Sam’s Shoe Repair

I don’t really understand why this place is even open. I’ve only been in the place once and can only guess that maybe the guy who owns this place just wants to keep himself busy. Nothing wrong with that I suppose. We tried to give him our business, but it was not to be. My wife has a pair of leather boots that needed a little sewing where two pieces of leather along a seam were separating. Pretty basic job. We stopped by a couple times during their posted open hours and the place was closed. Then, when we went in on the third time, he told us he couldn’t do it. He said his sewing machine was broken and it would take too long and cost too much to do. Um, okay. In our current throw-​away age, you’d think shoe cobblers would welcome any business they can get. But again, he’s an old fella and maybe he just doesn’t really care. I had a barber like that named Tony, who used to be by the Paulina el. He was in his 80s and he told me, «I do this to give my wife some peace.» I think he also did it to have his own little hangout. The downside to this was that after I moved out of west Lakeview, I still went to him. Sometimes I’d make the trek down to Lincoln and Paulina on a Saturday and there would be a handwritten sign on the barber shop door: «Gone fishing.» No kidding.

Shoe shine? More like shoe polish applied w/​o regard to ooerative term: SHINE. $ 10.00 for a ‘shoe polish’? Fuggedaboutit. Should have read the other reviews first. I will NOT be back.

Dropped my 2k Gucci loafers off … I’m a Loyola student and he claimed there were gone. Had to call the cops, once the cops came he all the sudden «found» them. Trust me this Asian guy is a scam artist. The receipts are not even real and if you lose your valuables there’s no civil case to be made. Spend the extra bucks and go somewhere nice downtown. Horrible experience and a true waste of my time. Every person walking by the area basically said this guys gets the shoes and just flips them elsewhere. Currently have a lawsuit filed against him. Trust me avoid at all cost.

We had a bad experience here. Should have listened to some of the other Unilocalers. I repeat what Olivia R. said. DO NOT GO HERE.
We brought two pair of my wife’s shoes to Sam’s Shoe Clinic to be shined. I paid in advance ($ 30!) At the time I thought it was expensive, but I’m new to the neighborhood, he’s a small shop, whatever. When I came back to pick them up, he can’t find them. I looked at nearly every shoe in the place. I don’t see them, but I don’t quite remember what these shoes look like. Certainly our number is on no pair of shoes in the place. He told me to come back tomorrow, that he had them at another location.
I come back, and he starts yelling at me «Your wife come in.» His English is bad, and I can’t tell if he gave my shoes to someone else’s wife, he wants my wife to pick out her shoes, or what. He’s only open 10 – 4 and my wife works in the Loop. We argue for a while, but he shows me the door. Impasse.
I pick my wife up at the train, and amazingly, he’s open. We go in. He starts telling my wife she came in and picked up the shoes. She’s never been there before. But amazingly she spots the shoes! We pick them up. They are not well-​shined. My wife points that out to him. He insists they are. We say whatever and leave.
That was a $ 30 life lesson. Listen to Unilocal, and avoid Sam’s Shoe Clinic.

DO NOT GO HERE. Dropped off my leather purse because the strap broke and he told me to come back Friday. I came in the morning and afternoon on Friday and he was closed. Forewarning– he doesn’t speak English either. He charged me $ 20 to sew a strap on the bag, which sounded pricey but whatever. I went to pick it up on Monday to find out he just super glued the strap! Not to mention the strap was completely twisted and he didn’t bother to straighten it before glueing. So disappointed. I will NEVER be going back here.

A terrible terrible place. I cannot give Sam’s Shoe Repair a low enough rating. I brought an almost new pair of Frye boots in – they had been worn less than ten times – to have taps put on them to protect the heels and soles. Instead Sam replaced the heels, did not put taps on, charged me $ 25, argued with me that he did the work I requested, and refused to put the taps on at no additional cost to me. These were Frye boots so I can only believe that the replacement heels are not as good as the originals which were not worn down and did not need to be replaced. Stay away from Sam’s Shoe Repair.

I took a hiking boot whose sole was coming off here. I paid a $ 5 deposit and was told I could pick it up on Saturday. When I came back to pick it up, I was told he could not fix it. He did refund my deposit fortunately. Still, I wish he had not kept the shoe for a week and told me when I dropped it off. When I first tried to drop it off, his door was locked, even though the sign listed the time as open. It was also difficult to communicate with him over the phone.

