? I was also not made aware of any disclainers - I didn't use the webside PDF form - it was arranged at the factory outlet store and I mailed the shoes to them.

Who peed in your Cheerios? Really? If you call the shoe in those after photos "near new" (which is what Allen Edmonds advertises) then perhaps its you who needs thier head extracted from their posterior?
You went in, failed to ask any questions, did not educate yourself, nor did you tell A-E what your expectations were prior to sending in the shoes. You had a head full of unreasonable expectations with regards to what services A-E would provide and you chose to interpret an adverting slogan as literal fact. Nobody peed in my Cherrios I would never have expected damaged, scarred leather to be magically restored to near new condition. I've got a brain which I bother to use from time to time. So get off your high horse, take a pill and relax.

 

[kitonbrioni]

Originally Posted by Daytona John

Greetings!

I decided to take a break from writing articles about watches, and write one about shoes - I hope you enjoy it!

Please respond to this post with any comments or questions. Click on the link below to read the article:

http://rolexreferencepage.com/aerecraft/recraft.html

Thanks for the interesting article. I've also found your Rolex articles to be informative.

 

[Daytona John]

Originally Posted by TomW

You went in, failed to ask any questions,

I failed to ask you any questions, yes. I did however ask questions over on Ask Andy, including a request for some before and after photos from folks who have gone through the process. would you like a link?

did not educate yourself,

Sure I did. I've been getting an education on shoes from the various forums for several months now.

nor did you tell A-E what your expectations were prior to sending in the shoes.

Why should I have done that? A-E themselves communicate what I can expect - "near-new." Do you go to your dentist and tell him what your expecations are when you go in for a cleaning, or do you just make an appointment and show up?

You had a head full of unreasonable expectations

And you've made a post full of incorrect assumptions. As such, let me help you with the spelling of a word which I'm quite certain you're completely unfamiliar with: A-P-O-L-O-G-Y. Need help with the word "sincere" too?

I've got a brain which I bother to use from time to time.

Generally speaking, folks that do as you say, don't need to advertise that fact - its self evident. Which begs the question of why you'd need to underscore this fact in your own case?

So get off your high horse, take a pill and relax.

I'll get off my high horse if you get off your jackass.

 

[Daytona John]

Originally Posted by kitonbrioni

Thanks for the interesting article. I've also found your Rolex articles to be informative.

Thanks for the kind words!

 

[TCN]

Good article, I enjoyed the comparison. Great photos too. By the way, I think Alden did a much nicer job on my recent recrafting.

 

[Daytona John]

Originally Posted by TCN

Good article, I enjoyed the comparison. Great photos too. By the way, I think Alden did a much nicer job on my recent recrafting.


Yes, I see they offer a very similar service at near identical pricing. Have any before and after photos?

 

[TCN]

I remember when AE first advertised their recrafting service (at least that I remember), they showed a pair of shoes that looked like they had seen marching duty in the Civil War, and the "after" picture, they looked brand new.

 

[MellonC]

I did three recrafting service from AE and had varying results. One pair came out good. Another pair came out with much smaller width that they admitted to a mistake made on workmanship (sent me a factory second pair for replacement) and the last one disappeared into the oblivion. They gave me a brand new pair of Sanford, however.

Doesn't seem like a great batting average to me.

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by MellonC

I did three recrafting service from AE and had varying results. One pair came out good. Another pair came out with much smaller width that they admitted to a mistake made on workmanship (sent me a factory second pair for replacement) and the last one disappeared into the oblivion. They gave me a brand new pair of Sanford, however.

Doesn't seem like a great batting average to me.

It stinks that this happened to you. However, to suggest that their operation is inadequate (as in your last statement) based on three pairs of shoes is unreasonable. I used to sell shoes and sent back many, many dozen pairs, and I don't recall any problems. And while you aren't the only one on SF to have had problems with AE, I'd guess that out of all the personal experiences that have been reported, at least 85 percent* have been positive -- and keep in mind that a satisfied customer is far less likely to speak up than an unsatisfied one, so the actual number would probably be much higher.



