Berkeley Resole

I don’t enjoy giving negative reviews but I had a bad enough experience with the customer service at this place, that I feel it’s important to post something. I dropped off a single sandal for a very small repair about a week and a half before Christmas on a Weds. He said he would have it done by that Saturday, but because of the holidays, I did’t go back for two weeks. When I went back in, first he couldn’t find the sandal, and when he did it was laying under a large pile of other shoes jumbled together on the floor, and the repair hadn’t been done. He apologized several times and he assured me that he would have it done by that afternoon. Hey, I get it… The holidays are crazy for everyone. So I figured I would just give it the benefit of the doubt and hoped it would be fixed, as he said, by that afternoon… But, for good measure, I waited another week just to give him more time. Then I went by the shop to pick up the sandal not once, but twice during times when the website said the shop would be open. The first time, there was no one there and the shop was locked. The second time, the shop was locked again with a note on the door saying he would be back in a hour or so. So then I tried to call twice to make sure the sandal was repaired and to confirm what time someone would be there, but there was never any answer when I called. So, finally, I showed up yesterday, and what do you know, the store was open! Yay! But the sandal was not repaired. Definitely-​not-​yay. I asked that he repair the sandal while I waited. And he did. So I got my sandal, and I’m hoping the repair holds well. I gave this place two stars because he’s a very kind and respectful. He knew he had screwed up and seemed genuinely apologetic about it. I appreciate that when dealing with people. If he had been nasty or denied that there was an issue, it would have been 1 star all the way. It’s just tough to want to return there when the customer service piece is so challenging to navigate. So honestly, I hope some of those issues tighten up so that his business functions more smoothly and people can enjoy the service. I wish him the best of luck, but I will not be returning.

Paid upfront and have not received my climbing shoes back. It has been 3 weeks since I was told they would be done. I am quite frustrated at the lack of communication on top of the difficult store hours and full phone inbox. I just want my shoes back, fixed or not.

10/​28/​2015:
Terrible experience.
I spoke with someone on the phone at Berkeley Resole about a month ago who said it would be fine for me to ship a box of four pairs of shoes to them. Shipped the shoes about three weeks ago. Since then I’ve left four voicemails, no response from Tom or Berkeley Resole.
I was just recommended to try Dave Page:
by some of Berkeley REI’s staff. He apparently used to work at the Rubber Room and has a faster turn around time.

I have been here 5 times now to pick up 2 pair of dress shoes that I dropped off 6 mo ago or more. I finally had to have him home deliver one pair to my house that he finally finished and when I went back to get the other today he said he had finished them and then taken them apart again just today cuz he wasn’t happy with the work. STILL NOT DONE? And I have carted my infant in and out of her car seat and stroller each time I stop.
I PAID UP FRONT $ 120 for two shoes. THIS SHOP IS BASICALLY THIEVERY!

Took my beloved La Sportiva Solutions climbing shoes there for a resole. I showed up a day shy of a week to pick up my shoes, they weren’t ready even though he verbally said they would be ready. Since the tag said it would be ready the next day i told him I would come back by end of day the next day to pick them up. Mind you I have to drive over the bay bridge from SF to pick up the shoes so its quite the trip. Of course nothing had been done to the shoes. At this point i was very unhappy, he hastily glued on some soles and handed the shoes to me without even smoothing out the rubber like he is supposed to, i ended up having to finish the resole myself in my garage. Now its three weeks later and my climbing soles are already falling off.

I’m sorry. We were first very excited to see the new local business we could be behind and work with for long time.
I am beyond disappointed by his service.
It took him 3 weeks to finish my boots although we were told to come back in a week. That’s ok if he called to say it is not ready but we made a trip to only find out it wasn’t ready. (now I think of it, it even seemed like he didn’t even know my shoes were there until I first went to pick them up)
But the part that is most disappointing was the job he did.
The zipper he replaced was crooked.
And the ripped part we asked him to repair wasn’t even fixed when we went to pick it up. We reminded him and then he did it on the spot. The stitching was completely off the original line and it looked like a kid’s hand sawing job.
I“m all for supporting local business nowadays but it’d be hard to justify our time as we need to bring our shoes to another repair place now. The shoes he «repaired» look worse than it did before.
If this is normal, it’d be hard to believe he’ll stay in business.

Its been almost a year now and I’m still waiting for my hand made leather shoes to be done. In the first few months I stopped in a few times and a lot of the times he had know idea what shoes I was even talking about, but then would remember and say they would be done in two weeks.
So much time has passed I even forgot about them. Now I’m calling and leaving messages because he changed locations and I was never notified.
I’m starting to wonder if the $ 200 dollar pair of shoes are completely lost.
I only left one star because I can’t leave 0.

