Northgate Cobblers

Ok. Deep breaths and letting it go; they are just shoes!
5 stars for making right
0 stars for the actual work
The lady (Jennifer?) who took my shoes for weather protection on the bottom was friendly and nice; professional. The work ended up pretty sloppy by the cobbler; sad because they were brand new Gucci shoes and a pair of very spendy Italian numbers from Nordstrom. The cobbler used brown rather than black weather protectors and then used some black dye when he realized his error; it destroyed the suede around the edges of the Gucci pumps. And his blending of the leather into the new weather protectors along the edges took some small chunks out of the edges of the shoes. He made a large gauge in the other pair along the side, then covered it with polish. Really bad work.
The saving grace was the owner; Jerry. He’s been in the business for years in the mall; his son used to be the best cobbler ever (I’d taken several pair of shoes there over the years!) Jerry acknowledged the poor craftsmanship, basically agreed the shoes were still wearable but not pretty anymore and offered me full refund for shoes and the service.
I’m sad about the shoes… RIP my sweet black horse bit classic Gucci pumps! But I have to say the owner is stand up guy who does what it takes to make things right.
I’ll continue to buy shoe supplies there, have shoes polished, and use the business for the basics ~ just won’t be having weather protectors put on unless they hire a new cobbler or the owner says he’ll do the work himself.

After I took my sandals here to have a simple buckle repair I will NEVER return! Way over priced! They lost my shoes and called me an argumentative liar after I expressed concern over there whereabouts. Terrible customer service!

A friend and I stopped by because we both had cobbling needs (if you can believe that). When we came in, there were no customers. A young lady came out from the back to help us.
My friend went first. He needed a pair of shoes stretched. She informed him that they don’t do that and provided a ready to go referral for a place that does.
I was up next. I brought in a wedge that needed to be re-​strapped for summer. She told me that I should just take it where my friend is taking his shoes to be stretched.
Wow. I was stunned. I thought for a second about finding out exactly why she wouldn’t take my shoes but decided against it. It was very clear that she did not want to provide assistance. Very disappointing. As a side note, I’ve heard that another lady who works there is very friendly but I didn’t see her.
My shoes have still not been repaired. :-(

DON“T TAKE YOUR SHOES THERE!!! One of my boots came back broken when I took them there. I just wanted to get the heels done. They said it’d take a few weeks. I waited for 3 weeks. I finally called and they didn’t seem to be able to locate my boots. They said it would take a few more weeks. When they finally called and I went to pick them up, it took them a loooong time to locate my boots. I tried them on after I got home and I couldn’t walk on them. The heel of one of the boots was off-​centered and I couldn’t walk on it. I took them back to get it fixed. They sort of placed the heel in the right place, but there was still something wrong. I tried to explain that it was never broken before. They kept telling me I would have to get an insole or there was something wrong with my foot etc. I just didn’t have energy to fight. I just left. I will NEVER take my shoes there again ever.

I would give no stars if I could. I took my most comfy boots in to have ONE heel tip put on, as mine fell off. It took 3 weeks and cost $ 14.99 plus tax. Mind you this Is the plastic/​rubber tip on your heel — not a whole heel. I let them go ahead and fix it. I wore the boots 3 times since and the new heel tip fell off. It looks like they glued it with a little dot of glue and didn’t even tack it on. COME ON PEOPLE!!! You really can’t call yourself a cobbler if you can’t even do a simple repair like this. GRRRRRRR
I love how these shyster companies think I have money to throw away. I will be filing a complaint with the mall as well

