Andrea’s Shoe Repair

If I could give this place one star I would. I took my shoes to get new taps on a Monday, and by Friday it had come off. The following Monday I took my shoe back because clearly they did a poor job. The old man at the front desk was extremely rude, and disrespectful. Actually had the nerve to call me a liar. I do not recommend this place to anyone. Horrible customer service.

The routinely arrogant and rude business owner became personally insulted at my mere observation that his cleaning process DRASTICALLY altered the color of my suede shoes: «how could I make your shoes white? They must have been always like this!» … This was the last straw, especially since they refuse credit cards and charge shoe shines are also ridiculously expensive once ($ 6-​$ 9 with expected tip). Save yourself damaged shoes and stay away!

These guys think they’re doing you a favor. Rude service. Expensive. Below par work. Skip it. These guys think they’re doing you a favor. Rude service. Expensive. Sub par work. Let me explain. This schmuck wanted to charge me $ 70 to fix the zipper on my jacket. Guess what? Two blocks away they charged me $ 35. Oh, and he told me that if I didn’t like it maybe I should work on it on his machine myself. Skip it.

I work in the area and have been going here for shoe shines for more than a year. Because I’m often in a dress/​skirt, I usually give them my shoes to shine while I sit on the waiting chairs. It was no different today except I stepped out to make a quick call so I wouldn’t be bothering others in the store. When I came back after just 3 minutes, they told me that the shoes were ready, which was way faster than usual. As I was inspecting the shoes, this woman at the cash register (not the usual guy owner) impatiently waved her hands at me so that I would stop inspecting, and rushed me to pay $ 5. I asked why it isn’t the usual $ 4 anymore, and she just told me now it’s $ 5. I assumed it was a recent price hike, so didn’t think much of it.
After I walked out, I re-​examined the shoes again and noticed there were streaks on some parts and a few uneven spots. When I went back to have them fix the issue, I saw that they had the $ 4 shoe shine sign all over. Feeling duped, I asked the guy owner (now back in the front) why I got charged $ 5 for a half assed job. He gave me some bs excuse saying that $ 4 is for those who sit on the shoe shine chairs, and $ 5 for anyone who don’t — obviously not true given my past experience. He then yelled at me, called me stupid, and said I should go somewhere else if I don’t like it.
$ 1 is not a big deal, but it is so disappointing to see how they treat their loyal customers. Definitely will not be returning there EVER again. For those of you who go there for shoe shines, make sure to examine your shoes before you walk out because they will do a bad job if you are not looking… or just go to a more reliable shoe shine place in the area, like Jim’s Shoe Repair or Dino’s — $ 4 for a much better job and a way more customer-​focused attitude!

Amazing shoe shine (have not had experimented with repair). Solid (yet standard) price of $ 4

I never write reviews, but this man was so out of line, I had to share my experience, so hopefully it can save someone else’s time. I’m a Concierge in the Midtown area and I’ve frequented this establishment several times for a shoe shine, never really dealing with the cashier too much. I have a pair of Varvatos shoes that I needed resoled, so I figured why not give them a shot. After I answered a few questions for him, he said $ 85, I said, «ok it’s $ 85?» Just clarifying. He then proceeded to brush me off and told me you want to go to shoemaker, how much you want to pay, and so on in a very rude manner.
I understand various New York vendors and their lack of customer service, but you don’t need to be crass to your customers. I will now make it a point to never go there again which I’m sure would not matter to them, but I will also push my colleagues and other friends at local Midtown hotels to not send anyone to this establishment This might hurt business a little bit. Dino’s Shoe Repair near Columbus Circle is 100 times better than and worth a little extra journey.

This is a review for a shine only, no clue how good or bad their repairs are.
Staying at the Hilton and need a shine on a new pair of shoes.
Walked over here and got a shoe shine.
Excellent shine. For $ 4. In NY? Can’t beat it. If you need a shine and you’re close, just go.