4 words: sucky, rude, expensive, and sucky.
Seriously never going back.

Fairly awful service. I took in a pair of black boots to get the bottoms of the heels replaced– pretty much as basic as it gets, nothing fancy– and wore them for all of half an hour before the replacement bit fell off completely.
$ 15 down the drain.

$ 12 to fix the broken heel on my favorite pair of black boots. No fuss, same day service.

So so so frustrated and disappointed. Last week I brought in a pair of beautiful gold sandals, hand-​crafted in Greece and bought for me by my parents. Due to the nature of hand-​crafted work, the straps on one of the sandals was slightly wider set than on the other. I showed (Sam?) and he indicated he saw what I meant. I asked him to make them the same. I came back two days later and he’d mostly fixed the one, but had also tightened the «good» one such that it was now too tint. I showed him and he said he’d fix it for me. I came back today and both were too tight. I tried to explain what the problem was, but he did not seem to understand at all, much less that I was frustrated at his having messed at all with the side that was fine to begin with. He barely speaks English, so this should have been a bigger red flag… My mistake, noted. But I’m just so upset. AND he still wanted full payment. Fortunately I’d convinced him that I should only pay a deposit when I dropped them off and I refused to pay any more than half on the remainder. I’m guessing if you have a straight-​forward resole or heel repair, you’ll be okay… But anything more complicated requiring explanation and I say hold your valuables close and don’t let (Sam?) near them!

I tried Master Shoe Repair first — who told me that my Via Spiga 100% Italian leather shoes were plastic. I went straight to Sam’s who charged me $ 10 to stretch my shoes. Five stars.

Anyone that can repair my favorite pair of Gucci loafers almost to their original state has won my heart forever… well, maybe not my heart but I will be a loyal customer.
I was a little nervous when I went during business hours and the doors were locked. There was substantial evidence that he was open… lights on, tv on… but no sign of anyone inside. While waiting, I talked with a fellow Unilocaler about the man on Balmoral who we both admitted to being too scared to visit. After a couple of minutes, he was rounding the corner, ready to open back up. Apparently, he decided to step out and get a bite to eat… the nerve! :-) It doesn’t seem like there is a pricelist. It appeared as though he just made it up and looked at my facial expression for a sign of approval. I’ll have to make a mental note to remain stoic next time. Anyway, I didn’t have to pay the full price up front… just half. A few days later, as promised, my shoes were ready. Nice job, thanks!

My beloved pair of 3-​year-​old Keens needed stitching redone. With both shoes combined, it’s about 5 inches worth of stitching. Based on the other two good reviews, I decided to go to Sam’s.
I went on Saturday, mid-​afternoon. I was quoted $ 20 for the repairs, asked to pay upfront and told they’d be ready by Wednesday.
Today, Wednesday, I went by the shop at 5:30 pm to pick up my shoes. For a few minutes, the owner hunted around, and kept picking up pairs of black boots to show me. «No, red sneaker-​type shoes. Like gym shoes,» I kept saying. Finally I spotted them in a corner on the ground behind the desk.
They were not finished. He’d started stitching one shoe, in yellow thread. He said to come back tomorrow in the afternoon and they would be ready. I’ll see tomorrow if maybe he is going to dye the thread to match the shoes.
I will not be bringing back any shoes here. Although if what you need is the heel on your black boots fixed, you might do alright, since that seemed to be the bulk of his business.

I have this pair of black boots that I just love. They’re reliable, comfortable, and make me 3 inches taller than I am naturally. I wore them down to the steel and so when I looked for a place to get them repaired, I first logged on to lovely Unilocal.The closest shoe repair was Master’s on Balmoral, but after reading the reviews was a little hesitant. Nevertheless I went, was turned down rudely, and sulked away.
Being the smart googler I am, I had a backup in Sam’s Shoe Repair. I took a quick ride down to Thorndale and low and behold– the cutest older Asian gentleman helped me out right away. Of course he would fix them, and for only $ 10! A steal! They’d be ready the next day and even though payment was due at that time, he told me I could bring cash the next day instead of having to hunt down an ATM.
The next day I picked up my shoes looking (almost) good as new.
Bottom line: skip the prickly disposition of the gentleman at Masters and head right on over to Sams. On second thought, go see the Shoe Nazi first, but only for a really funny story to recount later.