***AVOID AVOID AVOID***
This is the worst-​run business I have ever encountered. The short of it:
1. They make you pay up front, before services are rendered.
2. The actual repairs are not done at this location, but rather your items will be shipped to downtown for repair at Emerald City Shoe Repair.
3. They do not have a basic tracking system. They use tickets, and at any given time they may not know where your shoes are. If they have your ticket number, someone can hunt for your shoes, but good luck. The lady claimed her grandparents may have misfiled our ticket because of their poor eyesite (turns out they were simply not completed even a day after they were promised).
4. I went to the Downtown repair shop to try to locate our shoes, and I’ve seen how the shoes are handled. Your shoes will be thrown around and smashed into boxes.
5. They did not complete the work by the day they promised, and they did not call us to warn us not to come in. Also because of (3) above, it took 3 days for them to even locate where the shoes were.
6. If they say they will call you, they likely will not.
7. We called in one day to check on things and the lady said «I can’t help you, this is my first day and I don’t know what I am doing.»
8. The only person that was able to help us locate our shoes was a young man. He alone gets the one star above. Everyone else we encountered was unhelpful and full of excuses.
Do not trust these people with your property. They do not show the care and caution that is customary when goods are entrusted to a business. They made us feel like we would never see our shoes again, because it took them 3 days to even locate them.

Wish I had of looked up the reviews on this place before I took in my favorite pair of work shoes to have new heel caps put on. The heels came back scratched and with a space between the heel and the freshly applied caps. To make it worse they told me the shoes came in that way and declined to reimburse the money I had paid upfront for the repairs.

Terrible.
Partially my fault. I waited until the last minute to get my boots resoled before going on a business trip and came here out of sheer convenience for hours and location. It was a bizarre experience to say the least.
When the old lady at the counter told me how much it would be (over $ 60), I asked her why they charge so much more than their competitors and I showed concern for the price being so high. She went on to ramble gibberish about taxes and this and that, and I repeated my question. She replied with «I’m a Republican!». Ummm… ok. Thanks for sharing, definitely NOT surprised by that piece of information considering the preceding events but whatever.
She agreed to rush my boots so I forked over the money and shrugged it off. They did SUCH a shoddy job. Honestly, I could have done better with some rubber and a tube of Elmer’s glue. Just awful.
Advice to the owners if they know what the internet is — Completely inappropriate to loudly declare political views, and somehow justify your outrageous prices based on said views. I don’t care. Just fix my boots. Or maybe don’t, because you guys clearly have no concern for quality or friendly service. Just bad.

More like a 3.5 but I adored the gramma at the register. :)
I dropped off a pair of sandals where one of the straps broke off and the elastics on both (near the buckle) needed to be replaced. The price to have these things fixed was $ 35, which was a little higher than the number I had in mind (I was thinking $ 30). I thought it was ok, but this is PRE-​tax. After tax, it was just over $ 38 which is practically $ 40 and I felt a bit uneasy.
However I was committed, pre-​paid for this service and hoped for the best. This was the most convenient location for me and convenience is definitely worth the $ 10+. My shoes would be ready in 3 days but I didn’t pick them up until 5 days later with no problem; I had my pick-​up slip.
The repairs looked good. They also shortened the strap on the non-​broken shoe so that the straps would be even. The stitching looked good on the straps and the elastics. The elastics are a bit stiff but that’s to be expected. The right side rubs a bit but I figure that will also smooth out in time. Considering the repairs done to both shoes, the time it took to get them back, the service, and the location (to me), it was worth the price. These shoes have been sitting in my closet for 3yrs after only wearing them 1 season before the strap broke (and the strap only broke because they got caught on my chair). I bought them new at Goodwill, and even with the repairs, the shoes still cost less than if I bought them new in a regular store.
I’m happy with my repair with Northgate Cobblers. I would certainly come back and have them do another similar repair. Thanks!

I brought in beautiful COMFORTABLE shoes I had bought in Paris 4 years ago. The shoes needed heel tips, a basic repair. I picked them up a week later and tried them on when I got home. The right shoe was wobbly! Impossible to wear.
I took them back and picked them up yesterday. The right shoe wasn’t wobbly anymore.. wanna know why? They shaved the heel down! So now the right shoe heel is lower than the left!!!
Replacing a rubber tip on the heel is about as basic a repair as a cobbler can get.
THEY RUINED MY SHOES I HAD BOUGHT in PARIS!
DON’T TAKE YOUR SHOES HERE!

