Paul’s Shoe Repair Service

fixed my 25 year old sandal for $ 25 after the shop down the street estimated $ 120 and said better to throw it away and buy his new sandals.

The service is timely and the shoe repairs are well done. I am surprised that there are so many negative reviews.

Their business practices beg for a review. I took in a pair of sneakers they said they could fix. When I returned for them they had a huge gouge in them that hadn’t been there before. When I complained about it the guy became belligerent. He refused to compensate me for the damage insisting they were like that when I brought them in. He also wanted me to pay for the «repair work» even though they had basically wrecked my shoes. The sneakers were at that point pretty much useless so I just left without them figuring that way we both lost something. I will never go to this shop again. They have a premium location and that’s really the only reason they are still in business. Just walk a few blocks to the other side of University. There’s a very good shoe shop on the West side of Shattuck Avenue called Model Shoe.

I have never written a review in my life– but this was so amazingly bad I decided to sign up for Unilocal.They were 3 weeks late giving me back my boots– which they destroyed– and did not refund me my money. What a joke.
If you want your shoes destroyed in a timely manner go elsewhere.

HORRIBLE.
1– lost my shoes
2– used the wrong color on the leather
3– removed a zipper from a boot that I DIDNT ASK TO HAVE REMOVED
4– cant replace it with a YKK zipper (the original brand): they only carry the cheapo zippers
5– removed the entire sole off my boots when I only asked for the heel to be re-​done
6– replaced the sole with cheapo foamish sole that I will surely wear down in a few months instead of a solid boot-​type sole
7– glue all over my boots
I am shocked by how bad they did.
The sad thing is, honestly, I didnt even complian because I feel bad for them. Truly, they are nice and probably pros. I just dont think they can do it well anymore?
I am scared to see how they end up putting in a new zipper.

Ugh. I brought in a pair of Dansko clogs in a really dark, rich red color to be re-​dyed, as they were all scuffed up. They came back this dull, garish red-​orange color. The scuff marks aren’t even completely covered and there is dye smeared all over the heel and sole. Don’t think these can be salvaged. The other pair I brought in needed some re-​stitching and again, the work was very sloppy. I could have done a better job myself with a needle and thread. Wish I had read the reviews before going there. Not cheap, either.

I have been going to Jim and Eddie at Paul’s Shoes since 1982. I am surprised to see so many negative reviews. These guys are excellent at customer service and they do know shoes. They take care of my business shoes on a very regular basis and they keep extra thick leather in stock for me so that I can visit a little less often.
What I am always amazed with is the people that go there. There are people that have different leg lengths, people with orthodics, and all sorts of special needs clients. I have heard several people say that their podiatrists have referred them to the shop.
This is a great place for shoe repair and I should have posted this review years ago.

I took two pairs of shoes and two bags there for cleaning and repairing. I told them a week earlier that i was going to pickup on Friday which they promised, only to realize on Friday that the shoes and the bags were discarded in a corner and without being touched at all. They told me that they are going to work on it and I can pick up three hours later — same thing, I came back and the shoes and bags are still in that corner without being touched.
Worst experience ever. I’m never going there again even it is super close to my apartment.

yikes, I should have learned my lesson and not gone back here, but I need special shoes and they are hard to find so I went back. Ordered a pair and paid for them in full onDecember 10. 2013, was told two weeks they would be in, now it’s March 29, 2014 and I still dont have my shoes. They keep saying call back on Monday. Dont believe anything they say.

DO NOT GO HERE!!! I only went because it was urgent. The guy was nice and he did what I asked of him but the minute I stepped out of the store it ripped again and I was basically SOL because it was my Seeing Eye dogs harness and because she couldn’t wear it I couldn’t go into any business.

NIGHTMARE OF THE YEAR!
Do NOT go here for any repairs.
I went to Paul’s Shoe Repair upon recommendation from a local shoe store owner. I have very big calves and wanted to have the upper part of some new boots expanded to fit my legs. The guys at Paul’s were very encouraging — Sure! We can do it. Come back in 3 days.
Yeah, right. I should have known better based on the appearance of the store — but I had been reassured by the person referring me that the messiness was not a reflection of the quality of the work.
First time I stopped in to pick them up, they handed the brand new boots to me and told me they were ready. NOTHING had been done. The second time, still nothing. The third time, they had lengthened the cut and put in longer elastic, but not wider. Fourth time, they were waiting for elastic from Los Angeles… for three weeks.
In addition, I brought a second pair of boots in to have the heels lowered. The first time I came back to get them, they couldn’t even find the boots. I had to go back into the work room and pick them out of a pile of shoes that were all thrown together in a heap. Nothing had been done on the heels. When I came back to pick them up — they were HIGHER instead of lower.
Long story short — I had to come back FIVE times to get the boots. I dropped them off around Thanksgiving in 2013. I picked them up today, January 7^th, 2014. They still are not finished. The quality of the stitching on the leather is horrific. The inside lining is covered in glue and bunched up along the section they repaired. They couldn’t even cut the leather in a relatively straight line, so the edge of the repair is all ragged. I finally just can’t take it anymore. I paid them and took the boots home.
Now I have to find someone to fix them, all over again.
No matter how much you trust the recommendation of someone to go here, don’t do it.
Don’t believe those other 5 star reviews. These guys are totally incompetent.

