Rancho Bernardo Shoe Repair

Terrible customer service! You should not work with the public if you are grumpy! It was very frustrating not being understood because of a language barrier and feeling like the person behind the counter doesn’t understand anything you are trying to convey.

I have taken my shoes here many times for repairs. They do an overall good job repairing shoes, but have switched to another shoe repair place due to better customer service and shorter wait times to receive my shoes back. I would recommend this place as a repair option to friends, but it would not be my top choice.

I took in 3 pairs of shoes. One needed patching and cleaning. $ 56. Patched a grey and black shoe with some old vinyl and white thread? OK, so because not leather (Añu shoe), Trek, he couldn’t do it. Maybe he should have told me before I paid and left them there. Plus, shoes were supposed to be done in one week and weren’t ready to be picked up for two weeks!
And they still weren’t ready after the 2 weeks! Two pairs of leather sandals. Just left there to clean. Asked specifically about the soles and … well, where your feet touch the bottoms. Can he clean them? Answer was yes. $ 24. Well, OK. They are $ 120 new. If they come out looking newer, no problem. First time I went to pick them up, they hadn’t been touched. He still handed them to me like he had did something. I questioned him and he insisted he cleaned them. Told him to wipe his hand on the sole, and it came up dirty, he said he only cleaned the straps. Uh, sandals. $ 24 to clean two, thin leather straps? And those weren’t even clean. Had red bits of string stuck on them.
He said leave them a few more days and he’d finish. Went back, some other guy there. This guy was worse. He blamed it on his poor English. Well, OK? You understood enough to charge me $ 24 for it. What did you think I was paying for? No answer.
Don’t go here. I’m sure it is some sort of front for something else. How can a place like this stay in business?

Took a nice pair of shoes in to repair heel loops that straps went through. The leather strap had ripped completely on one and started to rip on the other. Picked it up and they looked good. BUT when I went to put the shoes on a few days later, noticed he had put the strap through the loop the wrong way on the one wear it had ripped completely and could not fix myself because the buckle does not fit through loop. Went in following week and told him. First he said that’s the way I brought it in. Then he questioned if it was even repaired there which it was. Then he took it in the back and made a bunch of noises and some time later came back up front with shoe which I noticed immediately that the leather on heel loop was mutilated! He said it was because it was not leather but vinyl. It’s leather, not vinyl! These are nice shoes from Nordstroms! Then he said, well I fixed the strap and stop touching because it is drying… who knows what he did to try to fix it, used vinyl repair on leather and made it worse. Instead of fixing it correctly after realizing you cant’ force the strap through without destroying the leather, he choose to destroy it to fix HIS ERROR! Horrible customer service! I will never go there again. Also, doesn’t speak very good english and grumpy.
If anyone can recommend a good place to repair leather, please let me know so that I can pay more money to fix this guy’s horrible job!

I brought my new purse to them on Monday to have the strap shortened. The guy who took my purse and money said no problem and pick it up on Wednesday after 2. Wednesday afternoon I pick up my purse and different guy starts mumbling and says I can’t find it to which I pointed out my bag. He then informed me it’s not ready. I was understanding it happens. I reviewed with him how short I wanted the strap. Mind you his English is very bad and trying to communicate with him is not only frustrating but maybe not possible. He told me come back now on Thursday after 2. This time it was ready but still not the length I thought we discussed. He blamed it on me and said in broken English «you want it too short». Really that’s my decision not yours and after trying to reason with him I said forget it and I will take it somewhere else. He also wanted to charge me more to shorten to the length I originally wanted. I wish I had read the previous reviews and will never take anything to them again nor will I recommend them to anyone.