Miserable greek owner (beware)
I wish there was a negative rating to give here. Just today I had a minor shoe repair and I questioned the work that was done. He explained it to me in a very rude way. He was ungrateful and discourteous. Beware that he mutters words under his breathe in Greek. He didn’t know I was Greek and I witnessed him cursing out people on the phone and in person in greek to go unnoticed. Stay away from this place!!!

I guess I have had different experiences from some posters. They always do a great job and give great shines at good prices.
Once I went in with some beautiful riding boots with too narrow a calf. He said the only way to fix the boots was to put in a zipper, which must have taken a lot of work and his charge, while not cheap, was more than reasonable.
Not only that, they sell shoe care supplies at good prices.

I WILL NEVER GO BACK. In fact, I am tempted to take them to small claims court. I brought my beautiful WHITE bucks in for a cleaning. They were in very good condition (I have only worn them a few times after spending over $ 250 on them) and there were a few dirty marks on them. I asked if they could clean them, they said they would try but weren’t sure. I pre-​paid $ 15 cash and left them there. I went to pick them up a week or so later, assuming that they would be clean (or as I left them if they couldn’t clean them). To my HORROR, the man behind the counter (who I think is the owner) gave me my shoes. I looked at them and said, «are you sure these are my shoes?». They looked like a different material AND a different color! They were no longer white, but yellowish/​light brown — they also were hard as a rock instead of the soft suede they were before. He got snippy with me and said he did a beautiful job — not even wanting to have a conversation about it. I said that he ruined my shoes and should give me $ 200. He put them in a bag, and YELLED at me — saying he did a beautiful job and has thousands of customers and to get out of there — MERRY CHRISTMAS he said. I am LIVID. I had a pair of expensive gorgeous shoes with a slight mark (still wearable). Now these are beyond repair. Completely ruined. I cannot ever wear these shoes again. I am so angry. If they couldn’t clean it, they shouldn’t have tried to! It really looks like the painted my shoes or something. I can’t even imagine what they were thinking. Do yourself a favor and DO NOT GO HERE. It stinks, because it is close to my office, but I don’t care. I will never go back. I am miserable.

I was on a mission to get my boyfriends shoes re-​soled at a place he frequented. I approached the counter to a foreign man who seemed to be hanging out with his friend. I gave him three pair of shoes to repair. The foreign man looked at the shoes extremely brief, and continued to yell at me saying «I’m busy, I’m busy tell me what you want.» I was absolutely appalled by his customer service skills. The foreign shoe repair clerk made me feel like he did not want my business, and he knew nothing about shoes because he was busy talking to his buddy. I would suggest going here if you want to be yelled at because you do not know anything about the soles of shoes.

I just called this place to see if they could fix the wheel on a piece of luggage I have. He tells me,“my friend, I can fix all kinds of leather.” Ok, that is great, except my bag is not leather. As I tried to explain this to him he interrupted me to tell me to bring the bag down. His accent was tough to understand, but I think he even referred to my bag as a wallet at one point. As I tried explaining to him that it is a large suitcase and not exactly the easiest thing to lug around, he hung up on me. I will not be going there.

Andrea’s is one of my «holy grail» «don’t know what I’d do without you» places in NY. I’m really rough on my shoes, but I have fancy taste. I’ve brought countless pairs in that I thought were beyond hope, and they have revived them every time. The owner knows just want you need, and the prices are very gentle, considering that other places that service Manolos and Jimmys would and do charge a lot more. I guess they figure that if you can afford to buy them, then you can afford to get ripped off to repair them. Not here.

Another shoe repair shop told me that it would cost $ 170 to repair my boots. I walked into Andrea’s on 55^th just to get a second opinion, and they fixed my boots perfectly for a grand total of $ 33. They turned a lousy day into a great one.

I’ve only dealt with them once when I needed some leather protector spray. I called ahead to check their hours. They were professional and helpful. I walked in, someone helped me immediately, I paid, and was out the door in literally less than one minute. I’ll be back for other products and services!

$ 3 shoeshine. Waited in line 10 minutes to hand the cashier the money, seemed silly not to be able to pay shiners. However, can’t beat the deal.