they are THE WORST. i brought in several pairs of shoes to have repaired (why i did not check on Unilocal is beyond me) and he COMPLETELY botched the job. so appalling bad to the point where i want to toss the shoes.
the shoes were so bad that all i could think is that he ruined shoes that just needed a simple repair that many shoe repair men have done for me in the past.
to top it off, when i complained about the appalling bad job he’s done, he told me to take him to small claims court!

If I could give negative stars, I would. This place was horrible. My wife brought in a new pair of shoes to be stretched. Only the right shoe needed to be stretched, but they asked us to leave both shoes. We thought that was a bit strange, but we went ahead and did so. We came back in a week and they had the right shoe for us, but they told us they didn’t have the left shoe. They told us that we must have brought the shoe home. We explained to them that we didn’t, but we went home and checked anyway. No shoe. When we told them that they had the shoe somewhere in their shop and asked what they were going to do about it, they said that if we brought in the receipt they would «have to pay for it». We went back the following week and they still could not find the left shoe. Finally after about a half hour, they found the shoe on the stretcher. So they stretched the wrong shoe, so that it is unwearable. When asked what they were going to do about this mistake, they told us to bring in the receipt and they would pay for the shoes. When we brought in the receipt they told us that they were going to call the company because while they did stretch the wrong shoe, the shoe manufacturer was to blame for making the right shoe too small. They told us to come back in a couple of days after they had called the manufacturer. When we did come back they told us that they weren’t going to pay anything and they we would have to take them to court. We tried to explain to them that they made a mistake and stretched the wrong shoe, so they should at least pay for half. They told us, that rather than bringing in the shoe to be stretched, we should have sent them back, thus it was our fault that the wrong shoe was stretched. We then asked for the shoes back, and he said that he was going to keep them. I asked again for the shoes back, and he said that if we took him to court, he needed the shoes. I finally told my wife to call the police and he finally gave us the shoes.
So they stretch the wrong shoe, blame us, and then aren’t going to give us back our shoes. I love to support small «mom & pop» places, but this was the worst service I have ever experienced anywhere. Avoid this place at all costs.

Getting my boot repaired through this business was a depressing affair.
One of my favorite leather boots, a Harley-​Davidson calf-​height boot I wear almost daily for regular (non-​moto) wear required a new zipper. When the left boot zipper gave out about a season ago, I had brought it to Elmwood Village Shoes. This time, it was the right boot’s zipper. Paul’s business was only 2 – 3 minutes walking from my work, just around the corner, which is why I chose to try this place out.
A terrible decision that would cause me grief and regret.
Visit #1: Dropped off shoes, was told to come back on a certain day not quite a week later. Received a receipt. Was not asked for my phone number.
Visit #2: Swung by an extra day after they told me to come, just in case they were not ready. Indeed, they were not ready. Their excuse had to do with there being a holiday. But I gave them an extra day. I believe this is the visit when they told me that at least they had received the zipper. Um.
Visit #3: Came back looking forward to reclaiming my fixed boot, again giving an extra day to when they told me to come back. They said that due to something to do with the people that they outsource the actual repair work to, the boot was not yet ready and that I should return in yet another week or so. Was quite annoyed.
Visit #4: They wasted 30 minutes or so of my time searching their back room, turning it inside and out searching for my boot. I told them what it looked like. I had my receipt. They were painstakingly slow in the search, I offered to help them look! But they didn’t take me up on my offer; they just ignored me. They offered to finally call me when it arrived instead of me just coming in. By this time I was enraged.
Visit #5: 2 weeks or so after the last visit, I returned. Note that they never ever called me to let me know about the boot. I just came in wondering WTF was going on with my boot. Did they lose it? Was I going to ‘lose it’? I was in a rage wanting to scream and cry that I had wasted all this time and energy by this time. I was quietly, hysterically believing that they wouldn’t have it ready YET either and I should just give up on my beloved boot.
My boot was in fact there. I couldn’t believe it. I paid maybe $ 28 for it. I felt that they shouldn’t have charged me after all that goofiness called customer service, but I said nothing. I tried to remain calm and not say anything nasty to anyone. I just wanted to get the hell out of there with my boot and never, ever return.
BOOT RESULTS:
The boot ended up with this weird lump at the bottom of the zipper area. The zipper runs along bottom to top along the inside of my leg, ankle to calf. One of the men there had told me upon initially inspecting the boot that he would leave a bit of ‘leeway’ or something because he thought the area needed it. So I expected this, but it was unattractive and I didn’t really see how it helped the repair or the way I wore it.
A month later, my boot is in need of repair again. The zipper doesn’t work again, the threads/​seams with the surrounding leather has weakened and is falling apart. The lumpy ‘opened up’ area (or whatever) seems disfigured. (Having learned my lesson, I took it to Elmwood Village Shoes. I told them of my shoe repair woes, and they fixed it quickly (less that 5 business days before I got a call), and charged me about $ 34(?).)
* The two men that work there seem nice enough as people, but they are much too slow and do not seem to possess the mental wherewithal to provide proper customer service.
* It is strange to me that they do not want your phone number to begin with to call you when the shoe (s) is/​are ready.
Do not go here. Instead, go to Elmwood Village shoes on College, near Ashby. They are much more professional and responsible.

