Kostantino Shoemakers & Shoe Repairing

I really regret coming to this place. I thought you couldn’t really go wrong with shoe repairs… how wrong I was.
I brought in two pairs of beloved boots to be repaired — one pair needed re-​heeling, the other needed this and also I wanted the heel and sole to be covered. They had a wood covering on them that went with the leather of the actual boot, but it had become scuffed and tatty. I asked for the new covering to be as close to the dark wood pattern as before so that it would suit the black-​grey leather of the boots — he said no problem.
The guy (Kostantino, I assume) is a nice guy. Greek (no sh*t, Sherlock) but with good English, he’s definitely been in the business a long time, so I assumed I was in safe hands. He quoted me £50 for the lot, although when he was inspecting them, I noticed that he accidentally drew in biro across the leather of one boot. I pointed this out to him and he said that he would get it off. He said that the whole process would take a week, which I thought seemed like a long time, especially when your sole business is repairing shoes, but what do I know?
So off I trot and a week later, I’m back. What greeted me was not pretty. The biro mark was still there on the one boot, and the boots that needed covering… well, let’s just say it was a disaster. The once smart wood-​pattern had been covered by an awful light brown, shiny paint. It did not suit the boots at all; it looked awful. Worse still, the heels had not been covered evenly, so it was missing and blotchy in some places, some of the paint had been smudged on the leather. The work was appalling, and I was so upset that my favourite pair of boots had been reduced to this.
I explained to Kostantino how I was extremely unhappy with the work and pointed out these errors to him. He seemed surprised by my dissatisfaction, which just made me even more annoyed. He then said to give him another week and he would sort it, although he made it seem like he was doing me a massive favour.
I came back the next week and the biro mark had been removed, although the leather is now scratched and faded where he’s obviously scrubbed at it with some sort of abrasive brush. The other boots had been re-​covered in a darker brown paint, which I still wasn’t overly happy with, but decided that it would do. Did I get an apology for the fact that the job was done badly, or that the work had taken two weeks? No-​siree-​Bob. I was expecting a discount for having had such a bad experience there, but like Leonardo DiCaprio on Oscar night, I left disappointed.
I wore the re-​covered boots out a few days later. Both pairs of boots have been re-​heeled properly, which is great. However, the new paint cover on these boots immediately began to chip away in large chunks, so once again they look tatty, which means I’m going to have to pay more to get them covered by someone else. Not impressed.