So I had looked for this place on Unilocal before I took my heels here but couldn’t find it. Had I found the reviews first I probably would not have taken my shoes here. But I really don’t have any regrets other than the cost so I guess all is well that ends well.
Dropped off my shoes to get new heel caps. The colorful lady behind the counter suggested the non slip coating for the bottoms. I thought it was a good idea so I said yes. CHACHING!!! $ 49 for caps & bottoms. I paid $ 5 for the shoes at Value Village! Didn’t have the heart or balls to say no so I sucked up the cost. Figure I will get my moneys worth out of them in the next year or 2.
So in summation would I go here again, maybe. Would I recommend it to a friend, probably not.

I’m taking away a star after reviewing the quality of the repair that was done to my heels. Less then a year later after taking them in because one of them was missing a tip, the tips themselves have worn down so much that you can actually see the screws holding them in place.
Less then a year later and I will have to re-​tip my shoes. They are my favorite pair of black heels and I wear them quite a bit to work, but something about that just doesn’t seem right to me.
When I take them in to get them re-​tipped, I will be going to another cobbler.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR SHOES HERE. This business is a disaster. I brought my $ 400 FRYE boots in for a simple re-​heel. The young guy that was working told me that for $ 5 he could also put some metal plates on the the sole under the toes since they are leather bottomed to prevent them from wearing out. I wasn’t enthusiastic about this all taking 2-​weeks since I had hoped I could pick them up 4 days later and take them with me on a trip, but I paid and left the store. They did end up calling me and telling me that my boots were done about 1 week later, but I was still out of town so I came in the following week to pick them up. I came in on a weekend and an older woman was working. I didn’t really think much of the fact that the woman ahead of me was arguing with her because she couldn’t find her boots at the time, but that should have been the first sign of trouble. She took my pick-​up slip into the back and came back 30 seconds later and said «your shoes aren’t here» and started mumbling something about her grandson and saying «I’m so tired of this…». Finally she said she would call me when she found them (she kept my pick-​up slip) and I left the store. I hadn’t heard back from her 5 days later so I called the store to inquire about the boots and the same older woman answered. She swore that there was no way that she had kept my pick-​up slip but looked for the boots nonetheless and luckily she found them. When she asked about what I had wanted done to them to be sure that they were done I told her and she then told me that she wasn’t sure why I had been told they would put metal plates on the sole of the boots because they absolutely don’t do that and they never have.
I showed up at the store later that evening and there were 3 people in line in front of me waiting to pick up their shoes. Two of the three of them were going through the exact same thing I had (the woman couldn’t find their shoes and she said she would call them back, one woman had been in 3 times to get her boots and was fuming). When it was my turn I reminded her that I had called earlier and that she had found the boots for me. She then went into the back room and came back empty handed, telling me she couldn’t find them. I insisted that she look again, luckily, because she came back 30 seconds later with the boots. She refunded me the $ 5 for the metal plates and I went on my way.
I have passed by once since the ordeal and I overheard a similar situation with another customer yelling because she couldn’t pick up her shoes that were supposed to be ready. I suspect that this older woman is having trouble seeing and this is leading to all the disarray. Regardless, it isn’t worth all the trouble.

I took a pair of boots here to get re-​heeled as mine were wearing down quite a bit. I was told to pick up the shoes on Monday (I dropped them off Wednesday).
Price wise, It was around $ 25 to get the boots reheeled, worth it for me considering the boots were around $ 100 originally and I wear them for work a few times a week.
Work-​wise, no complaints at all. My boots were nicely redone and they even polished them for me.
The only negative is that the first time I tried to pick up my boots, the store was closed down b/​c they had to run to the bank. This was around 11am on a Monday. Not a big deal, but I didn’t feel like waiting around til 11:30 so I left and grabbed then a few days later.