I must also join the chorus of warnings not to bring your climbing shoes here. The dudes that work there are sweet as pie and will work super hard to make things right. But they seem to have a tough time getting it right, and getting it right on time.
Brought a pair of moccasyms in. First flag was the offer to put Sportiva rubber on them. Then they were done about two weeks after the promised date. Then the resole started to peel off about a month later. Brought them back in and they were very nice about redoing the job. But that resole came with a thickness of rubber about half of what the original resole was.
I was too frustrated to say anything. Gonna start shipping them out of the bay…

Tom is a master shoemaker and his new shop is conveniently located on San Pablo just south of Gilman Street. I like his work so much I have ordered a custom pair of Derby style dress shoes.

On September 27^th I delivered two pairs of climbing shoes and a hiking boot to Tom at Berkeley Resole. Tom explained to me that they would be mailed back to me in about 2 weeks. I paid $ 88 for the services.
About 3 weeks later I realized I didn’t have my shoes yet so I called (510) 356‑7601 and left a message. I did not receive a response so I called again. I left 6 message total over a period of 2 months. I did not receive a call back.
In November I emailed
asking for my shoes to be returned to me in whatever condition they were currently in and I requested that I be refunded. I received a response from Tom saying that my shoes were completed, he apologized for not getting my calls, and said he would refund me.
It is now December 27^th, about a month after that email, and I have not received my shoes or a refund. I would like my shoes returned to me and to be refunded $ 88.
Update: Today I received one of the two shoes I gave Tom at Berkeley Resole to repair. I also received someone else’s shoe in the mail. It has the initials MK on it. If anyone received a women’s miura that is not yours I would love to trade.

These guys are terrific. They do fine, careful, high quality work. They are real craftspeople, and yet they are not expensive, actually they are ridiculously reasonable. Plus they are really nice! I get shoes resoled or reheeled regularly because I wear them down on the outsides, and I’ve tried every shoe repair place in the East Bay, and been disappointed by every one except this place. They know what they are doing and will help you with what you need from the simplest job to fine handcrafted shoes made just for you. Go here! Shall I say it again? Go here!

FYI — Berkeley Resole has moved. They are now just south of REI Berkeley on San Pablo Ave.

The only reason I don’t give this company 1 star is because he gave me a FULL refund for FORGETTING about my boots.
Much like reviewer below, he said they’d be done in a week, and in reality took TWO MONTHS after repeated attempts via phone & in person to follow up. Even on the day he finally had them done, he still took 10 – 15 minutes to finish his work, AND was RUDE to my partner who came to pick them up!
The sole look OK, colors don’t match exactly, but for $ 20 would have been well worth the money, IF I would have received even a modicum of customer service.

DO NOT COME HERE!!!
You have been warned. Let me tell you my experience;
I have a pair of Birkenstock Arizona sandals that were in need of resoling and a foot bed replacement. After reading many Unilocal!reviews, I decided to bring my shoes here because it was close to my home and parking was easy.
The shoe repair shop is up some creepy stairs and you have to knock on the door to be let into the shop.
I dropped my shoes off, paid in advance and was told to come back in a week. When I questioned him, «Only a week?», he responded, «They will be done by Tuesday.»
When I went to pick up my shoes on Tuesday, they were not finished and had not been started. He said the shoes would be ready on Thursday and wrote himself a note. I told him I’d call first on Thursday before stopping by.
On Thursday, I called at the time the shop opened and left a message on the machine. No response back that day.
On Friday, I called and left another message, and got no response.
Later in the afternoon on Friday, I dropped by the shop. One of my sandals was sitting on the counter with the sole still needing to be shaped and the cork needing to be sealed. When I asked him about my shoes, he said they just need to be polished and I could wait for them, since I was there. I pointed out my sandal sitting on the counter needing more than polishing and informed him I would return Saturday.
Going to pick up my shoes on Saturday, I still had to wait 10 minutes while he «dusted them off». Upon inspection, I noticed the cork on the sandals had not been sealed. I pointed this fact out. He offered to seal the cork but I declined and decided to cut my loss and seal the cork at home.
He does not keep deadlines he sets.
He will not complete the job.
And is overall, unprofessional!

I’m sorry to have to write this poor review because the man who runs this shop seems like a really nice person. But I have no choice but to write it so that others will know, and also with the hope that maybe he will improve his work or stop working on dress shoes.
I didn’t know a shoe repair person in Berkeley so I checked Unilocal and decided to go to this place. I’ve always had great shoe repair shops so I didn’t realize how many problem shops there are out there. The hours and location weren’t the best for me, but I figured it was worth it for quality work. I took in three favorite pairs of shoes: a tan sandal that needed some basic re-​heeling, as well as a strap fix; a darling pair of delicate pumps that were still fairly new, whose heel had broken off; a pair of boots that needed basic re-​heeling. The man running the shop confirmed that he worked on dress shoes, seemed nice and knowledgeable, and had many shoes at his shop, so I left feeling confident.
I returned in a week and the tan sandals had been resoled with a darker color and a heavier material, not gorgeous but fine. I pointed out that the strap had not been fixed. He said he couldn’t find the right piece and wouldn’t charge me. I was disappointed but okay. The boots looked good. The delicate heel was back on, with a touch of clear sticky glue leaking out. The price was fairly cheap for all of it, especially with the discount. My assessment was that everything seemed adequate, but certainly not great, and that my shoes were fixed for now and I would continue to look for a shop.
Two weeks ago, I put on the delicate pumps for the first time (while getting dressed for a wedding in Austin, TX) and the heel felt unsteady. Minutes later it broke off. I was appalled. They hadn’t lasted five minutes. But I love these shoes and didn’t want to give up, so after I returned home, I gave them to my mother to take to her great shoe repair. The report back from her guy: this shoe repair had «just stapled them!» (I guess that’s appalling) and in a direction that couldn’t take pressure. Her shoe repair guy is fixing them properly and I will have them back soon, for $ 20.00.
Then, last night on Halloween, I went trick or treating with my family, wearing my boots. The bottom of the heel broke right off. I had to walk around without it all evening since we were at a friend’s house.
I don’t have time to go back given his hours and location, so I won’t be able to show him his shoddy work and get my money back. My only recourse is to let others know. I have never had this type of problem with a shoe repair before. I am already asking around for a personal recommendation, which I should have done in the first place.