I don’t write reviews often, but when a place makes me feel awful for days, I think it’s necessary. This place is near my office, so that’s why i ended up there. The first time I went I was very pleased. I just needed a sole re attached to my shoe, and they gave me a very good price. However, the next time I went back with the other shoe having the same problem, they tried to charge me twice as much. When I told them that it had been half as much before, a woman yelled at me and said they had to do «a lot» with it. I tried to tell her again that it was the same problem I had had before, but she said you can leave it or not. For some reason I said whatever and left it.
When I went back it was a man at the counter, who I presume is the owner. He gave me the shoe, and I told him I was confused by the price because the last time I had had that service done, it was half as much. I swear I saw smoke come out of his ears. He yelled at me to pay whatever I want, but to find a new shoemaker and that he didn’t deal with shoes like mine he only handled $ 600 high heels. So, obviously, I will not return, even with my expensive high heels.
They should get their prices straight or at least give you the new price with a smile.

This place is right by my office, and I have brought loads of shoes here to be repaired. I am giving 2 stars because I have generally been pleased with the quality in the past, but the recent bad quality work and bad customer service experience that I received here cancels all of that out.
I recently brought some boots in for repair due to an issue with the zipper (the tab on the zipper pull snapped off). The very next time I wore the boots, I discovered that the zipper was broken in another way. It appeared that the zipper itself became torn when they replaced the zipper pull.
When I brought the boot back, I was first told that they couldn’t repair the zipper itself, and then when I suggested (nicely) that perhaps my boot was damaged by them, the owner YELLED at me. He said that if anything at all went wrong with my boots after they were returned to me, it was my fault, not his. To be honest, I wasn’t angry and I think it would be understandable if something went wrong in the repair, but there was no reasoning with this man. He kept yelling until I stormed out in an embarrassing scene.
To be honest, I should have known better, because this guy has been very aggressive with me in the past when I dared ask a question about the work he did (which also shows that this wasn’t just a one-​off bad day on his part).

the most rude and belligerent service i have ever encountered. I dropped off a pair of shoes for a simple strap-​button replacement, and was told that it would be $ 5 and 15 minutes. That was fine.
Then when I tried to call back about an additional request, the old man had trouble understanding me on the phone, and just assumed that I was trying to hurry him along. He yelled at me over the phone, «it’s ready soon, ready soon!!» and hung up.
I tried calling again from a quieter area, hoping that would help, but as soon as I told him who I was he immediately screamed «IT’S READY, IT’S READY!!» and violently hung up the phone.
I tried calling back again, but he refused to pick up. At that point I decided to just go back and speak in person. When i walked in, he immediately grabbed the shoes, waved them around in an agitated fashion and told me they’re ready! I calmly explained to him that that was not what I was calling him about, and that I had another question. I asked my question which he said he couldn’t (or wouldn’t?) do anything about, and that he was too busy to listen to me all day. The whole time he was completely belligerent and rude.
Never going there again.

This is quite possibly the worst shoe shine I’ve ever received. To start, one of the staff went to grab a daily paper for another guest and as I asked him to grab both papers he looked at me as though I had stolen his wife — might as well have said F YOU!!!, rather than give me that snide look.
As for the shine, I would have been better off leaving my shoes in a puddle and then using sandpaper. The woman smothers them in cream polish before actually cleaning the shoe of any dirt and debris. No turning back — she decides she’ll work the cream into the shoe alone with the dirt and dust picked up on ones shoes over the course of a week between shines. I’ve got to suggest to her, stop, let’s try this again. She responds, «what do you want a job here? you don’t think I know how to shine shoes?» Great, I’m off to a great start. Ultimately, I’ve got to leave half way through the shine with cream and dirt caked up on my shoes, drier and dirtier than when I came in.
Absolutely terrible. Only reason I started going was because our offices moved across town. Best shine in midtown is worth the trek over to second avenue — Vera’s at 1055 2^nd Avenue