Onion River Cobbler

I ran in at 5:01; closing time, looking for a quick fix in my leather strap sandals. The owner was very generous to create some new holes in my shoes, free of charge!

I have been bringing my shoes, boots and sandals to them for over 8 years.
Excellent workmanship every time!

Do not go there. The owner is extremely mean to customer. I waited a month and half for one boot, then I decided to come in to the store. The owner said I was wasting his time search the boot for me, also he said do not call or come until they contact me. So the result is I have to wait at least another two weeks to get my boot.
Please stay away from that place, if I saw the reviews I wouldn’t give them this chance to earn my money.

I’ve brought my shoes to be repaired here for 20 years. Yes, the shop is messy and curmudgeony, but they do good work and are fairly priced. The other shoe place in Williston is much more expensive for the same work. These are old school cobblers, but the reviews below do not paint an accurate picture of their work.

Run, run and run away from this place! I brought in two pair of boots, and a pair of shoes into this place, two months ago. As of two weeks ago they lost a pair of boots and my shoes. Value in excess of $ 500.00! I have phoned them three times and they keep telling me they had a problem with a former employer and I am not the only one with «lost» items. This is not my problem. All I want is for them to find my shoes and boots or compensate me. Now I have to take them to small claims and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. The place is a disaster, and I have no idea how they still are in business! Warren, Vt.

Really wanted to like them… really did. Unfortunately they take over a month for REALLY simple fixes and are incredibly disorganized. They couldn’t find my shoes even with the ticket number. The shoes were eh… I felt like I paid double what other cobblers charge for half the quality. I am glad I tested these guys out for cheaper shoes. I would NEVER trust them with expensive boots. You will deeply regret it. I would give them 2 stars except a friend also dropped her shoes and boots off and they destroyed the buckle of her sandals and painted the heel of her expensive Frye boots –without asking and for NO reason. They also called her names when she insisted that they not charge her for ruining the sandals. Her horror story is so unacceptable to me that I can only give them one star. BEWARE. Trust me– do what other reviewers recommend and go to Williston or Barre or mail your shoes out-​of-​state.

These guys are scary. BE WARNED. Do not bring your business here. They are incredibly rude and will not finish your repair even close to on time, if at all. Yes, I know they are the only place in the area, but after leaving boots with them for at least a month over the promised completion date, we picked them up and took them to an amazing place in Madison, WI (Janssen Shoe and Leather) while on vacation. Let me back track and say that we had the same pair of boots repaired at Onion RIver Cobbler the previous season. Yes, the repair lasted less than one year. These Madison repair folks were appalled by the previous repair job (in their nice Midwestern ways), and brought the boots back to life for an incredibly reasonable price ($ 30 less than Onion River). They then mailed them back to us in Burlington. You don’t have to send your shoes there, but I would recommend mailing them out rather than trying to deal with Onion River. It will be cheaper in the long run.
I would also advise, if you have to use this place and are a woman, send a man to drop off and pick up the shoes. These guys feed off of bullying women. They did not treat my dad and husband quite as bad.

You can give away your shoes to charity, or you can bring them in to Onion River Cobbler. Either way, you’re not going to see your shoes for a while.
We brought in one pair of boots that needed some simple heel fixes. We were told it would take a week. After 3 weeks we called and they wondered why we were calling. After 4 weeks they told us to stop bothering them. When we brought in the shoes the first time, the two guys were unsuccessfully trying to find the shoes of the lady in front of us. She left shoeless.
What a mess this place is. There’s a better place in Williston, it’s a little further away but this place is a joke. It almost feels like there’s a hidden camera somewhere for a Candid Camera episode.

Bold new fail: dropped off a shoe in May to get the elastic fixed on the strap. No problem, the guy tells me, in between bending my ear about his medical problems. Okay, I think, Vermont character, no problem. Tells me it’ll be done in June, no problem. Calls to let me know it’s done, great.
When I went to pick up the shoe? HE COULDN’T FIND IT.
Seriously. Spent twenty minutes with him going «I got no idea, lady» and wandering around his store. Went back to my car, brought the other shoe so he had a better idea what to look for, still no dice. Eventually he shrugs and says he’ll call me when he finds it.
So now it’s September, and I sent my partner in to see if he could secure release of my shoe. Oh hey, the guy says, yeah it’s right here. «She must not have had her claim ticket.»
O.O
Never. Again. How is this guy still in business?

WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY. I brought my favorite boots in in late February, and after examining them, they said no problem but wouldn’t be done until early April. I assumed it was a mom and pop high quality business so I waited — boy was I wrong. They called in mid-​April saying they now thought that the boots weren’t worth saving. I had waited all this time so I asked them to do what they could, and they estimated another week. Two weeks later I called, they still weren’t ready. Finally, in mid-​May, the boots were done. The inner sole was not even attached to the bottom of the shoe, the heels were not the same size and the shoes are so uncomfortable I can’t even wear them. The price was also higher than the original estimate. Icing on the cake — the store isn’t open on weekends, Wednesdays, and the hours are generally 10:30 to 4. HORRIBLE SERVICE, POOR QUALITY WORK.

Absolutely horrible customer service, and poor quality work. I went in to get boots reconditioned and brought an old leather camera case to see if they would be able to get the mold off of the inside. I spent a long time in the shop talking to one of the brothers, who said that he could do it — I never said anything about the outside of the case. I came back a few months later (they are so slow and busy that it takes them months for any order), and the boots looked very quickly done (no attention to detail), and cost me $ 34. Then they found the camera case and had done nothing to the inside (all the mold was still there) and had reconditioned the outside — which I had NOT asked for. The other brother was there and when I said I did not ask for that to be done, he was extremely rude, saying «we’re not dry cleaners here», literally yelling at me and to the person who was working his register about me that I was lying, and that I have to pay for the $ 12 anyway or they will keep the case. Never stepping foot there again.

The best (and only) cobbler I have ever used. Great curmudgeons who run their business old school.

Went in to have a pair of heels replaced. Was told it would take FOUR WEEKS for this 15 minute job. Does he send them to China? He seemed uninterested in doing the work anyway, Prices are high and I went elsewhere. I understand that he does this more as a hobby than a vocation and I don’t want to pay professional prices for amateur work.