I took in a pair of Steve Madden leather boots to have the heels replaced. The brown leather is not shiny, sort of a more natural soft feel. The repair wasn’t cheap (about $ 15, if I remember correctly, but I’m not certain) and when I picked them up I thought that the new heels looked nothing like the original heels and that they didn’t look very pretty to boot but I decided I didn’t want to be difficult and that I needed to get over it, take a deep breath, and not pick that battle. I’m not a complainer. In fact, I never had a Unilocal account until today. HOWEVER, when I went to wear the boots for the first time about a week later, there were at least 3 very large oil stains on one boot and at least one smaller one on the other one. There is absolutely no way that this happened under my watch. I am clinically diagnosed with OCD (no joke). I am fastidious. There is no way that I did this to my most favorite pair of shoes without noticing. NO.WAY. That is part one of my complaint.
Part two is what reeeeeeeeally burns me up. I called the shop and explained what happened to the guy (always the same guy, drop off, pick up, phone, final complaint visit), specifically saying that he got some type of oil on my boots. He told me to bring them in (which would imply that he’d like to see said «oil» stains, right?). The next day I bring them in. I’m holding them and I re-​tell the same story. Before I can even finish, he says, «Not me. I don’t have any oil in my shop.» EXCUSE ME? Call me crazy but I can’t imagine a shoe repair shop not having any oil on the premises. I mean, one of the potential compromises in my mind was asking him to just rub the entire pair of boots with the oil to make them all the same color (though that idea made me a bit nervous). Some leather shoes, at times, need oil. Besides that, if there is no oil in the shop, it would have made sense for him to tell me this on the phone, i.e. when I called and I told him that he got oil on my boots, he should have said, «It couldn’t be me, I don’t have any oil in the shop,» instead of, «Bring them in so I can see them»). So I questioned his assertion, «Excuse me? You don’t have any oil anywhere in your shop?» Again, almost cutting me off, «NO. Nowhere in my shop.» I saw a couple of large machines (sewing-​type machines?) not five feet behind him in the back of the shop so I asked, «You don’t use any oil on your machines?» And he said (wait for it)…, «I DON’T HAVE ANY MACHINES.»
That was the moment when my jaw hit my chest. I merely pointed over his shoulder, he half-​turned, turned back to me and said, «I don’t use oil on my machines.»
If there is one thing worse than bad service, it is dishonesty. It was one thing to claim that the damage was not his fault. It was another thing to claim my eyes don’t work. I, myself, know he is lying about my boots. I don’t except the interwebz to *know* that but I think the case leans more in my favor when one considers the fact that he is willing to lie about the presence of large machinery that is out in the open, within spitting distance.
If you choose to go there, document. If I’d known then what I know now, I would’ve taken a brief video of the condition of my boots IN THE SHOP the day I dropped them off with the man present, visible, in the background, etc. I will certainly be doing that from now on. From now on, when I go to ANY OTHER SHOE REPAIR STORE IN THE COUNTY, that is. What a jerk.
I am posting a photo on this page in case you’re interested. It’s hard to tell perspective from the photo but the largest, center splotch, is perhaps the size of a silver dollar.

I’m not sure what the negative reviews are all about here. Sometimes people don’t have the time to drop everything to deal with your shoe crisis. There are worse problems in life. Anyway, I took a pair of boots in to have the heels repaired after they had been labradoodle-​damaged. I was told what to expect and when the shoes would be done. The RBSR guys came through and the heels look very good. You have to pay upfront for the work but really, they have probably had customers leave their beat– up old shoes and never return for them after the repairs are done, so I can’t say I blame the proprietors for the upfront payment requirement. I’d go again if I needed a shoe fix.

I have never been to a shoe repair place with such horribel customer service! Walked in shortly after they opened, took the heels off of my feet, and asked to have the heel taps replaced. A simple 5 minute task. He told me I had to leave them, pick up tomorrow afternoon. I said, «can you please do them now, I am on my way to work.» He said, «no! I have to much work now!» And looked me straight in the eye and stared me down! In these days it must be nice to be able to turn away buisness. Obviously they dont need or want new business. STAY AWAY! I can recommend a great place in Vista, to bad it was the opposite direction from work this morning!

I had the sole employee (no pun intended) repair a computer case handle. I picked it up and shortly thereafter it broke again. I brought it back and was lied to and told he never repaired the item. I am 100% certain that he did. He basically called me a liar and made no attempt to keep my business. So for $ 10.00 this business and the proprieter did not care if I ever came back. I have never been treated so poorly before by a business.
DON’T GO

My wife asked them to install heel protectors on her shoes. They wanted their money up front and said they needed 8 days to do the 2 minute job. On the appointed day she showed up with her claim check and received a blank stare and the question ‘what color are they?’ The shoes hadn’t been repaired so they pounded on the heel protectors leaving all 6 nail heads exposed. Poor customer service and crummy work.

Yesterday I went to this shop, because an ornament on my sandlals (which I’d just bought two days before) fell off. This ornament was right on the strap over the big toe, so it was obvious that it was missing. I was wearing these shoes. I went in, took the shoe off and asked if he could glue the ornament back on. The «gentleman» started yelling at me — accusing me of demanding to stop everything to fix my shoe! I did no such thing. Then he said that it would cost me at least $ 40 to have it repaired and it would take a week!!! I had paid only $ 25 for these sandals. He shouted that no glue could fix the sandal and it had to sewn with special thread. Then he ranted on about why would I want it fixed that day/​I was standing there wearing only one sandal with him holding my other sandal, shouting at me. Then he slapped a bit of scotch tape on the shoe, handed it back to me and told me I didn’t owe him any money!
I should have been angry, but all I could think was that this guy had a screw loose somewhere. I took my shoe home and glued the ornament back on with crazy glue. I agree with the reviewer who wishes they could give negative stars.

