COSMO'S SHOE & LEATHER REPAIR

Angie's Lists' botched phone service interview transcription:

" The person that does the repair work wasn't there and the person that took my work order couldn't answer questions about the repair. She did insist that the metal buckles on my boots weren't going to be black when I got them back but they were. The metal buckles weren't covered in black shoe polish. The repair person cleaned them up and made no fuss about it. I had to leave the boots for several additional hours while they cleaned the shoe polish off the buckles. The prices would've have been reasonable if they hadn't wasted my time. The repair work was satisfactory. I was hassled with repeated phone calls during the repair process."


What I ACTUALLY SAID:

When dropping off my boots, the store owner/manager-in-main-service person (if not his own, only 'hands-on' employee) who's usually there was out.  I asked the woman {apparently girlfriend/wife} standing in, minding the shop who checked in my boots to please note that I do not abide black shoe-spray covering up the chrome on my buckles--to which she all but swore that he/they would never do such an obviously foolhardy thing, implying that it was of course laughably unnecessary to even feel the need to point out.  The repair work turned out alright, functionally satisfactory as expected.  However, she did tell me that a deposit wouldn't be necessary {as it turns out, probably because she was unwilling for whatever reason to handle either the transaction or making out a claim check-tab}.  I specifically informed the woman covering that I would not be able to pick up my boots 'til the following week, so there was no hurry to get the work done on my account.  That very evening I received a courtesy call about the cost of the repair on my answering machine, and how much the deposit on it would have to be which though frustratingly unexpected in-of-itself being contrary to the misinformation I was given earlier, was otherwise acceptable if not appreciable.  As then we were all going to have to wait an additional week to make any progress on the minor job in question.
   However the next day, and the next, and the third day after having dropped them off, I got persistent calls which were not only unnecessary but posed a hassle in-of themselves--basically bum-rushing me into either paying the deposit immediately or taking them back-- after I'd already said I wouldn't be in that township again 'til a full week later.  It DID rather strike me as a bit ridiculous being urged to drive 30 miles 'round-trip out of my way to only to make a down-payment on the work--which I'd initially been falsely informed wouldn't be required upon the shop's acceptance of the work.  Ah, but then when I did finally come 'round to pick them up ... guess what already?  My once-gleaming chrome-finish buckles were made entirely, invisibly, shoe-polish spray black-on-black, as of course any sensible corner-cutter would do to save a mere few extra minutes of 'work' simply covering them with masking tape ... as also specifically suggested.  As a matter of fact I'd stopped going to my previous shoe shop for that very reason.
   And so then I had to return to their shop a FOURTH TIME, half-the-month instead of only a week later to pick them up ... for the second time, an hour + a/half or more later again!

Yes, that's right, I basically had to show up twice-over in both beginning the job and upon 'completion'.
Unusual circumstances I grant, however they should've just thrown in the cleaning for free at least, all I got instead was about half an intelligibly, spurious excuse and a 'sorry about that'--'Eh, yeah I'm sure, but surely not as sorry as I.'


I HAVE gone back since a couple times to give the guy another chance, and he's done fair and decent work by me, otherwise-- I simply haven't brought any more so-complicated polishing 'work-around' jobs ; )  On the other hand, again in his favor, he DID DO AN EXCELLENT job replacing the soles on my near-40yr.-old 'cavalry-style jack-boots', and put some much needed rubber tread where there was only the original smooth hard leather, so they're much the-more practical as they look, for the world beyond the dance floor now!  Whereas previously I couldn't wear them in winter at all without any snow traction.  I do recommend them for repairs without much reservation, the polishing can though be, shall we say, ... over-zealously spotty?  Only haven't been back since as I've no longer any other business in N. Syracuse/Cicero.