R Herrera Boot Maker

While I didnt get my tap shoes fixed by Mr. Herrera, he offered excellent service. He explained, to a good extent, my options, and was pleasant and knowledgeable. I chose not to have my shoes fixed because his plan was extensive and costly-​but for a good reason! He offered a good amount of work and in that sense was reasonably priced. I ended up buying a special glue because it was what worked best for my situation. In all, I would go back again, were I to need another repair in the future.

I have been going to Robert Herrera since he was at the old Pruneyard over 20 years ago. He is THE best shoe guy around. He fixes anything leather and is very polite, professional and talented. I just went there to resole a pair of shoes, punch a couple belt loop holes in a new leather jacket and add a strap to an iPhone case. and he moved! I need to find him! I came to the internet to look up his new location and was surprised to see the bad reviews, so I had to write a good one. I can’t believe people said he was rude. I suppose they might have been snippy with him and got back what they put out. I highly recommend him.

I typically don’t write bad reviews but this place deserves it.
Please BEWARE as the owner of this place is not an honest person. I brought my two Christian Louboutin boots and asked how much to coat the bottom-​soul to preserve the red soul. He was charging me $ 100 per shoe and I have to pay in cash. I challenged that his price is too expensive and why he would not take credit cards if it’s posted outside the door that credit card is accepted. He told me that he’s the best boot maker in town and very meticulous on everything he does. After listening to his bragging he told me that he will give me a discount and just pay $ 50 per shoe but it has to be in cash. I told him that I don’t carry cash so I’ll have to go elsewhere. He warned me to be careful as others might ruin my shoes with my dismayed I just walked out.
After reading reviews about this place, I’m not the only one who felt the same way.

Do NOT go here! Unprofessional, shoddy workmanship and just rude.
Started using these guys for their $ 6.95 special to replace the tap on my high heels. Then I tried to get them to stretch a pair of boots for me and the owner’s son told me I needed to talk to his dad. I left my boots there with a message, never heard from them, so I called again and his father was in Mexico for 2 months. Went back in and the son said I needed to talk to his dad. Still nothing. In the interim I left a Coach bag there to be cleaned and again I needed to talk to his dad because he didn’t know if it could be cleaned. Went in again and inquired about my boots it was going to be $ 25 to get them out of their storage now. When his father finally came back we traded a few voicemails and it was the holidays and we never connected. Then they were closed for awhile on vacation again. No word from them, nothing. So I call them again now just wanting to get my boots and Coach bag back to go somewhere else and another $ 25. I go down there and they are closed despite the hours on the door indicating they were supposed to be open. I get him on the phone and he said they needed a day off and I needed to come in and pay $ 25 storage fee, then come in another time to pick up my stuff. I asked if I could put a check through the mail slot to prevent driving down there three times and he said they only take cash. This guy is ridiculous and has no clue what customer service is all about.
I finally get there to pick up my boots, purse and some other heels that were fixed and they no longer take debit or credit cards despite the stickers on the window. They are now an ALL CASH business. Something is amiss here. They treat customers poorly despite spending hundreds of dollars there in shoe repair. They really need to go out of business because by the sound of other reviews they are ripping everyone off.
He was so insulting and smug as well.

Bait and switch!
The guy who claimed to be the boot maker (Mr. R. Herrera) is SHADY and tried to bait and switch.
I put a $ 20-​deposit and requested to get refund but he refused and only agreed to give store credit. There is no fine print on the slip indicating no refund.
Avoid patronizing this store at all cost.

rude dude

DO NOT TAKE YOUR SHOES TO THESE GUYS!!!
After 3 trips they weren’t able to repair my shoes and I still ended up paying them $ 23 for putting new heels on my shoes when what i wanted was to repair a rip on the front. Here is what happened:
The 1^st time I went in a Lady took my shoes to be repaired after I carefully explained that these are my favorite shoes and I wanted the rip in the front to be repaired. She quoted me $ 46, gave me a ticket and assured me that THE MAN would take care of it. I called many times with no response so finally I just showed up with my ticket and Low and Behold, they put on new heels, but, did not repair the rip. No problem I was told, come back next week and it will be taken care of. Another week went by, so, I went agian only to be told that the shoes could not be fixed, just Polished! For $ 46. I said «charge me for what you did». I was charged $ 23 for new heels on a pair of unwearable shoes and left I left after telling the owner that I felt ripped off.

I first came here to have a protectant/​sealant put on my brand new Charles David boots. Simple enough job. Mr. Herrera told me himself. When I came to pick my NEW boots, the sealant had clearly been put on incorrectly and was splotchy and incomplete. New boots ruined. Not only was Mr. Herrera unrepentant, he didn’t see any need to reimburse me. It’s a family run business though, so my mother still wanted to take her new leather purse in to be cleaned and have the protectant put on as well. COMPLETELY RUINED. Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me. Needless to say, we learned our lesson. Never going back again. The unprofessional demeanor and lack of craftsmanship was just disappointing. Save your money, your time, and your precious items go elsewhere.