I would love to tell you how this place did on the repair of my shoes but, well… they never even got there. I dropped off a pair of work boots on a Friday and was told they would be ready to be picked up on Monday. Monday rolled around with no call, then Wednesday, then another Friday. Finally I called asking what the hold up was, I was told gruffly that the tag said they would «call me when the shoes were ready». At that point I went down to the store to pick up my shoes and get a full refund. Don’t waste your time or money, find someone with the ability to do the job in the first place.

I went in with two pairs of shoes. I asked if they could re heal and clean/​repair them. I was told yes and left them in their hands. I just receives them back, with no notice of them being ready, and they are filthy. No shine, no repairs, no cleaning. The ONLY thing is new nubs on the heals.
They charged $ 37 to do something anyone could do with a trip to Target. This is unacceptable.
When I askes the woman behind the counter, she said they don’t do that. They apparently do not clean or polish. I informed her that I ASKED for it to be done when paying. «Well, I didn’t charge you for it. It is impossible anyways. We don’t do that.»
Are you serious?! Never again. Ever.

I have been a patron for many years but I will not return. Recent repairs have been poorly done using second rate materials. Time to find a new cobbler…

I have mixed feelings about this place. I’m okay with them since they’re in a convenient location for me (inside a mall) and when there is a cobbler working, that person has fixed my heels fast.
Unfortunately, a cobbler is working only half the time, usually on Mondays, Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays. If you take the shoes in on days other than those, you’ll definitely have to wait, and wait probably longer than you’d like.

In an effort to escape the frivolous behavior of my early twenties, I decided to attempt to recycle a LIGHTLY worn pair of Cole Haan Air Lucarno dress shoes that I LOVED. We are in Seattle after all, and ‘green’ thinking is all the rage. Please notice that the tense of my emotion for these wonderful shoes is in the past; that is because they no longer exist. Northgate Cobblers murdered my favorite pair of dress shoes, and from what I could tell the death was not quick and painless.
Maybe that is a little dramatic, but here are the facts:
I brought my beloved dress shoes to Northgate Cobbler, basically because I was new to the area and could not find another cobbler that was open before 8AM or after 6PM. I attempted to give detailed instructions of what I wanted (replace the sole to mirror what the shoe looked like when it was purchased). I provided pictures, and was told that it would not be a problem to fulfill my requests.
A week later I go to pick my shoes up, and it turns out that I just spent $ 60 to have my favorite dress shoes ruined. I guess when I say:
«Make the sole of these shoes look exactly like they do in this picture.»
And receive the response:
«That is no problem at all, we have done this 1,000 times.»
This means that orthopedic soles are going to be attached to my favorite pair of dress shoes. Also, I had to pay up-​front, which prevented me from recovering my losses. The customer service rivaled that of a domestic airline.
So, as fate would have it, I was trying to save money and ended up spending 125% (once I replaced the shoes subsequent to cobbler error) of what I could have spent had I just replaced the shoes originally. I guess I was actually wiser at age 23 than I am now.

Day one, surprised by the new location. Clean and had more selection then Macy’s, Nordstroms or JPenny’s. The gentleman behind the counter was friendly and did not hesitate to let me know that was not sure if 36 for a nine eyelet shoe would be correct, but felt the 45 inch may be too long. I chose the 40 inch and was aware that once the package was opened, I could not return the laces. I paid with my debit card, and left satisfied.
Unfortunately, the laces were 1 pair of eyelet too short. I returned the next day, and I thought I was in a totaly different store. I grabbed the last pair of 45 inch laces from the wall display. I quickly explained the the young lady behind the register on day 2 the situation. I wanted to pay with my debit card. She quickly refused. I said that there was no comment made by the gentleman on the previous day. She said that is is a policy to not accept payments belong 5.00. I asked if the gentleman from the previous day the owner. She said that he is her grandfather and that her father is the owner, and that she will be talking to her father about her grandfather. I commented that this was unacceptable and gave her back the laces. The bf is walking around with 1 pair of eyelets peaking from his dress shoes.
I ran in to Jerry; the grandfather the day after and told him what happen. He said that he is co-​owner of the business and he will be speaking to his grand daughter. I’ll return because Jerry did offer make the situation right.