It PAINS me to do this, but i have to say it, this place is terrible.
The gentlemen who own this establishment are as nice as can be, pleasant even. However, the quality of their work is terrible.
I took my very expensive Fluevog boots in to have the shafts stretched, and the man at the counter explained that he couldn’t do that and that he needed to realign the zippers. I was desperate to wear my boots so i agreed, asking several times about the neatness of how it would be done, and the man assured me that it would be fine. Fast forward five days when i pick them up… contact cement everywhere, gaping stitch holes, sloppy stitching, the zippers were coming UNDONE, the leather layers were wrinkled and just terrible. They were practically DESTROYED. it was a nightmare. I didn’t know what to do, so i paid the guy and got the f*#$ out.
After crying my eyes out and trying to fix the huge mess i took them to Model Shoe Repair where the guy took one look and asked, «Did you take them to that place down the street?!» He KNEW!!! ugh. So in all it cost me 250 for a 20 stretch.
Again, the guys who own Paul’s are super nice… but they need to retire, because the «workmanship» is just not there.

Went to Paul’s and they tried to sell me a pair of shoes for $ 200, knowing that I needed new orthopedic shoes. They also tried to sucker me into buying new custom orthotics. They must have thought I was desperate and/​or stupid, which I am not.
I checked online, and EVERY website that sold the exact same shoe they offered me was priced at $ 129.00 maximum. Sorry guys, a sucker I am not.

I first went here for repairs to leather ice hockey equipment, not shoes. After another local shoe repair store sneered at my goalie pads and refused to work on them, I a), noted which shoe repair shop I’ll never go to again and, b), walked into Paul’s down the street.
They instantly accepted the work and correctly identified the structure of the pads (hint: a lot different than shoes) and did good, solid work that fixed the problem and extended the life of the pads by a few years. I’ve since taken my shoes to be repaired here and have no complaints– in fact, a sole that they installed came unglued after 1 – 2 years of constant use and they reglued it for free.
This is 4 stars, not 5, because sometimes with the goalie equipment they misunderstood the instructions and had to redo work (all for free). Also, sometimes the stitching/​gluing would be extremely visible– but again, this is all for work on items that aren’t in their normal range of expertise.

They are lazy and rude. Avoid if possible.

I have gone here for years, and the quality and craftsmanship is first rate. Many repairs later, I still have the shoes. I don’t understand the negative reviews from the folks who wanted more selection (try the mall) or boutique work (not their forte).
These guys do solid, reputable work (and I think the prices are pretty low). Fully recommend!
D.

The two older gentlemen that run Paul’s Shoe Repair should retire. Neither one of them can see well enough to continue repairing anything.
I brought in a $ 90 pair of sandals for some minor repairs (replace stitching) and got back a shoe that was only half fixed and more than 4 days overdue. So, instead of doing the smart thing and just taking my sandal and leaving that shop forever, I handed my sandal back to him and told him to finish the work.
What a horrible mistake! Those two blind old men didn’t make one straight stitch, used glue on the face side of the sandal and actually cut half-​way through one of the leather straps. I was shocked and horrified.
I admit, I went to Pauls instead of my usual cobbler because it was convenient for me and I was impatient to get the sandals repaired. I will never make that mistake again!
I took my sandals to Harry’s Shoe & Leather Repair on University Avenue, just west of Sacramento Street in West Berkeley, and had Paul’s work repaired and the rest of the work completed on time (within two days) and for $ 10. I’ve used Harry’s several times in the past and I will never go anywhere else again!
I think it’s time for Paul and his grandpa to retire.