I went here because of all of the positive ratings.
Well I’m sad to report I did not have a good experience.
When I dropped off my 6 pairs of shoes (2 women’s, 4 men’s), I waited 20 minutes as he finished out another customer’s order. I accepted this because I get the community vibe, let’s chat kind of atmosphere and I’ll give you your shoes fresh off the press kind of thing.
When I picked up the shoes, I waited another 15 minutes. Guess he was busy this time of year preparing shoes for a show/​costumes? I don’t know, but still…
I did like the heels that were repaired for the 5 shoes, especially because one of the men’s shoes were Ecco shoes and had unique soles to repair. But none of them looked shined or buffed i.e. scrapes removed. I guess he doesn’t have the special shoe shine machine because I had my husband go back to bring his shoes back (because I didn’t want to endure the wait anymore) and he said he the shoes had already been shined. What?!
Fine. It was inexpensive at $ 10 a pop, but these are basic things: repairing heels and shining shoes.
I didn’t even bother bringing back my Dansko shoes which I had originally asked to repair the buckle part. It was not completed.
Mind you I would have given a 3 maybe in June when I picked up my shoes, but I’m commenting now because after only 2 months my Dansko shoe has come apart. I’ve only worn it twice since I got it in June. The part that he «repaired» i.e. stapled the leather back to the main shoe part has now come undone.
What the?!
I will now have to find another place to bring my shoe to get repaired. And I have to say, this is not my first time at the rodeo… I have brought shoes to get repaired and shined before and was satisfied with the results, mind you it was at another shop.

I second Jon L’s advice:
DO NOT TAKE YOUR CLIMBING SHOES HERE!!!
If I could give less than one star I would. Worst resole I’ve seen, it was almost a $ 55 job after shipping even though I only got half a resole (shoes were worn just to the rand on the tips only, barely needed a resole really). The worst part was that it took FOREVER to get them back. The one time he answered the phone was after 2 weeks of having them when he informed me that they were on the table being worked on and I’d have them by the end of the week. OK I thought, but I got the almost 2 months later. I called and called and never got calls back. Then he went on vacation. Called and called when he got back, no answer, no return call. Then surprise surprise, I got them a few days later after that.
The job is marginal, glue along the edges, and the edges are already open in spots and it looks like they will be de-​laminating soon.
I could have had my shoes to the rubber room and back 4 times by the time I got these back. Bummer cuz I was hoping to find a closer resole place and support a more local business.

Tom’s resoling talents also did the job for a replacing a torn strap on a leather handbag.
I hadn’t noticed his shop despite biking past it dozens of times over the years. Thanks to Unilocal reviewers for helping me locate this treasure of a leather repair shop.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR CLIMBING SHOES HERE:
Weird, unresponsive proprietor that doesn’t care about getting things right and providing a good customer experience. Tom, I hope you read this, because you really need to figure this out.
I took 2 pairs of climbing shoes there, and one pair was resoled satisfactorily. Not the best resole I’ve seen, but functional, and hey I’m supporting a local business, so why not.
The second pair, took 3 different resole attempts and two months. TWO MONTHS. And what is the final result?
A pair of climbing shoes with differing thicknesses of rubber. Yes, you read that correctly — Berkeley Resole magically transformed my shoes into two different heights. Didn’t want shimmed orthopedic climbing shoes…
I informed them and took it back for the 3^rd time (THIRD TIME) to get fixed. He said he would mail them back and also give me a refund (yay, redemption?). About 2 weeks later, I get the shoes back, with the uneven soles, and a refund check.
So basically, what happened was I sent my shoes in, he made them worse, and I didn’t charge me for it. Are you kidding me? Is this guy for real?
It’s such a hassle and pain that I’m not even bothering with going back to deal with this business. Send your stuff to the rubber room or another reputable climbing shoe resoler…

I took a pair of Pikolinos leather boots here to have a button replaced and a tear repaired.
The repair was well done and very affordable! Love that this is a small business in my neighborhood — just a guy and his shop.
I will definitely be bringing all my shoes and leather goods here to be fixed.
Right across from Ashby BART.