Fluid/dynamic/ongoing B. Nelson Experience

[gyasih]

Had a good conversation with Nick. He doesn't want to attribute the error to B. Nelson. We talked about other shoes that he received that had imperfections from the manufacturer, so he couldn't be sure that it was from the tap. He wanted to reserve judgement until he pulled it out.

In the end, he will replace with flush plates, all for the bargain price of $30...lmao Not sure what can be done about the hole, I'll wait until Friday to see how it looks. I had to get back to work and didn't want to discuss how, at mimimum, this should be complimentary.

My wife's shoes, he will take care of for free. Don't necessarily know what he is going to do, but we'll see.

If neither pair are satisfactory, then I may pursue another course of action. I am reserving judgement until Friday.

 

[BrooklynWeGoHard]

Originally Posted by inimitable

I just had metal heel and toe taps (not flush) installed to a pair of C&J's at a local cobbler in London.

They have tiny spikes to grip the leather soles and then 2 holes where you can insert nails. The cobbler used nails on the heel, but not on the toe as he said this would damage the welt. Is this right? Should nails even be used on the toe?

technically - no, nails shouldnt be used on the welt because it would damage it. best to just wear the shoes and replace the soles when ready.

 

[sho'nuff]

Originally Posted by gyasih

I read such wonderful things about B. Nelson, so I decided to take several pairs of shoes into get some work done. Boy, what a bad idea. I have three pair of shoes that have different levels of poor quality work.

The first pair was taken for a metal tap, the nails are too long and put a whole in my shoe. A small hole, but a hole nonetheless. The second, a pair was a my wife's Christian Louboutin's, somehow they managed to get polish on places that had no reason to have polish, and the third pair of CL's (not shown) has some black polish on the bottom, removing that looks like it will remove the red from the sole.

I am definitely not happy and will return tomorrow to have everything corrected, although I don't know if much can be done about the hole!!!!!!

that's sloppy for the woman's shoes. and the hole for the men's shoes.

the woman's shoes looks really expensive and really dressy. so in all practicality, the usefulness of the shoes are ruined somewhat as high heels like those worn with a dress, they have to be spot free and pristine looking. if they were men's shoes, i would chalk it up to patina after a few wears, but women's dress heels like those should not be the case. id be angered

 

[BrooklynWeGoHard]

Originally Posted by gyasih

Had a good conversation with Nick. He doesn't want to attribute the error to B. Nelson. We talked about other shoes that he received that had imperfections from the manufacturer, so he couldn't be sure that it was from the tap. He wanted to reserve judgement until he pulled it out.

In the end, he will replace with flush plates, all for the bargain price of $30...lmao Not sure what can be done about the hole, I'll wait until Friday to see how it looks. I had to get back to work and didn't want to discuss how, at mimimum, this should be complimentary.

My wife's shoes, he will take care of for free. Don't necessarily know what he is going to do, but we'll see.

If neither pair are satisfactory, then I may pursue another course of action. I am reserving judgement until Friday.

I was wondering if he'd say that the hole in your shoe was not from him but someone / something else - which is entirely possible. the poke mark is on the side, which is strange, but not impossible to have been caused by his workers.

If he did not damage your shoes - he shouldn't have to install flush plates for any discount - but it is impossible to find out if he damaged your C&J's or not.

Furthermore - his workers DID damage your wife's shoes - which sucks and probably should result in the pair of shoes being replaced at his company's expense - they specialize in high end shoes - they should not be getting polish all over the place. that is sloppy and not good work or QC.

Please let us know how this goes

 

[inimitable]

Surely the hole in the shoe was cause by the cobbler, if the nail is protruding from said hole?

 

[Harold falcon]

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

the woman's shoes looks really expensive and really dressy. so in all practicality, the usefulness of the shoes are ruined somewhat as high heels like those worn with a dress, they have to be spot free and pristine looking. if they were men's shoes, i would chalk it up to patina after a few wears, but women's dress heels like those should not be the case. id be angered

Can't the polish just be removed/buffed out?

 

[onix]

Is that a hole or an actual nail poking out? If the later, then where does that nail come from?