They ruined my shoes and treated me so poorly! I do not like posting negative reviews but felt compelled to write about this because I can hardly believe the terrible experience I had. I brought in a pair of pumps with a metal shaft in the heel. I knew it might be tricky to replace the heel tap so I asked a few times if it is possible and if not, then I would not want to risk it. He kept insisting it was ok and the only thing that might be different is the color of the heel tap. So I figured he knew what he was doing. When I picked up my shoes he told me that replacing the heel tap was not possible and he could not even put the old heel tap back on. He told me that I could wear the shoe without a heel tap! Even worse, he started arguing with me that the shoes were not ruined and raised his voice at me saying I did not understand. He did not even apologize. I have never encountered such horrible customer service. He gave me a refund for the service but I can no longer wear my shoes.
I too wish I could give negative stars for this business. I read that he yelled at another reviewer so not shocking after I had the same experience. :(

I’ve only been here twice and was not disappointed. Every time that I’ve gone there i needed a rush job on my fire boots and they went above and beyond on the work done. Very happy and will definitely come back next time I need my boots fixed. Cheap and very good work

I honestly wish I could give no stars just like the other reviewer. This was the worst experience of my entire life.
I called to find out how much they charge and how long the repairs would take — for the most part I just need new heel tips on all my shoes. He said he could do them within 2 days and I went over there to drop them off. When I got there and I asked how long and that I absolutely had to have them within 2 days to leave on a trip. I asked him to please tell me if he couldn’t do it because I would go elsewhere but he promised it would be ok. We go through each pair and what is needed and then he starts to write it up.
He then hands be a receipt and says come in on Wednesday to pick them up (which was over a week from when I was there). when I questioned this and then asked for my shoes back, he said he promised he could do them on time. I too was asked to pay in full and I refused, although skeptical of everything and despite the bad feeling I had, I was desperate to get them repaired. He tore up my receipt and started yelline at me that he’d be out of money when I don’t pick my shoes up. (The guys there when I arrived had a much more expensive bill and he didn’t collect money from him, btw).
Eventually he said he’d do them and asked me to come by after 2pm on Friday. I arrived at 2:30pm on Friday, and guess what, he hadn’t done ANY of the work. He started giving me all these excuses, with a whole bunch of stories with no real acknowledgement of his mistake. I was pretty angry, but remained as calm as I could and eventually I agreed to come back in 90 minutes at which point he swore it would be done and properly, not rushed.
I come back about 2 hours later and he hasn’t done what I asked on one pair of shoes. I needed a half sole replaced and he did about a half inch toe tip. This was when all hell broke loose. He swore I never asked him to do what I said I did and that I still have to pay for all the work, but if I want him to do what I asked, then he would charge me an extra $ 28 (my bill was already $ 26 for that pair of shoes).
I kept trying to talk to him and ask him why he hadn’t done, how he could charge me again and how long it would take. Clearly this guy didn’t speak English and it was impossible to communicate with him and I definitely couldn’t reason with him. He was yelling and screaming at me, and saying how dare I ask him how long it will take.
I’ve never been treated this way in my entire life. I was referred to a place in La Jolla, but this was just closer, but if it went well, I was going to send a lot of my friends to this place. Definitely not now, so not only did he lose any future business from me, but from a group of others as well. I paid him only for the work he did correctly and refused to pay the full pricce for the one pair of shoes he’d messed up. Now I can’t wear them on my trip, and I will have to get them repaired somewhere else when I return.
By the way, the work he did do wasn’t very good. We’ll see how well it holds up.
DO NOT EVER GO TO THIS PLACE. TERRIBLE TERRIBLE SERVICE.

If I could give negative stars I would. I took one boot in on a Monday because the zipper was coming off the track. I asked if it could be ready by Thursday at 4, otherwise I would need to take somewhere else. He said he would call by tuesday to let me know because he had so much work before me. I was fine with that. I didn’t hear from him. So I call wednesday afternoon, he says yes he can have them ready by Thursday but now I have to pay a rush fee since I want them done in a day! What? I dropped them on Monday! But I needed them for a function and it was to late to go somewhere else. So I said fine. I go get my boot Thursday, pay 15 bucks wear them to my function that night, and the zipper totally comes open on the boot within ten minutes! I was so upset. I realized this guy hadn’t given me a reciept, and I didn’t feel like dealing with him anymore. I took it to the computerized cobbler they looked at it and said the whole zipper had needed to be replaced, he had changed the pull and lined up the teeth, that’s it. There bill is $ 30. So now I’m out $ 45. Once I pick it up from this current repair I’m taking it back just to show him. I don’t want anything from them. I would stay far away from this place, it’s lazy shotty work, their motto is what’s the least amount I can and what’s the most I can charge you!

I took my dress shoes here. Great customer service and the guy even threw in a free shoe shine. He is very knowledgeable with shoes and gets them ready in a reasonable amount of time.