Church's Shoes
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Just expensive, not luxury
The difference between a luxury item and an expensive item is not the price, which is expensive in any case, but the quality of the good and the overall experience that you have dealing with the brand. Being a luxury brand requires high-standards (of manufacturing, customer service, locations, etc.) and a maniacal attention to details. My experience with Chrurch’s is of “just another expensive high-street dealer”, definitely not a luxury one: quality is not up to their name and attention to details and to customer needs is lacking very much behind most of the luxury competitors (including Prada which is part of the same group. During the years, I bought 3 pairs of Church shoes: - [ ] Desert boots- I used them on a very rainy day and the sole cracked and I had to replace it - [ ] Black leather oxford brogue- I immediately put a rubber layer on the sole as soon as I bought them (and they are still ok) but it is simply the most uncomfortable pair of formal shoes I ever had in 20 years - [ ] Lace-up boots brogue- both rubber soles detached from the shoes while walking Hence quality is definitely an issue. The last one (pictures attached) is the most interesting one as they are on display at £1100 in the shop: - bought them some years ago and just after 2 months the sole detached on the back, and started clapping at any step forward up to the point that I had to find a shoe-repair on the way to fix it immediately - After other 2 months the same happened with the other side - Afterwards I used them very seldom given the repair quality was suboptimal and not fit for business meetings until a month ago when a friend tells me that Church has a dedicated repair service to bring the shoes back to the original shape - I go to the Bond street shop and I discover that this model has changed overtime and now the sole is sewn and not glued…. - I explain them my situation and the fact that even if bought many years ago, the shoes have hardly been used and there was a clear manufacturing defect that has been improved over time on the new models and it is not normal for such shoes to have the sole detached. I had a similar issue on another quite expensive item from a different luxury brand, and the answer was: -Dear Mr R**, we are terribly sorry, this is very unfortunate and should have never happened on one of our top products, we will be happy to repair it for free with our apologies Church’s reply: -Dear Mr R***, the artisans at the Northampton Factory have assessed the images and are happy to attempt to re-sole the shoes. It wouldn’t be the same sole but the Dainite storm welted sole instead – this may resolve the sturdiness issue you had with the old style of rubber sole. The cost to re-sole would be £290