 

[BrooklynWeGoHard]

Originally Posted by sho'nuff

that's sloppy for the woman's shoes. and the hole for the men's shoes.

the woman's shoes looks really expensive and really dressy. so in all practicality, the usefulness of the shoes are ruined somewhat as high heels like those worn with a dress, they have to be spot free and pristine looking. if they were men's shoes, i would chalk it up to patina after a few wears, but women's dress heels like those should not be the case. id be angered

 

[gyasih]

Thanks everyone.

The hole is from the nail put into the metal toe tap by his employee. There was no hole yesterday morning, prior to his employee installing the tap. You are looking at the nail coming through. I am concerned if water will leak through, etc.

My wife's shoes cost more than my C&J's, considerably more. I think the fix for that is relatively easy. He really doesn't see how the polish got on the shoes, because they were working on a different part of the shoe, but the had to apply dark polish/marker to that part. I know it was from his employees, as well.

 

[DWFII]

Originally Posted by Raralith

Holy smokes, I'm really amazed that the nail went through the shoe. I've always ground the fronts of my shoes, and was considering metal toe taps to help with this. Now I'm pretty hesitant, but I hope there's a resolution to this.
Think about it for a second. If the shoe has an insole that is something over an eighth of an inch thick, and the outsole is something less than a quarter inch thick, and you cut a bit of the outsole away to mount a pair of flush toe plates...how long a nail is needed to hold that chunk of metal in place without penetrating the insole or the welt? Will a nail one quarter of an inch long suffice? Because anything longer is in danger of going up through the insole or piercing the welt. Will a a nail that is a quarter of an inch long hold the toe plates? For how long? What's more if you cut a bit of the outsole away to mount the toe plates flush, chances approach certainty that you will cut the threads holding the outsole. And finally any nail driven into the outsole along the edge, runs an equally high chance of piercing...and cutting the inseam--the seam that hold the welt on, which in turn supports the seam that holds the outsole on. I just don't see any way, frankly, to make this work without damaging the the fundamental structure of the shoe. I could be wrong...I don't use or offer them.

 

[gyasih]

Originally Posted by DWFII

Think about it for a second. If the shoe has an insole that is something over an eighth of an inch thick, and the outsole is something less that a quarter inch thick, and you cut a bit of the outsole away to mount a pair of flush toe plates...how long a nail is needed to hold that chunk of metal in place without penetrating the insole or the welt?

Will a nail one quarter of an inch long suffice? Because anything longer is in danger of going up through the insole or piercing the welt. Will a a nail that is a quarter of an inch long hold the toe plates? For how long?

What's more if you cut a bit of the outsole away to mount the toe plates flush, chances approach certainty that you will cut the threads holding the outsole.

And finally any nail driven into the outsole along the edge, runs an equally high chance of piercing...and cutting the inseam--the seam that hold the welt on, which in turn supports the seam that holds the outsole on.

I just don't see any way, frankly, to make this work without damaging the the fundamental structure of the shoe.

I could be wrong...I don't use or offer them.

This was metal taps, not flush mounted.

 

[CYstyle]

Originally Posted by BrooklynWeGoHard

Furthermore - his workers DID damage your wife's shoes - which sucks and probably should result in the pair of shoes being replaced at his company's expense - they specialize in high end shoes - they should not be getting polish all over the place. that is sloppy and not good work or QC.

Seems rather drastic for a few spots of polish or edge dressing, if they remove the polish that should be sufficient

 

[onix]

Originally Posted by CYstyle

Seems rather drastic for a few spots of polish or edge dressing, if they remove the polish that should be sufficient
Well, many women care more about the red soles than the upper. Anything that removes edge dressing would remove that red too. And that, for many, means the world ends

.

 

[gyasih]

Originally Posted by onix

Well, many women care more about the red soles and the upper. Anything that removes edge dressing would remove that red too. And that, for many, means the world ends

.

So true, my wife loves the red. That's why when they overshot with the polish on a black pair, I watched them attempt to remove it and saw some red being removed too. I immediately snatched the shoes from them.

 

[Xiaogou]

OP: B. Nelson has done over 20 pairs of high end shoes for me (flush mounted taps) and I have never had any issues. That being said, I feel bad that you had a bad experience. I am confident that Nick will rectify things.

Out of curiosity, why did you post this thread before Nick had an opportunity to make things right?