dbhdnhdbh
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 3, 2012
- Messages
- 333
- Reaction score
- 46
I had a pair of shoes that I like, but that are so worn and old, and not particularly expensive anyway, that I was interested in getting them resoled on the cheap.
I have used B Nelson in the past and have been thoroughly pleased with the quality of their work and the communication about what to do. Clearly, Nick's operation is designed to please demanding customers who send in expensive shoes and want top quality work.
For these shoes, I decided to do an experiment and try out My Shoe Hospital, an online shoe repair service. They say they are a very large operation. As best I can tell, this is a chain of shops in Texas that also has a big online business. Their major appeal for me was the price. It was about half what I think B Nelson would have charged.
The process of creating an account and typing in what I wanted done online was simple. They generated a shipping label that I printed out and used to send the package Fedex. Shipping is included in the price.
The shoes got to them just fine. I got a message to call to discuss. The person with whom I spoke was far from Nick's level in knowledge of shoes. I was getting a little worried about how much I had to explain, but I was resolved to go ahead with the experiment. I learned from her that they did have an option of stacked leather heels, although the website offered only rubber or a combination. I went with stacked leather.
Since I do my own maintenance, I told them not to do anything to the uppers, just replace the soles and heels. Interestingly, having sent double soled shoes to B Nelson, the person at MSH said they usually did not remove the midsole, flatten the insole or recork when resoling double soled shoes. If I wanted that done it would have been an extra $30. Since i loved the fit as it was, I hoped leaving the mid sole in place would preserve that. I told them to resole without removing the midsole- no recork, no flattening of the insole.
I asked them to make the sole bottoms the typical Florsheim dark purple and to leave the edges natural. These requests seemed to confuse the telephone rep but after checking with someone on the shop floor they agreed they could do that.
4 weeks later the shoes came back, and here is my verdict:
You get what you pay for.
The price was as quoted $81 for new soles and stacked leather heels, soles died and painted like Florsheim. They left the midsole and did nothing to the insole. Fit has not changed at all. Happy with all of that.
Workmanship: The groove in the outsole for the stitching was so narrow and shallow that they are effectively stitched aloft. Not a big problem for me, since I will be applying sole protectors. But even the limited sanding needed to prepare the surface for the sole protectors will involve damaging the stitching, since it is essentially unprotected. The groove is also so narrow that many of the stitches seem to lie on top, rather than sit within the groove. Having heard DW's feelings about the right way to do the stitching, I am sparing us all by not including a photo of the near-aloft job.
Had I intended to wear these without sole protectors I would have been very unhappy.
Cosmetically, the stitching is pretty irregular, quite unlike what i have seen from B Nelson. Other than that, the soles and heels look nice.
Leather Quality: I am no expert on soling leather, but it feels softer than what I have gotten from B Nelson, both the JR and the regular soles. I can mark the sole with a fingernail. Not something I can do with the soles I have from B Nelson. Again, the soles will be protected, but someone who wants to walk on unprotected leather might not be satisfied.
I had not specified any nails in the heels and there were none. I may add brass nails myself along with heel taps.
Conclusion:
Definitely a successful experiment. I have another pair of well worn shoes that need a resole, probably not worth paying B Nelson prices and that will get sole protectors when they come back. I will be sending them off to MSH as soon as I satisfy myself that there are no other problems.
On the other hand, for nicer shoes, newer shoes, more expensive shoes or anything even remotely custom, I would go back to B Nelson in a heartbeat.
You get what you pay for.
I have used B Nelson in the past and have been thoroughly pleased with the quality of their work and the communication about what to do. Clearly, Nick's operation is designed to please demanding customers who send in expensive shoes and want top quality work.
For these shoes, I decided to do an experiment and try out My Shoe Hospital, an online shoe repair service. They say they are a very large operation. As best I can tell, this is a chain of shops in Texas that also has a big online business. Their major appeal for me was the price. It was about half what I think B Nelson would have charged.
The process of creating an account and typing in what I wanted done online was simple. They generated a shipping label that I printed out and used to send the package Fedex. Shipping is included in the price.
The shoes got to them just fine. I got a message to call to discuss. The person with whom I spoke was far from Nick's level in knowledge of shoes. I was getting a little worried about how much I had to explain, but I was resolved to go ahead with the experiment. I learned from her that they did have an option of stacked leather heels, although the website offered only rubber or a combination. I went with stacked leather.
Since I do my own maintenance, I told them not to do anything to the uppers, just replace the soles and heels. Interestingly, having sent double soled shoes to B Nelson, the person at MSH said they usually did not remove the midsole, flatten the insole or recork when resoling double soled shoes. If I wanted that done it would have been an extra $30. Since i loved the fit as it was, I hoped leaving the mid sole in place would preserve that. I told them to resole without removing the midsole- no recork, no flattening of the insole.
I asked them to make the sole bottoms the typical Florsheim dark purple and to leave the edges natural. These requests seemed to confuse the telephone rep but after checking with someone on the shop floor they agreed they could do that.
4 weeks later the shoes came back, and here is my verdict:
You get what you pay for.
The price was as quoted $81 for new soles and stacked leather heels, soles died and painted like Florsheim. They left the midsole and did nothing to the insole. Fit has not changed at all. Happy with all of that.
Workmanship: The groove in the outsole for the stitching was so narrow and shallow that they are effectively stitched aloft. Not a big problem for me, since I will be applying sole protectors. But even the limited sanding needed to prepare the surface for the sole protectors will involve damaging the stitching, since it is essentially unprotected. The groove is also so narrow that many of the stitches seem to lie on top, rather than sit within the groove. Having heard DW's feelings about the right way to do the stitching, I am sparing us all by not including a photo of the near-aloft job.
Had I intended to wear these without sole protectors I would have been very unhappy.
Cosmetically, the stitching is pretty irregular, quite unlike what i have seen from B Nelson. Other than that, the soles and heels look nice.
Leather Quality: I am no expert on soling leather, but it feels softer than what I have gotten from B Nelson, both the JR and the regular soles. I can mark the sole with a fingernail. Not something I can do with the soles I have from B Nelson. Again, the soles will be protected, but someone who wants to walk on unprotected leather might not be satisfied.
I had not specified any nails in the heels and there were none. I may add brass nails myself along with heel taps.
Conclusion:
Definitely a successful experiment. I have another pair of well worn shoes that need a resole, probably not worth paying B Nelson prices and that will get sole protectors when they come back. I will be sending them off to MSH as soon as I satisfy myself that there are no other problems.
On the other hand, for nicer shoes, newer shoes, more expensive shoes or anything even remotely custom, I would go back to B Nelson in a heartbeat.
You get what you pay for.
