The Bespoke Shoes Thread

[dauster]

I proceeded to ask whether they would have allowed shoes in such condition to go out to clients such as Statham and Stallone.

lol you did not !?!?!?! but man 13k is a lot of money and I am really sorry, this is just terrible.

 

[shackletonian]

lol you did not !?!?!?! but man 13k is a lot of money and I am really sorry, this is just terrible.

Yes, yes I did.
I did not intend to be sharp or rude in my own email, but being pedantic about the timing (20 months not being 2 years) and explaining that it is not a buy and return type good rather rankled me.

 

[dauster]

Yes, yes I did.
I did not intend to be sharp or rude in my own email, but being pedantic about the timing (20 months not being 2 years) and explaining that it is not a buy and return type good rather rankled me.

HHAhahhahah - that's too funny.

Ideally of course you would have not made the final payment and made the complaints immediately, but you explained it in another post and I get it. Not sure what your recourse is though, I guess you are at the mercy of them now.

 

[shackletonian]

HHAhahhahah - that's too funny.

Ideally of course you would have not made the final payment and made the complaints immediately, but you explained it in another post and I get it. Not sure what your recourse is though, I guess you are at the mercy of them now.

Indeed, though they charged me before they shipped it. There was a surprise with the charge; I had asked a year earlier for my outstanding balance and, apparently, they gave me their own books, suggesting that I had a credit of about 3k toward the final payment rather than 5K being owed. Had I known the condition and issues, I wouldn't have paid. I am totally at their mercy, but I also can't believe that having this play out further and people seeing what the shoes looked like for that cost would be good for business, either.

 

[dauster]

Indeed, though they charged me before they shipped it. There was a surprise with the charge; I had asked a year earlier for my outstanding balance and, apparently, they gave me their own books, suggesting that I had a credit of about 3k toward the final payment rather than 5K being owed. Had I known the condition and issues, I wouldn't have paid. I am totally at their mercy, but I also can't believe that having this play out further and people seeing what the shoes looked like for that cost would be good for business, either.

true but it seems like they don't really care for return customers if the relationship went sour already. they are like the tourist restaurants in italy and france, you either like but if you don't who cares they dont expect you to come back. Seems nuts for a bootmaker but idk apparently it works for them.

EDIT: you would also think that a customer that spends 13k on gators might have a love for shoes and I'd want to make him happy so he orders many more. The more I think about about it the crazier the store gets.

 

[dieworkwear]

I don't know what to say. It's a really depressing story.

It also seems like a short-sighted move to risk the reputation of a large business over a few pairs of shoes.

 

[Texasmade]

Lots of reputational damage done. I know I'm never going to commission from them and if anyone asks if GJC is any good I'm going to say avoid them.

 

[willyto]

I don't know what to say. It's a really depressing story.

It also seems like a short-sighted move to risk the reputation of a large business over a few pairs of shoes.

Anyone who reads the right threads around here will eventually learn to stay away from them. Unfortunately not everyone has read the horrible experiences some of you have had to go through or the messages about beautiful wives and all that cringe attitude that would put anyoe off from ordering even a pair of socks from them.

 

[shackletonian]

true but it seems like they don't really care for return customers if the relationship went sour already. they are like the tourist restaurants in italy and france, you either like but if you don't who cares they dont expect you to come back. Seems nuts for a bootmaker but idk apparently it works for them.

EDIT: you would also think that a customer that spends 13k on gators might have a love for shoes and I'd want to make him happy so he orders many more. The more I think about about it the crazier the store gets.

They said that they were going to remake the shoes, but, given the lack of change to the first pair (despite claiming to have made adjustments) and the... unacceptable effort to account for the changes in the alligator wholecuts on top of the leather quality, I didn't want to wait for time and hope that they got it right the next time.

 

[dieworkwear]

What happens if the remake turns out poorly? Will they refund the shoes then?

And will they remake the other shoes?

 

[dauster]

They said that they were going to remake the shoes, but, given the lack of change to the first pair (despite claiming to have made adjustments) and the... unacceptable effort to account for the changes in the alligator wholecuts on top of the leather quality, I didn't want to wait for time and hope that they got it right the next time.

agreed, I don't see the second pair being better. I guess bespoke shoes should always be tried on before final payment unless you are ordering the 5th pair. Do they even have enough of this alligator cherry skin ?

 

[shackletonian]

agreed, I don't see the second pair being better. I guess bespoke shoes should always be tried on before final payment unless you are ordering the 5th pair. Do they even have enough of this alligator cherry skin ?

Some months ago, on instagram, they indicated that they were all out of it. Perhaps they could go back to the tannery to get more or have some done specially. The slap-dash effort to fill volume in the alligator shoes, though, leaves me to wonder whether they are going to do a full repair/remake anyway or use new leather rather than try to fix or make the current leather 'look nice.' There are enough issues with the leather that it would be obvious, but I just don't trust them to do right by it all - sending something like that in the first place and not really making adjustments to the loafers.

 

[dauster]

Some months ago, on instagram, they indicated that they were all out of it. Perhaps they could go back to the tannery to get more or have some done specially. The slap-dash effort to fill volume in the alligator shoes, though, leaves me to wonder whether they are going to do a full repair/remake anyway or use new leather rather than try to fix or make the current leather 'look nice.' There are enough issues with the leather that it would be obvious, but I just don't trust them to do right by it all - sending something like that in the first place and not really making adjustments to the loafers.

well do keep us posted, it's definitely a warning for everyone involved in bespoke shoes.

 

[shackletonian]

What happens if the remake turns out poorly? Will they refund the shoes then?

And will they remake the other shoes?

Indeed, I don't know! GGJR wasn't clear about what they would do with the alligator shoes and I didn't press for details. I didn't want to get into a game of 'if A, then B' or some sort of 'let's make a deal.'

 

[shackletonian]

Lots of reputational damage done. I know I'm never going to commission from them and if anyone asks if GJC is any good I'm going to say avoid them.

I wasn't setting out to do any damage, for the record. I just wanted to document my experience and get input from people and experts about the best way forward.

My father is lucky; he actually was primed to treat himself to a pair of bespoke shoes, especially after I was so enthusiastic early in the process. Now he's definitely not getting any from GJC and may never treat himself to a bespoke pair, fearing the risk of disappointment like that.