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Sole leather quality

josepidal

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I have a curious cobbler question and am not quite sure how to articulate it.

I took a pair of Edward Green Malverns to the most competent local cobbler I've found, and asked them to replace the thin rubber protector they placed on the heel with a thicker one because the rubber wears out rather quickly and I'm afraid the wear will reach the leather soon.

In a stroke of inexplicable idiocy, they sanded away the heel to even it out, they claim, and left just one layer of leather. With the new rubber protector, I had a heel of about half an inch.

Take note that this pair of Malverns still had the original rubber portion of the last leather layer of the heel, so I have no idea what moron decided to sand away practically the entire heel.

I cried bloody murder and they said they'd fix it by redoing the entire heel, and showed me a thick leather strip for soles which they proudly said was made in the USA (to which I stated that the original heel was made from some of the best leather in the UK).

Does this premature reheeling somehow affect the quality of the shoe? Or did I get a free albeit premature repair and should be happy because no harm was really done?

Is there some difference caused by sole leather quality (I don't know if this sounds absurd but humor me)?
 

skalogre

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Wow. I would have probably screamed bloody murder. You may want to contact EG directly and ask them what they think the best way around this rubbish.
 

dah328

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There is no way I'd let them anywhere near any of my shoes nor would I have taken them there in the first place. You may prefer rubber sole protectors for your shoes, but you shouldn't be so worried about the wear reaching the sole. That's what it's there for. If I were you, I'd be sending my EGs back to Northampton for service. It may cost more upfront, but it probably costs less than training your local cobbler with a pair of Malverns.
 

von Rothbart

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What have you done?! This is just too painful for me to read. Why do you keep committing these crimes against shumanity? Why do you keep sabotaging, mutilating a perfectly good pair of shoes?

Did you ask the cobbler how they were going to proceed? Did you give them direct and specific directions what to do and what not to do? I guess the best solution is to send the shoes back to Norhampton for restoration. This is what I'd do. In the future, the easiest solution is to wait for the rubber insert worn down about one-third to half way then put a rubber or metal tab on top of the rubber insert.
 

acidboy

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shumanity?! ha! that is precious.

i am going to say this: manila does not have any decent shoe cobbler. for something like an edward green, i would've advised you to spend the extra bucks and have it sent elsewhere.

i have a good idea on what establishment you went to. the staff manning the branch office was, pardon my french, "dumb as a box of nails" who doesn't even know how much they're charging for cleaning and shine. and when i asked if they have shoe trees, she just gave me a quizzical look. now, am i going to leave a shoe worth hundreds of dollars to a person like that?
 

josepidal

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NO, not THAT chain for crying out loud. I took it to a small but expensive place with just one branch and services AEs and sells Meltonian shoe products, etc.

I don't think some of you read the thread. Resoling Edward Greens is one thing. But how much expertise can it possibly take to attach a piece of rubber to a barely worn heel?
 

mussel

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This is literally a shoe damage report. Jose, for us to help you with suggestions, why don't you post pictures so we can assess the extend of the damages. May be it's not as bad as it seems.

shumanity
That's hilarious.
 

whoopee

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Yes, tehre is a difference in comfort and durability with soles. US-made soles are also not reputed to be the best, and EGs, I'm sure, come with better soles than the ones that are being offered to you. Side question: deos anyone know what they use - Rendenbach? There's a reason why manufacturers strongly suggest you send the shoes back to them for maintenance, some enough to refuse to work on a shoe that has been messed with like yours. Stop screwing around.
 

josepidal

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Yeah, sorry.

Again, it was a simple attachment of a piece of rubber precisely to protect the heel from wearing out...

Also, I'm not talking about the sole. If they use a different leather to recreate the heel that they destroyed, is there a big difference in comfort?
 

UR003

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Originally Posted by whoopee
Side question: deos anyone know what they use - Rendenbach?
Edward Green indeed use Rendenbach.
Originally Posted by whoopee
There's a reason why manufacturers strongly suggest you send the shoes back to them for maintenance, some enough to refuse to work on a shoe that has been messed with like yours. Stop screwing around.
I couldn't agree with you more. Hopefully they won't really make a fuss about this repair, but I would strongly advise Jose to not have them resoled by anyone but EG themselves. (I am talking about the resoling of the leather sole and the heel here.) Once you do, your warrenty is void, they won't accept the shoes for repair because they can't tell rightaway what damage was potentially done by Manilla's finest or any other cobbler and then you are in a hole... And I have to say once again that I think one doesn't put rubber soles underneath a leather sole, especially when it concerns EGs. If you worry about wear, buy rubber soled Greens rightaway. Stop being penny wise, pound foolish, mr. Pidal. (I may sound a bit harsh, but stories like yours freak me out.) So ship them to England for repair and learn from your mistakes.
 

Holdfast

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"shumanity" - lol!

Jose - how do you do it dude? Sorry for your misfortune. I'd give up in your position and send them to the UK and get them assessed/fixed right.
 

sho'nuff

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so let me get this straight:

1. askd them to put thicker rubber on the heels to replace perfectly good ones on a "barely worn heel"

2. they sanded down your heel instead.

3. after realizing their fault, they recreated your heel using their own leather.

***

lol, why do you start this stuff after buying several hundred dollars worth of shoes??

just wear them and if they wear away, resole or reheel. if you wear them once or twice a week they should last you at least a couple years before you need to reheel or resole.

why try to fix something when it aint broke?

now you got generic cheap cobbler leather on the heels of what used to be premium edward green heels.

not only that, every time you reheel or resole, you weaken the construction of the shoe by a little bit, nails have to be driven in again, glues have to be stripped off, etc.

best to leave it to the hands of EG as they know their shoes best. now you got a shoe that maybe because of their 'reconstruction' might develop a squeak in the heels or a slight differential in how your heel steps or whatever.

to cover their arses, many times these guys may just try to drive your attention away from the crime by saying gratuitous things like" hey, these leather we will use is the best , it is made in usa" whatever, they may be generic chinese leather. how will you know, they dont care.
 

sho'nuff

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it is kind of like ,

i know some people when trying something new at a restaurant they always order it altered like , extra cheez, or no butter , or etc. to their own taste whims and when they try it they say ," eh, it wasnt that good" when it is known to be good.

i say try it first the way it is intended to be. then from experience alter it to your taste if it didnt fit, the second time you order it in the future.
 

guitone

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diorshoe said:
so let me get this straight:

1. askd them to put thicker rubber on the heels to replace perfectly good ones on a "barely worn heel"

2. they sanded down your heel instead.

3. after realizing their fault, they recreated your heel using their own leather.

***

lol, why do you start this stuff after buying several hundred dollars worth of shoes??

just wear them and if they wear away, resole or reheel.



That's what I do and I have yet to reheel any of my AE's or Aldens..I am not yet up to the EG level but if I were I sure as heck would not trust them to a shoe repair place unless I knew their work.

Good luck as always...

Jos, I think you need to just enjoy your shoes and if they wear out repair or replace instead of causing yourself all of this aggravation.
 

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