Cobbler Box

They do good work but they are very expensive AND they don’t show up for their posted opening times. They open at 8 am and I have been standing on the street for over half an hour now waiting for the guy to show up and open the store. That happened once last year too but I thought it was just a fluke. It’s not in my neighborhood so I made a special trip here; I’m leaving on a trip today, apparently without my shoes. Very irresponsible and unreliable.

RUINED MY SHOES! Be careful! I should never have switched from my regular shoe guy to this place but it was a matter of proximity. Now I wish I had just dealt with the distance because they ruined two of my favorite pairs of shoes that I can’t replace. One was a pair of black suede pumps with nude leather soles. The leather soles had a few tiny dings and I just wanted the suede cleaned up. $ 110!!! Just for that! But I figured since they were extremely expensive shoes that aren’t made anymore, it was worth the investment. They ended up simply painting over the bottom of the shoes in a totally different color – beige – and you can still see every nick. Oh, yes, and these professional shoe repair people also got beige paint all over the black suede. They also didn’t do anything else to the shoe. It was in the same exact condition as I turned it in. The woman at the desk seemed very embarrassed although she didn’t do anything but claim they would follow up with a discount. Shockingly, I’ve never heard from them again. My second pair of shoes were black patent leather platform pumps. Again, they were just well loved, so these really just needed to be cleaned up. She had asked if I wanted a new rubber sole added on. I said no. However, guess what my shoe has on it now? Yep! And every single scratch and ding that I brought in is still there. It’s like they didn’t touch the shoes except to add the rubber sole that I specifically asked them not to add. My total pre-​charge was $ 170. I will NEVER step foot in this store again, if that’s not obvious.

Had a big interview and needed my shoes shined. They were supposed to open up at 8 am. I stayed and waited outside for half an hour and still no sign of anyone. Won’t be returning.

See my pictures to view the excellent craftsmanship and use of the highest quality leather available. These Allen Edmonds are ready for a longer journey with JR Leather soles and Combination heels. Cobbler Box does everything from shoes to purses to jackets and much more.

I’ve previously had wonderful experiences here, and was recognized as a regular customer. I’ve also referred this place over and over. However, today I went in with one pair of short boots, one leather handbag, and two Longchamps, all for cleaning. They tried to charge me $ 200 dollars. Then I talked him down to $ 150. Then he apologized, saying he thought my Longchamps were suede and quoted me at $ 10 for each Longchamp, $ 30 for the leather bag, and $ 25 for the boots. I said fine. He STILL charged me $ 90. You do the math. I admit that I just let him swipe my card and didn’t argue further, but I won’t be coming back or referring any longer.
Oh no. Ooooh no. I just went to pick up my stuff –was told it would be ready on Friday — on the following Wednesday. He took an eternity to find my stuff and brought me someone else’s items. He finally produced my three bags and one pair of shoes. The shoes looked fine. I was halfway down the block when I noticed a stain on my white leather bag. I marched back. When I got there and opened/​inspected all three bags, I realized the hadn’t been touched!!! I was livid. I got my money back and assured the guy I not be back.

I have always had good experiences with them. They not only fix my shoes but my winter coat zipper. They are very easy to work with and very fast.

I’ve had 2 bad experiences with this location and will no longer use their services. I took my favorite pair of Frye Boots in for a general cleaning and when I went to pick them up, the leather was stretched, hardened and shiny, no longer the soft flexible buffalo grain that I loved about these boots. The owner looked confused when he brought them out as if he as well was shocked about the workmanship. After trying to pass off the damage to my boots being the salt and snow of Chicago winter, he indicated that there was a treatment that he could do to the leather to restore it to it’s original condition. I was a skeptic, but wasn’t in any position to not let him try. I came back 2 weeks later to the exact same ruined boot. I had to face the fact that my $ 400.00 boots were ruined. Frye doesn’t even make the style anymore, so I had nothing to do but suck it up as experience. The owner indicated that this is what he does to all boots and that it MUST be somehow an issue with my boot’s leather. I literally just left my boots at the shop and asked that they pitch them. Would you want to take that chance?
My other experience was prior to the above. I took an Armani leather Bikers jacket in for a general cleanup: just condition the leather and clean up a few scuffs around the elbows. The leather was originally a soft pig skin and came back a hardened, shiny thin leather. I’m not sure what they did, but not all leathers are the same and should therefore be handled differently, and it seems that they don’t know how to address these issues. I paid $ 50 to have my jacket look worse than when I dropped it off. I should have learned my lesson there before they ruined my Frye’s.
Trust me, I would much rather write a great review, but signed up for Unilocal just to warn others of the possible damage that can happen to your stuff by using this place.