Vera's Shoe Repair

I was a longtime customer of this store with the prior owner...a delightful older man who spoke little English, but was extremely nice, hardworking, very fair and always top-notch work. It was a delight having him work on my shoes for over twelve years, both repairs and shoe shines. I also bought occasional products from him, like shoe laces.



When the new owners came in (Vera's), I of course, decided to keep my business there. But, from the very first visit, I found them to be overly aggressive trying to sell me things I didn't need, as well as being caustic in their communication. Every time I went in for a shoe shine, they would always try to push me to get new soles and new heels...even when I clearly didn't need them. When I would say "no, thank you," they would act mad and treat me negatively. After a year or so, I finally stopped going there because of their bad attitude and always talking down to me. I always left there aggravated.



Then, today, more than a year later, I decided to give them another chance by getting two pairs of shoes shined. I called them to ask about shoeshine prices because I remembered that the prices were different between a machine shine and chair shine. When I called, a man answered. I asked him what the prices were for a shoe shine. He started giving me the runaround, first talking unintelligibly (I almost thought I had called a wrong number and reached someone who didn't speak English), and then throwing irrelevant questions back at me...obviously in an effort to avoid answering my simple question. I kept saying, "I just want to know what you charge for a shoe shine, both for a chair shine and a machine shine." At one point, he hung up on me. I called back and said, "Did you hang up on me?" He said, "Yes." I proceeded to ask my question again. And, he gruffly said, "Bring your shoes in. I have to look at them." I said, "They're simple, basic men's loafers." He made another negative comment and still avoided answering my question. So, I told him that he had a lousy attitude...and I hung up.



The people that work there (except for the delightful young lady who chair-shined my shoes on a few occasions when they first opened) are all very rude, caustic, money-grabbing and dishonest. They do not deserve to have a store in this neighborhood or anywhere else.

I was charged $25 to place a rubber sole on the bottom of my shoe and heel. Within a week, the rubber piece they placed on my heel broke (the shoe was only worn ONCE since they so called "repaired" it) When i returned to the store, I was greeted by a rude employee who wanted to charge me an additional $15 to fix the mistake they originally had made. When i attempted to compromise with the employee, he became very irrate and condescending. Do not go here, they just rip you off and take your cash!