Alden restoration?

[Risu]

Has anybody here had their Aldens restored? The recent rain here has pretty much killed them, it seeped in between the upper and the welt and made all the stitching swell and fray. My heels are also almost completely worn down. I talked briefly to somebody at aldenshop.com and he gave me the number for the factory, but I had to leave a message. What exactly do they do to fix the shoes? Do they replace the whole sole, welt, heel, everything? What about scraped up lace hooks? Can they do anything to fix the scuffing all over the toes and sides of the uppers? The Aldenshop.com employee mentioned that they generally dye them to cover up stains, will they end up darker than they are now? If anybody has had this done, I'd appreciate any info you can give me. Thanks.

[McFly]

I'll be watching this thread! My heels are disappearing too, and it's starting to hurt my shins when I walk with them on now, so they're temporarily retired, until I can get the heels and stuff replaced.

Shane

[Long John Tinfoil]

Wouldn't any competent shoe repair shop be able to do this, or is it a matter of only wanting OEM parts and labour?

LJ

[Bilbe]

Wouldn't any competent shoe repair shop be able to do this, or is it a matter of only wanting OEM parts and labour?

LJ

I agree with Long John.

I would think any good cobbler/shoe repair shop could do the repairs. Certainly replacing heels and/or soles is a standard service. If the damage is severe, I would talk to the Alden folks and describe the damage. They might tell you to send them in. If the damage isn't too bad, I'd take them to the nearest shoe repair. They should be able to give you an estimate on the spot and have them fixed in a day or two.

[Risu]

I went into my local place before looking up the restoration program. To get the Alden heels it's $25, and the guy I talked to from aldenshop said only two soles have been ordered in 5 years, so he had no idea the cost, but it was more than the heel. The local shop would then charge $90 to fix the problems with the welt, sole, and heel, making a total of over $140 spent and the speed hooks and lace grommets still scratched up with the finish chipping off, the moc toe stitching fraying and pulling out, and the leather in all around terrible condition.

At $145 including all shipping, the restoration seems like a great deal to me. The only problem I really see with it is that it takes at least 6 weeks, which means 6 weeks of bloody feet because the only other shoes I have are Solo boots, red Sonic the Hedgehog SOAP shoes I'm trying to keep in pristine condition, broken side zip swat boots (unwearable) and converse, which are the most wearable of the bunch, but are about an inch too narrow for almost any foot to fit comfortably. Hopefully the Alden factory will call me tomorrow and let me know the details. I'll keep you all informed.

[Michaelson]

From the description you've given on the over all condition of your boots, don't be surprised if they tell you they're a lost cause once they see them in person.

More than one pair of members 405's have been turned away by the factory due to being more expensive to try and repair than just purchasing another pair of boots.

Not the answer you want to hear, but be aware it's not uncommon for it to happen.

Regards! Michaelson

[Luke Warmwater]

I've had mine done by Aldens DC store. Call 202-347-2308, talk to Joe or Kathy. They'll send you a prepaid mailer to send your shoes to the factory and you'll have them back in 2-3 weeks.

[Risu]

Yea, same deal I got, although that time estimate sounds more optimistic.

I talked to the rep and she didn't say anythign about the shoes being beyond repair, just that they do their best to make them perfect and that I should send a note with all the things I think need fixing. Right now I'm mainly concerned with the heels and all the stitching. Both are on their last legs. The scuffed up "dark ages of Alden" Chinese leather is still in one piece.

[erk]

The scuffed up "dark ages of Alden" Chinese leather is still in one piece.

Chinese leather?

edit: nevermind

[Risu]

Well, I got my boots back today completely without warning. A very nice surprise. I was really worried that the boots would be black because of what the rep told me on the phone about having to make them darker to cover up the blemishes. Fortunately, they aren't actually much darker than the darkest parts of the splotchy redye job I did on them a few months ago, and all the scuffed up areas are back to being nice and smooth. Needless to say I'm going to baby them for the rest of their lives, which will hopefully be more than another year.

Kind of a cool thing that wasn't mentioned is that they sent me 2 pairs of laces and a pair of shoe trees for free. In addition to refinishing and dying the leather, the soles and heels were replaced, as well as the heel pads and a small part of the liner at the base of the tongue. (Actually, I think that was just added, I don't remember it ever being there before.) The heel pads now say "Alden Restoration" instead of the original Alden logo. They will look a little weird for a while until I've gotten them dirty again because the uppers and the soles are now very contrasting dark and light.

Overall I'm very happy with the service, and I'm going to be a bit more careful with the boots from now on. Very little rock climbing this time around. I'm just glad that my "2 months of Chuck Taylors" nightmare is finally over.

[nicktheguy]

Sprandy - I would love to see pics of them in the state they are in now and also after you wear them a bit....

[Risu]

I'll be sure to update with more pictures once they're a bit worn in.

[Zach R.]

Man those are nice and dark...I've had mine for going on three years now, but I've been babying them for much of it until late last year.

Were they the "usual" reddish color when you got them?

[Risu]

Yep, they were BAD. That's why I redyed them.

[binkmeisterRick]

Sprandy, er, Risu, what did the restoration cost you? I've been needing to do that with mine for a while yet, but I think the cost may have gone up 20 bucks since I first asked a couple years ago. Is the above mentioned $145 still on the mark?

[Risu]

Yea, that's what they charged me.

[IndianaSean]

I wish I could say that I had the same experience. I sent mine back due to the soles splitting. Well they made the repair (which seems to be that all they did was spread more glue around the soles) and I got them back. Well no more than a day of having them the splits returned. This experience has left me pretty jaded with Aldens. And It's not like I beat the snot out them either. They are my everyday work boot. However they did not charge me for the repair. Once the heels go I will think about sending them back via their repair kit next time.


Sean

[Risu]

The one thing that really bugs me is that they had the boots and had them taken apart completely to resole them and could definitely see plain as day that the liner was torn to pieces in the toes and they didn't replace it. I would have been fine with paying a little extra to have them do that. Because of the state of the liner, I think my boots probably only have a couple months life left in them.