*wild guess

 

[tlmusic]

Originally Posted by MellonC

I did three recrafting service from AE and had varying results.

I realize this is an old thread, but I have to say my experiences with AE recrafting has always been better than expected. Just last year, I sent back a 10+ year old pair of spectators and they came back looking brand new.

Originally Posted by MellonC

One pair came out good. Another pair came out with much smaller width that they admitted to a mistake made on workmanship (sent me a factory second pair for replacement) and the last one disappeared into the oblivion. They gave me a brand new pair of Sanford, however.

Doesn't seem like a great batting average to me.

Are you saying that to make good on their mistakes, AE sent you brand-new pairs of shoes? Perhaps I'm misinterpreting your situation, but that sounds like a pretty good deal to me.

 

[Nick V.]

The only area AE outperforms a good reputable repair shop is in marketing. That's because they can afford the fancy brochures and all the other promotional goodies. Although I like their shoes, I never saw a repair job from them that impressed me. In fact, we often have customers bring their AE's that were rejected for repair. We do them without a problem. We also have customers that have had AE repair their shoes and could not wear them after-wards because the fit was severally altered. After we rebuild their shoes using our method they are always satisfied. We don't use AE lasts, we modify our own for each repair. That begs the question: If AE uses their original lasts for their re-crafts (as they claim) how can the newly re-crafted shoe fit differently? Their are other advantages of using a reputable repair shop. They are, they use better materials, they offer choses in material, faster turn-around time, less expensive.

 

[Bradford]

Question - I made the mistake of letting a local cobbler resole one of my pairs of AE's and he used the glue-on soles rather than stitching on a new pair.

They still work fine, but every time I look at them I'm sort of annoyed.

Can this be fixed if I send them to AE or B. Nelson?

 

[Teacher]

Originally Posted by Nick V.

The only area AE outperforms a good reputable repair shop is in marketing. That's because they can afford the fancy brochures and all the other promotional goodies. Although I like their shoes, I never saw a repair job from them that impressed me. In fact, we often have customers bring their AE's that were rejected for repair. We do them without a problem. We also have customers that have had AE repair their shoes and could not wear them after-wards because the fit was severally altered. After we rebuild their shoes using our method they are always satisfied. We don't use AE lasts, we modify our own for each repair. That begs the question: If AE uses their original lasts for their re-crafts (as they claim) how can the newly re-crafted shoe fit differently? Their are other advantages of using a reputable repair shop. They are, they use better materials, they offer choses in material, faster turn-around time, less expensive.

That's your take, but it isn't mine, and I'm unbiased. I used to work for a shoe store that had no affiliation with AE other than selling the shoes. As a courtesy, we packed up and sent back the shoes for recrafting in the supplied bags. We made no money on this, and AE never even asked us to do it. In fact, since the addresses and employees for AE's distribution and recrafting process were different, they may not have even known it was a store they were dealing with (we had a normal street address, and we used the owner's name). We never had any problems while I was there. As I pointed out before, the vast majority of AE recrafting comments I see have been positive. Sure, there have been mistakes, but what business hasn't made mistakes? If you tell me your shop has never made a mistake, I'm going to call shennannigans. Furthermore, while these mistakes are never enjoyable for the customer, AE is generally excellent in making good, usually with a brand new pair of shoes.

Yes they charge more, but then again, I've seen shoes that looked absolutely awful come back from them completely stripped, refinished, and looking 95 percent new. I've never seen an independant cobbler do this without charging a significant premium. I'm sure they'd do a good job, but then the price would be close to AE's.

But what's more important is that there are so many AE customers who know about independant cobblers and the price differences, and they still use AE because they like it and they are happy. They are satisfied customers. To you it might be worth it, but it is to them. Are you saying they are somehow wrong?

By the way, I do use a local cobbler because I have a good one here. If I didn't have a good local one, though, my shoes would be going back to AE.

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by Nick V.

Their are other advantages of using a reputable repair shop. They are, they use better materials, they offer choses in material, faster turn-around time, less expensive.

1) How much cheaper are you?
2) Which of your standard materials are better than AE recrafting?

Thanks.