Shoe Crafters

I wish I would have done more homework and found a more respectable shoe repair shop before dropping off my shoes here. I chose this shop because I literally live a few blocks away and figured it to be convenient… so when I decided to get my favorite heels repaired, I was assured by the gentleman working here that they could fix my heels via two different options of my choice. First choice, «sand down the torn leather spots and wax over then recolor» OR pay a little extra to have them replace the entire leather piece on the front of my heels. Hesitant to go the more expensive route first, I chose the cheaper, faster option at $ 15. I was promised a finish date of a week.
Stop by the date my heels are to be done and he brings me my loved possession. My eyes almost popped out of my head… a hideous cover up paint job that looked like my 5 year old nephew handled was what I was looking at. The holes of leather that were ripped off my shoes were literally colored over with look alike paint to match the existing. I was pissed. Immediately telling the shop owner I was displeased and wanted to pay the extra for the leather replacement to make it look better than what I was seeing, He promised me the newly paid upgrade will surely suffice me once completed. I left with a promise of another week for a pick up date.
Come back again exactly a week later and the owner could not find my ticket for my shoes, nor did he have them ready. He gave me another 3 days as promise to be done.
Come back, you guessed it, 3 days later and the owner could not find my shoes in shop and had to make a phone call to his «cobbler» and gave me crap about how they had to special order the leather for my replacement. Stated another 2 days for pick up. Ugh!!! Seriously!!!
Finally, I have come to gather my anticipated repaired heels and I was anxious to see what might unfold in all this time I was experiencing less than exceptional service. I feared I would not like the outcome. These are $ 100 shoes that I had had for years and didn’t want to give up just yet.
As soon as the owner brought me my heels I was in shock. First glance they looked «better» than the previous repair he did BUT they were far from a proper repair of other shoe shops I’ve been to before.
The front part of my heels WERE replaced with new leather, however, both heels had been repainted (which looked and felt like spray paint) when I was assured the only part of the heel that would be repainted was the portion which needed repaired. My heels were now a different color than manufactured. I asked him right there in person if the heels had been repainted and he looked at me and said NO. Liar!!!
I wish j would have done more homework on a better repair shop because I wouldn’t have wasted $ 45 on this shitty place!!! Can’t believe they are still in business. RUN away from here and do not let them touch your shoes (at least if you care about them).
Update: Mario has since messaged me via Unilocal after seeing my displeased review and he basically called my shoes «fake leather» and states he had not lied to me. Just do yourself a favor and drive to the next nearest better reviewed shoe repair shop.

Took in 3 pair of shoes to get half soles and heels. They did a great job on them, received a free polish. I don’t understand all the negative reviews. People need to go in and find out for themselves what good deals and quality service they have there. Will definitely go back.

Run away!
Under new ownership and honestly it isn’t a good change. I just finished the worst shoe repair experience ever! I’ve had many boots repaired over the years, in cheap places by military bases and expensive places for my wife’s shoes. Most cobblers are very hard working and passionate about shoes. Unfortunately this isn’t the case here. It was both expensive, bad quality and not repaired the way I wanted. Then he offered to fix the $ 80 repair, after I explained, again, how the boots needed to be fixed, for another $ 60. WTH?
So, if you want your boots fixed wrong, charged double, then leave unhappy and ripped off, then this is the place for you. Ungh…

Horrible place, had a handbag sent to change the handle, went back to pick it up and I can see that they did not change the handle, they used hot wax and black due to mask the scuffs instead of changing the handle
Mario the shop owner insisted that they did change the handle, when I asked him show is the old handle he said I did not do it my worker dos it but we don’t have it
When I showed him why there is no way they could have changed the handle he said well the cobbler said he changed the handle but may be he did not
At any rate I roll the purse to south coast plaza where we bought the purse and showed them the purse and sure enough they said that the handle was never changed
At any rate Mario the shop owner was not truthful with us
This is not a place I would ever go back to

if you think you can get your fave shoes new insoles at shoe crafters in tustin, ca… think again! i was excited that i found a shoe repair close to home and brought in my very favorite pair of shoes just to replace the worn insoles (the rest of the shoe still looked pretty good!)…one week after (just to replace insoles), i looked with dismay at my shoes… the insole looked like it was hurriedly done (after a week, mind you) flapping out in different places and the glue showing all around the rim!!! i pointed this out to the old lady who sits behind the counter and she kept saying «no, it’s fine» at the same time pressing on the the flapping areas hoping they would stick. i insisted they fix the problem and she said she would run it through th compressor again. three days after, my fave shoes still looked ghastly ugly with a wrinkled insole and dried glue still peeping throught the flappy rim. i said this was unacceptable and she simply shrugged her shoulder and said «we have never gotten any complaints for the past 25 years.» that’s her explanation? i paid over $ 17 for this crap job and now have to have them repaired by another shoe repair shop!!! …so be warned! if you value your fave shoes, do not go near this place!

I dropped off my heels to get the little rubber on the heel replaced. Picked my shoes up a week later looking much nicer and newer than when I dropped them off at a VERY reasonable cost. I will be taking all of my shoes here for work/​repair!!!

I’m not sure what’s happened in the last year, but I didn’t receive anything like the service the three reviewers mention. The woman at the desk was personable enough (she did put down her paperback to help me). I was surprised when I was told that replacing the zipper on my wife’s boot would take an entire week, but I know nothing about shoe repair so I went with it. Before leaving, I explicitly asked that the leather pull that was attached to the old zipper be placed on the new one so it would match the other boot. I was assured this could be done, even if the old zipper couldn’t be fixed.
When I picked up the boot today, a week later, not only was the leather pull not on the new zipper, the new zipper didn’t remotely match the old one. I am now $ 20 lighter and have to find another place that can make the repair correctly. I have a feeling I could have done the same job for less than a dollar and a trip to Joanne Fabrics.

Super nice lady that runs this shop. Has saved me tons of money by allowing me to repair my shoes instead of replacing them. I’ve mostly had heels and toe tips done plus a little but of touch up color. Prices are affordable; service is excellent.

Tuna, I think is her name… so nice. I think she runs the shop with her husband. She is very nice and personable and they flat out do a great job. It’s a small shop, but they get the job done when they say they will. I’ve taken many pairs of shoes there over the past 4 years and and they’ve always done a great job and been very warm and friendly.

i love shoes. i really do. i am saddened, however, when my shoes no longer function.
i’ve got a pair of uggs that zip up on the sides and i swear the zipper was always an issue. one day while i was in a rush to get ready, i ripped off my zipper. so the uggs company doesn’t really care if something breaks if you’ve already had it for a while. plus… your shoes can’t show any wear, or tear and mine definitely do.
so i resorted to getting a new zipper. grant it, nobody makes the zipper to fit my uggs, shoe crafters was able to get a similar colored zipper. it doesn’t match perfectly, but it does its job. i did have to pay 20 bucks for the new zipper and for it get on my boot, which is a bit pricey, but i think it was worth it. minus one star though because it took almost three weeks to get it done.
they only charge $ 9.99 to get new heels, which i think is pretty darn good. it’s about a week turnaround to get these «normal» fixes back. not too shabby.