TipTop
Practically Family
- Messages
- 540
- Location
- Albany, NY
Now that things are cooling off, I'll get out of my boat shoes and put on some socks and boots. Also, I'll note that my experience with rebuilt boots is limited, but the results were what one might expect (and pay for). I bought a nice pair of elephants on ePrey that were my size, and had just been resoled....I should have known and taken heed right there. They were done in rubber soles (which is what I was searching for use on my motorcycles), but they are now clearly shrunken by a notch in width and overall fit. I can't comfortably wear them walking around, but on the bikes they were OK due to being seated. The resole job didn't look bad but the pulls had been badly mangled in repair (I had to have them replaced, locally). So, that's my not-so-hot experience on local repairs.
On the other hand, I had rubber soles reattached to a pair of Tres Outlaws BY Tres Outlaws and they came back perfect and fit just as they did when they left here. Also, I had a pair of Austin Hall riding heels lowered appropriately to meet the sole, by Tres Outlaws and they came back perfectly balanced (and safely wearable!).
I had a finish issue with a pair of Rios Mercedes boots, returned them to BootStar (where I bought them). They were at first hesitant to entertain my complaint that the finish had worn off the toe box just using very rarely and lightly, a big fluffy buffing machine in the locker room of my club.
When I returned them, the general manager called me personally and said that he too was appalled at how the finish wore off basically new boots. HE sent them off to Rios and they came back a couple weeks later COMPLETELY rebuilt, including refinishing (with a real dye not some stain overlay) new heels and new soles. Apparently the GM must have really raised hell with Rios because they were returned virtually new, all-over again. And they fit as they originally did.
So my point is, living in Upstate NY, I know I am not going to get quality boot work done locally; so I choose to deal with the manufacturer--especially if they are exotic skins or custom-sized. That way, I know I'll get the right size and quality work job done right, even if it costs a couple bucks more than a repair shop...to me, it's worth it.
On the other hand, I had rubber soles reattached to a pair of Tres Outlaws BY Tres Outlaws and they came back perfect and fit just as they did when they left here. Also, I had a pair of Austin Hall riding heels lowered appropriately to meet the sole, by Tres Outlaws and they came back perfectly balanced (and safely wearable!).
I had a finish issue with a pair of Rios Mercedes boots, returned them to BootStar (where I bought them). They were at first hesitant to entertain my complaint that the finish had worn off the toe box just using very rarely and lightly, a big fluffy buffing machine in the locker room of my club.
When I returned them, the general manager called me personally and said that he too was appalled at how the finish wore off basically new boots. HE sent them off to Rios and they came back a couple weeks later COMPLETELY rebuilt, including refinishing (with a real dye not some stain overlay) new heels and new soles. Apparently the GM must have really raised hell with Rios because they were returned virtually new, all-over again. And they fit as they originally did.
So my point is, living in Upstate NY, I know I am not going to get quality boot work done locally; so I choose to deal with the manufacturer--especially if they are exotic skins or custom-sized. That way, I know I'll get the right size and quality work job done right, even if it costs a couple bucks more than a repair shop...to me, it's worth it.
Last edited:
