Gino’s Wide Shoes & Shoe Repair

Dropped of a few designer pairs of shoes, a suede prada pair and 3 ferragamo pairs– made them look brand new. Impressed with how they cleaned the suede. Will be dropping off more shoes soon!

Yikes! They call this a business? I call it a shoe destroying service. After the usual run around — and FOUR visits to the shop and I say usual from looking at the other reviews– my shoes turned up. They were a mess and unwearable. The homeless mentally suspect person who waves the signs around for the business is actually the best of the lot. It goes downhill when you actually try to get shoes fixed. All I needed was new liners in sandals. They were cut raggedly and glued wrinkled. I had to toss the shoes. I wish I could toss my anger as easily.

This review should’ve been written months ago, but I decided to be patient with them. Unfortunately my patience ran out. I discovered Gino’s Shoe Repair, as I was driving around the Clairemont area where I live, and noticed a guy at a corner flipping an ad sign around. I figured I’d give them a try since I had a few shoes that needed to be repaired. One was a pair of Coach shoes that needed to have the sole re-​glued and the other was a pair of wedges, the wedge made of cork. I initially inquired about the possibility of the cork being replaced, since the upper part of the shoes was still in perfect condition but the cork was worn out. They guaranteed me they could definitely take care of it. I was charged $ 60 up front for BOTH repairs. This happened in August of 2013. It is now June of 2014 and I’m just now being partly reimbursed for some of the work that was never performed.
My shoes that needed to have the sole re-​glued were ready about a month after. I’m glad I was in no rush to use them, and by the way, the sole is becoming unglued again. I don’t even wear them that often! They gave me a huge run around about the shoes that needed the replacement cork. I heard it all, «they’re not ready», «we haven’t received the material» to a final «I’m not sure why you were told that they could be repaired, when it’s impossible to do». Really?
And then… trying to get my money back for the pair of shoes that were never repaired was interesting. They tried to send me to their Grossmont location to get my money back, claiming that the shop in Clairemont was under new management/​ownership. So they wanted me to waste gas and drive from Clairemont all the way to Grossmont because of something they did not do.
Irritated to say the least I insisted to be refunded, and I was refunded $ 20 and the guy behind the counter tried to keep my shoes claiming that «they had purchased them from me»!!! How, by only reimbursing me $ 20 out of the $ 30 that were charged to me initially? Seriously? Now he was trying to keep my shoes too in addition to my $ 10!!!
Horrible place, horrible customer service, horrible work. Please take your business elsewhere. I will never return or recommend to anyone!

STAY AWAY. would not even give this place one star. Had my shoes in the car to drop off at my regular shoe shine guy when I saw this place and thought I’d give them a try. From the moment I stepped into the store I had a bad feeling which proved accurate all the way through. To start with I had to prepay for my shoe shine, why? Found out it’s $ 10.00 and I asked incredulously what was so great about their particular shine and the clerk said it’s the chemicals they use. I’m already there and it’s just $ 5.00 more than my regular guy so why not? BIG MISTAKE. When I went to pick up my shoe they informed me they lost my shoes but I could check back in a week because they might be at their other store. WHAT??? It took a month before I could get back my shoes and then what I had hoped would be the shine of a lifetime was so sub-​par I couldn’t believe it. The shoes were as if someone had just taken a rag and whipped something on them. When I asked the clerk about this she said that they are supposed to be that way.
THIS PLACE IS A JOKE, STAY AWAY
By the way check out the Filtered Reviews (they hide them towards the bottom in light grey)

Can you give negative stars? My shoes were supposed to be ready a week ago and I’m still waiting. It’s been 2 weeks to get the inserts replaced. I went into the shop to say forget it and get my shoes and money back only to find out my shoes are at another location.
I am in fact a FORMER customer and your response to my comment only adds to my complaint that your customer service sucks! Be aware of this place.

Like other reviewers said, if I could leave no stars, or better yet negative stars, I would. I’ve brought two pairs of shoes here. The first pair were sandals I had
dyed. These actually came out okay. My main issue with Gino was that he said they would be ready in a week, and it actually took almost a month. I took multiple trips out there on the days they were supposed to be ready to be told they were still at the other location and not ready. Fine. The color came out nice so I was happy in the end. So several months later, I take one of my favorite pair of sandals there to have the insoles replaced. The design of the insole is a little complicated, as it has a sunken footbed, so I knew it would be a hard repair job. But the girl told me it would be a week, asked me to pay up front, and I left. A week later, I called first to see if they were ready, and sure enough they weren’t. I really wanted them for an event two weekends away, and the girl assured me it would be ready in another week, so I went the following week on the day they were supposed to be ready. They were not ready. Being peeved that they had kept me waiting so long, I asked for my shoes back and said I would take them elsewhere. I was told they were at the other location, but that they would be returned to Clairemont the next morning. I went the next day and was told my shoes were not there, and that he’d already taken them apart, so I would just have to wait until he fixed them. Extremely annoyed by this point, I asked the girl when they would be ready, final date, no more runarounds. This was on a Tuesday. She promised me they would be ready Friday morning. On that day, I drive over there, and wouldn’t you know it, they weren’t there!!! I was told to come back the next day. So almost a month and multiple trips later, I get my shoes back. BUTCHERED. The new insoles they put in look nothing like how the original one was. It was about half an inch higher and so puffy, my foot wouldn’t go in! The girl said they’d fix it if I gave them another week! Needless to say, I refused and asked for my money back. Considering how fast she forked it over, she knew it was a terrible job too. Now I’ve got my shoes at another repair shop to see if he can salvage them from the damage Gino did. So bottom line, if you don’t mind work taking about a month to get done, and you don’t mind shoddy work, take your shoes to Gino. On a side note: my first pair that were dyed are already losing their color.

REALLY DON’T EVEN WANT TO PUT A STAR UP BUT Unilocal MAKES YOU IF I COULD IT WOULD BE NEGATIVE 5 I’M JUST SAYING!!! I can’t believe this place took almost two whole months to fix the strap and a small rip on the inside of my Coach handbag .When I dropped it off, they said it would be a week. I gave them a week and a half .Whet I went to pick it up, the guy said that Gino was suppose to call me to tell me it would be another week .I never got a call .So I gave it two weeks because I had a feeling .Sure enough, it wasn’t ready. They couldn’t even find it .The guy assured me that they would have it done in a week an would deliver it to my house .Yeah right! What a joke! A week later, I went in. The strap was fixed, but they didn’t fix the 2 inch rip on the inside which took another week. The thing is, shit happens. You get a little too busy, take on too many jobs, thing happen in your personal life, whatever. It is your job as a bushiness owner to try and make it right .The first step is to offer me an apology. Mr. Gino couldn’t even do that .This place sucks. The quality of the work done on my handbag was not worth the price nor was it worth the time .They didn’t even clean the handbag which was part of the package I bought .Go anywhere but here please.

paid 35.00 to hav my shoes cleaned. Bad job looks like they just wiped them clean

I wholeheartedly agree with Lisa S!!! Do not go there! I took in a pair of Nike slides that my son had. The strap that goes over the top of your foot pulled away from the sole. They charged me $ 10 up front & told me that they would be ready on Saturday. I went on Saturday & picked them up. They looked good & the kid behind the counter told me that if this glue job didn’t hold, just bring them back & they had some stronger glue that they could use. I thought it was odd… why wouldn’t they just use the stronger glue first? My son wore them twice & they broke again. I took them back & Gino was there. He said that he had used the strongest glue & that they would now have to be hand stitched for another $ 8 (in advance). I agreed and paid up (my son loves those slides). While I was there, I showed them my daughter’s batting glove & asked if it was something that they could fix. It had a tear on the index finger, on the seam, & the patch on top (with the logo) was pulling away. They said that they could fix it… for $ 18. Now the tear was only an inch & it was on the seam so I thought that the cost was a little high. I mean I could just buy another pair of batting gloves for a little more. I was walking out the door when Gino said the he could reinforce all of the seams in her gloves for $ 24 & that they would not tear again. Again, I could still buy another pair but I really hate being a part of a «throw away society» & decided to fix them. I mean they were already broken in & everything! They told me that the gloves would be ready on Wednesday — I told him that she needed them for an upcoming practice on Thursday– & the slide would be ready on Thursday. I wasn’t thrilled that I was going to have to go there 2 days in a row but… the things we do for our kids! I picked up the gloves on Wednesday as promised & the logo patch was fixed as was the tear but that was it. The stitching from repairing the finger was thicker & very obvious that it had been restitched. the rest of her gloves were as they had been when I dropped them off. No reinforcement was done. Now, I’m a single mom & I have to watch every penny & to have them pad their repair bill & not even do the work is just wrong. Shame on them!!! I am not a person that causes conflict so I just took the gloves & left. I went back the next day for my son’s slide & it wasn’t ready. The kid behind the counter asked if Gino had called me. I told him no. he said that Gino didn’t like the way his repair job looked & was redoing them. I wasn’t happy but I left being told that they would for sure be ready on Saturday. I went back on Saturday & the same kid again said «Didn’t Gino call you»? I said no & he said that they would be in either that day or Monday & that they would bring it to my house. I certainly didn’t want them at my house so I waited. I called on Tuesday & they still weren’t ready. I called on Wednesday & a woman answered the phone. She said that they weren’t ready & when I told her about the run-​around I was getting she called Gino & said that the slide was «in the box to come down to the shop» & although she wouldn’t be there, the boy that was coming in to relieve her would call me as soon as he received the «box». There was no call. I called the next day & it was finally there. I went to pick up my son’s slide & there was no apology no nothing… I even told them that I would not be returning as a customer & still not a word. The repair looks good. We’ll see if it lasts but at this point It is definitely not worth the headache!

I recently stumbled across his store at Claremont Square and was thrilled to find a shoe repair store as I had been looking for one. I even had two pair of shoes needing serious attention in my trunk. I don’t live in the area but figured it was worth a trip to get them back in my shoe inventory. When I went to pick them up (2 days after the ticketed pickup date) only one pair was ready. The second pair had needed more serious work and discovered that Gino had taken them to his Grossmont location to work on them and was told they were in his truck for delivery back to this location. I returned two days later to again NOT find them there or ready! Since I do not live in this area, I was NOT happy to say the least. The young man working there again could not reach Gino and really didn’t know what to tell me. He mentioned that maybe Gino could drop them to me since I had already made two trips to retrieve them. He said he would have Gino call me. No call was received from Gino, just a call the following day from someone else saying they were ready for pick up. It’s obvious that Customer Service is not their concern, nor being timely with their deadlines. Since I vote with my dollars and expect a basic level of customer service, They will not be getting my business again. Take your business elsewhere if you value your time since it is obvious they don’t respect their customer’s time or need our business.

This place saved me God knows how much money on new heels. You would think that my shoe collection had been sabotaged shortly before my visit– 4 pairs of heels were out of commission with a broken strap, missing heel, or worn-​out treads on one shoe of each pair! My bad luck was short-​lived, thankfully, due to the help (and great price) I received in Clairemont. Thanks, guys! I’m 6 years now without having to replace any heels :)

I’ve been looking for a place for my shoes and bingo I found it! I not only got my heels replaced, they cleaned and polished and water proofed my suede and leather boots plus gave me a discount and another coupon for another 10% off when I come back since I have some other shoes that need the tips repaired. The person assisting me had excellent customer service and very personal and nice! That alone made me a return customer :), and my shoes looked great, just like new!

When I called to find out more info (hence, the FTR), here’s how my call went:
I got through on my 2^nd try to inquire about the correct location since a La Mesa address is also listed, and the gentleman who answered was very helpful. He also said he’d honor the 25% off coupon that I found in a paper ad, even though it was a few months expired. Score!
Now let’s see how they fare with restoring my red patent leather stilettos. (Holler!)
Watch out for an update soon!