Very nice guy. Talked to me and my wife for a long time and explained the shoe making process. Did some great work too and at a great price. Highly recommended :-)

DO NOT GO HERE!!! HAD TO GET THE COPS INVOLVED!!!
The owner refused to clean my shoes again after water spots were found. Then demanded that I pay and never come back to the store again. After I said I would not pay, he then took my shoes and threw them on the floor! –Had to call the cops to get the situation resolved. I work for the city and get my shoes cleaned all the time, the owner is nuts. The employees at the café next door came outside to support me! They said we don’t talk to the owners anymore because he is nuts!!! STAY AWAY
FOR YOU OWN SAFETY.
I EVEN RECEIVED A CASE NUMBER

Have had a few heals replaced here for $ 6.95– all done well.
Took in a few leather items that I needed new holes punched in– again, all done well.
Had another pair of leather shoes stretch. Hard to tell if it had much effect yet, but they said they’d do what they could to loosen them up.
I’ve always paid very reasonable prices here and will continue to bring my shoes and leather here.

SHADY, DISHONEST, RIP OFF, FALSE ADVERTISING
RUDE, VERBALLY ABUSIVE
TEMPERMENTAL, SEVERE ANGER MANAGEMENT ISSUES
DEFENSIVE, DISGUSTING ‘CUSTOMER SERVICE“
NO QUALITY REPAIR
Description above is how this store operates.
Had the most horrible experience at this shoe «repair» shop. Brought in a pair of boots to have a protective sole replaced. I brought in the other boot to show the style of how the soles should look.
The owner took the good boot, grabbed a shoe pick and before I knew it –ripped off a perfectly good sole requiring NO repair! I had already told him this boot was fine – that I just wanted to show him what I wanted it to look like. He wasn’t listening – too focused on grabbing a shoe pick, I guess. His response, «it was ready to come off anyway». I said, «You tore it off and now both boots need to be resoled». He lied and said it was already falling off, tried to charge me $ 65.00 each to have BOTH boots resoled but he knew he had no business ripping the second sole off without my permission.
A few days later I gave him my claim ticket indicating the date for pick up. .He couldn’t find my «repaired» boots, and insisted I already picked them up. After another 30 minutes he found them and they honestly looked better before I brought them in.
Glue was oozing out of the shoe, cheap stick on (I could have done a better job using crazy glue) and both soles were crooked, uneven, and lopsided. Whatever product he used was as cheap as they come and the «repair» was an amateur job at best– (that’s a compliment). Previously he told me he would clean the boots as part of their «service», but the boots were covered in dust when he handed them over to me. Honestly, the boots looked like they’ve been through hell.
It gets worse… the second time I wore the «repaired» boots within a week, one of the soles just flopped right off in the middle of the street. An hour later, the second sole just fell right off in the middle of the street! I returned them to the store and politely told him that I’ve only wore these boots twice and the soles already came off.
Before I could even finish my sentence, he immediately got defensive and said it was the way I walked – it had nothing to do with his work. I was trying to tell him that these things happen and if he could… couldn’t finish what I wanted to say… then he yelled, «what do you want from me? I told him I’d like him to replace the soles at no charge since I’ve only worn the boots twice… and one boot was perfectly fine until he tore off the sole WITHOUT my permission. He threw the boots on the table, pushed them way from him, palms pushed toward my face and yelled, „NO“, shaking his head over and over.
I tried to explain that this was not what I paid for, he started SCREAMING while walking away toward the back of the store repeatedly telling me to GET OUT with his fist clenched toward me. People outside the store could hear him. He didn’t have any other customers in the store… wonder why… but even if he did it wouldn’t have matter because he lost complete control of his temper and it was pretty scary. Continuing his verbal abuse, I told him I was going to write him up on Unilocal and he screamed from the back of his store as I walked out, „Go ahead – I dare you, &^%()**!!, The Unilocal are a bunch of *^#@! idiots anyway… and no one will believe you.“ He knows I work at a successful high tech company a couple blocks away and he said, „I don’t need their business either-​I don’t care… they’re a bunch of idiots. No one will believe you…“. IMO, they’re only idiots if they still go to this establishment AFTER reading his reviews.
Also saw him try to rip off an elderly gentlement who brought in twelve pairs of shoes to shine. I believe Herrera advertises $ 1.50 per shoe shine when I was there, but his neighbors said it fluctates between .99 to $ 3.50. Today it’s $ 2.50. That price is just to gently wipe the shoes with a cheap cloth. If you want them polished, blackened, shined, and include all the „repairs“ he claims the shoes need, all those „extras“ are an additional fee. Bottom line… a generic shoe shine is about $ 30.00 depending on the type of shoes… it goes up for shoes with accessories, zippers, stripes, heels, etc.. The poor fella walked away so disappointed and Herrera told him to leave if he didn’t want his shoes shined at his price…“go somewhere else, I don’t care», he replied.
I can’t believe this person (if he is even considered human) is let out loose w/​out someone slapping a muzzle on him. He definiltey has a few screws missing-​owner should stop spending time ripping off innocent customers in a shoe «repair» store and get checked into anger mgmt. therapy ASAP.
Go across the street for excellent shoe repair and REAL quality service at ¹⁄₈^th of Herrera’s prices.
CHECK OUT FILTERED REVIEWS. All are ONE STAR. for a reason!
This crooked place is a House of Horrors!

–quoted $ 85 for FULL Sole and heel repair by younger man
–upon pick up was told by older man — Roberto that «he did what he wanted» HALF sole and heel repair for same price
–when questioned Roberto became rude and arrogant, stating it was «just money»
–NEVER AGAIN!

Brougt in a leather belt to have extra holes punched, owner suggested he cut it shorter instead for a cleaner look, it sounded good so i went with the cutting. Big mistake.
I came back to find very sloppy work, crooked cutting, glue residue all over backside, sloppy crooked stitching. Ok well no one will see that anyway so i tried it on, cant even get into the first hole, he cut it two holes short. Unbelievable.
Next he tried to tell me how it was my fault and i gave the wrong instructions, he even had the nerve to tell me i dont know how to wear a belt, seriously not joking.
Anyway, he ended up adding a piece of leather back and the final work actually looked half decent (compared to first try) but if i could have my original belt back and never have met this guy i would take it.
If he cant even cut a belt i wouldnt trust him with anything leather.

A full-​time working single Mom … I used their repair service for a handbag verses having to go out of my way to find a store with special thread and the down time to do it myself.
It literally needed 3 extremely small areas to be restitched where the thread had come loose. Not a huge job by any means.
I turn up to pick up the handbag. Not only did I get some lame excuse about «hand stitching being a minimum of $ 80 per hour» but, the bag wasn’t even stitched back up correctly. Infuriated at the outrageous price they were charging, insisting that it would have taken no more than 10 minutes to do, the guy first tells me it took about an hour to do. When I discover the handle has been stitched up backwards, he tells me to leave it here and he’ll have the guy redo it and it’ll be ready in 2 more days.
I demanded new thread be given to me, which reluctantly he did… left the store having to pay $ 80 absolutely furious … went home, undid the shoddy job they’d done and had it redone in 10 minutes!
I would never, ever take anything to this store again! You’ve lost a customer for life!

I stopped here upon the recommendation of a friend. I was in need of supplies for boot blacking. I came in armed with a list and the gentleman working behind the customer was very polite, very knowledgeable and provided all around exceptional customer service. I am stoked to have found such an awesome supply store for boot blacking!

Went to take my shoes to get the heels replaced and as advertises in the window price is $ 6.95 he wants to charge me $ 10.95 and to add a new protective non slip piece to the bottom of the shoes is $ 22.95.
WOW! I guess they feel if you want something to be repaired you need to pay out the A##!!!
I also needed a pair of new sandals to be taken in on the strap around my ankle he said it would be 2 prices for me. One was to go home and measure the inches of what I needed taken in or if he is to measure them then I would need to pay $ 60.00 to take them in an inch!
He calls that custom work to measure them in less than 5 minutes and he would charge me a fee of $ 60.00 bucks just to take down the measurements.
I took all my shoes back home and will find another shoe repair person.
IF I could give him a negative star I would… He needs to retire and let his kids take over the business and maybe try to learn to be more customer service oriented.

Don’t waste your time with this place. Brought my zippered leather wallet in to be repaired and was given 2 choices — the $ 14 repair or $ 120 repair. Being the wallet isnt quite worth $ 120, opted for the lesser repair. Herrera said it would be ready in a week as he ‘probably’ had to order a zipper.
Week goes by — not repaired, still doesn’t have a zipper. Hard to find the zipper, he says, and can order it. (??) says it’ll be another week. So I did not have the repair done.
Mr Herrera needs to get his business straight. He shouldn’t offer a low end repair if he won’t follow through. Oh, and he took payment for the repair before even doing it. Unprofessional and a waste of time.

Found here randomly. Really professional service. I was told to come back in one hour, in which time my boots were reborn again :-)

Mr. Herrera may make good boots, but his skills as a shoe repair man are sadly lackly.
I brought in a pair of lovely Italian sandals that I had twisted my ankle in and torn. The gentleman at the counter quoted me a price of $ 10 to glue the tear back in place.
Mr. Herrara called me a couple of days later and tried to get me to pay over $ 120 to replace the inside sole of the shoe. I told him that I didn’t have that kind of money and would he please just repair the shoe.
Well, I picked up my shoes today and I was amazed at the shoddy workmanship. The repaired area was raised much higher than the surrounding area and no care had been made to glue the pieces together in any kind of skilled fashion.
Save your money. Save your shoes. Find another shoe repair person.