Odessa Instant Shoe Repair

As advertised. Instant show repair. Just remember it’s cash only.

I love this guy. I’ve nicknamed him «The Angry Cobbler.» It’s just part of his schtick, and he responds well when you give it back to him. When he inevitably asks when you’re coming back, say «when they’re done.»
I took a pair to a cobbler a little closer to home. He forgot to fix my shoes a week later and wanted to charge DOUBLE the price for «touch up paint.» The Angry Cobbler grafted actual leather to my shoes, and they looked close to new.
Suck up his attitude, Buttercup. His work is pristine.

Let’s remember we are rating the BUSINESS and what they DO and not the demeanor of the people! It’s not like a restaurant with waitstaff. The guy may not be super chatty and kiss everyone’s ass, but he is POLITE and he does VERY GOOD WORK. I’ve brought him a pair of Manolo’s as well as Burberry and Louboutin, and he does beautiful work and he does it RIGHT, and it lasts. This dude is solid.

This humorless and grouchy cobbler/​keymaker (who is the only one I’ve ever seen working here) should be in a Seinfeld episode: they could call him the shoe Nazi or something. However, the key that he made for me did indeed work (although I think that $ 4 to duplicate a house key is a lot). He almost blew a gasket when I didn’t have anything smaller than a $ 20 bill to pay for it. Really bad karma in that place. Not worth the convenience.

Is he grumpy? Yes.
Does he probably have decent reason to be? Sure, maybe. Maybe not.
Is his work as described and expected? Yes.
Was his pricing way lower than I expected? Heck yes.
Would give 5 because I got exactly what I paid for (which was way lower than I thought would be anyways) and it was ready for pickup when he said it would be; –1 star for grumpiness.
CASH ONLY, will need to pay or at least make deposit when dropping off.

I had my 20 yr old shoes repaired at Odessa shoe repair at the Cambridge side Galleria Mall. He fixed my heals, repaired some of the leather & gave them a good polish all for a great price.

The customer service is inappropriate and the price is high (especially for the quality of the work).
I came in for a boot shine. ‘Salright.
And also to fix a broken strap to my precious leather sandals which are now trashed because he sewed the strap incorrectly by taking too much of it in. I don’t even. I don’t like to give businesses one star reviews, but he shot me in the heart with my own shoes.

It isn’t worth even a 1 star.
the guy is extremely cranky and rude.
don’t go there. he can totally ruin your day.

I went to Odessa after several unsuccessful attempts trying the shoe repair shop in Inman. Maybe Instant isn’t the best name, I would definitely drop my shoes off and run errands in the mall. Luckily I work nearby so it’s fine.
Moving up from New York City, this was standard business conduct for me. I told him what I wanted, he responded that he couldn’t fix one pair of shoes because he didn’t have the elastic. I asked if he could just sew it together and he told me it wouldn’t hold. So that was annoying that not everything was accomplished in one stop and I’ll have to find another shop to repair my shoe.
However, picking up my other pair of boots they were fine and it looks like he shined them as well. One down side, they are a cash-​only place and when I handed him a $ 20, he didn’t have change. But he did walk upstairs to CVS with me to see if they could break my $ 20. Then I was able to give him the $ 5 for fixing my heel and walked away upstairs.
As to the previous comment about speaking english, let’s get real here. Many immigrants come to this country and are able to just learn the basics. Making rash, derogatory statements about how they should learn to speak your language isn’t helpful, respectful and just shows your ignorance. Maybe if you’re rude, they don’t want to speak to you. I know I wouldn’t. And I do not expect the shoe guy to chat me up (although he totally did, btw) and usually don’t want that anyway. If he’s good at his job and gives me a fair price, I just need him to speak the bare minimum and we’ll get along just fine.
Take aways: CASH ONLY! Don’t expect to walk in and out — you may need a little patience, but you’re in the mall so spend a moment there!

I had passed by Odessa Instant Shoe Repair in the Cambridgeside Galleria several times while shopping in the mall, and I thought it would be convenient to bring my shoes there.
I brought 5 pairs of my leather dress shoes that I use for work to get polished. First of all the man there (who is perhaps from Russia?) was extremely rude and brusque in his attitude, as if he didn’t want to be bothered. Second, his English was poor. I know that we are a country of immigrants, but if you want to have a successful small business, please learn and improve your English.
But the worst was yet to come! He said it would take «15 minutes» to polish the shoes, which is supposedly the «Instant» in the shop’s name. Well, I came back 15 minutes later, and he was not even close to getting done. I waited patiently and saw how bad he was at polishing shoes! On top of it, it was ridiculously expensive and he continued to be rude, refusing to put the shoes bag I had brought – instead he just lined up the shoes on the counter – with their dirty soles on a surface that his customers lean on and put their hands on.
I know this may appear to be minor, but the combination of false promises, expensive prices, and rude behavior is a very bad formula for a business. And they really need to learn some customer service. .. and how to speak English.

How can you top $ 15 re-​heeled boots in 20 minutes or less? Love the guy that works there and his dry sense of humor, too! I asked him when my boots could be picked up, and he said, when would you like them? I thought he was just asking if I needed them by a certain date… but he was actually asking, when can I have these ready for you ma’am?! Wow now that is what I call Instant!!! Who knew. Oh, and I asked if he could work on the salt stains… he said he couldn’t make any promises because the damage is bad, but he said he would try, and yes, do it all for $ 15! I left my deposit of whatever I wanted (in this case $ 5) and off I went! Boots ready for pick up tomorrow when I am back in the area. Barring any complete disasters, I will definitely be a repeat customer.