Have YOU had any issues with Allen Edmonds shoes or boots?

[SwiftToole]

A quick list of my recent AE purchases (firsts only) and QC

Academy--perfect
Caen--cosmetic defect that I could not fix myself; returned for refund, took about 2 weeks
Normandy--eyelets on one side of one boot ever-so slightly misaligned. Kept em.
5th Avenues--perfect

[mebejoseph]

Well I just ordered a pair of second's from the Shoebank so I'll see what their quality is like. The salesman on the phone was nice enough though. Fingers crossed everything turns out alright.

Well, with seconds you know you're getting something that isn't perfect. Do you think at some point the imperfections are more in the line of significant defects that should cause AE to deem them unfit to sell?

[calexako]

Well, with seconds you know you're getting something that isn't perfect. Do you think at some point the imperfections are more in the line of significant defects that should cause AE to deem them unfit to sell?

You are not supposed to get something unfit to sell either way. But it depends on what does someone thinks as a defect.

[evanparker]

I own about 20 pairs of AE shoes. They're shoes built by hands and a very long production process that reflects shoe construction stretching back into the last hundred+ years. The recrafting department is even better, they have absolutely awesome cobblers.

They by definition the AE shoes have character. They're brilliant shoes.

Sometimes they have a tiny bit more character than others.

As long as its minor (and they nearly always are), I usually don't mind at all.



great great great shoes. especially from the shoe bank. To be able to buy beautiful shoes like that, a living relic a different industrial era, that are unique and stand out in all of the best ways for $150-$250 is a real steal.

People who are expecting them to be absolutely perfect just have poor expectations. They do have some meh ones occasionally, but it's pretty rare. You sure can buy shoes like that, and they're like $600-800 a pair, or more, say "Alden" or "Trickers" on the insides, and there's a distinct reason that level of quality costs that much.

[Levelheadsteve]

I purchased my first pair of AE’s a couple weeks ago. Strands in walnut. Purchased at an AE store and are great with a few very minor issues.

I just bought a pair of Fifth Avenues from their website and received them today. The left shoe has a noticeable gouge/indentation on the vamp near the eyelets. Very noticeable. Wife agreed it is unacceptable on a $400 shoe. Exchanging at AE store tomorrow.

[mcadamsandwich]

Oh and let's not forget that they're working on closing down Port Washington entirely and moving everything to Tennessee where Caleres already has warehousing.

Just read an article on this (link). I had no idea they were moving distribution to TN. What's funny is, that Caleres warehouse is less than a half-mile from where I'm sitting right now...

[mcadamsandwich]

You sure can buy shoes like that, and they're like $600-800 a pair, or more, say "Alden" or "Trickers" on the insides, and there's a distinct reason that level of quality costs that much.

As someone that has purchased over a dozen pairs of Aldens (and some Trickers), this has not been my experience. The worst "firsts" pair of shoes I've ever purchased were Alden Indys from J.Crew. They had more wrinkly loose grain than a bulldog.

[Hebrew Barrister]

As someone that has purchased over a dozen pairs of Aldens (and some Trickers), this has not been my experience. The worst "firsts" pair of shoes I've ever purchased were Alden Indys from J.Crew. They had more wrinkly loose grain than a bulldog.

Fortunately JCrew has super easy returns. Did you eventually end up with a proper pair?

[Ito]

Inventory yes. They stopped renting warehousing in PW and now once things are made it goes to their Caleres-owned warehousing in TN to then ship out when purchased.

As a Wisconsinite and someone who lives about 25 minutes from Port Washington, this bums me the hell out. AE has always been a brand that I've been proud to purchase and recommend, and if they move out of WI that is just going to plan suck.

[mebejoseph]

Minor problems? You all tell me.

After hearing me rave about AE shoes, a struggling musician friend of mine decided to splurge and buy his first "grown up" boots--AE Normandy. First quality (supposedly) on sale for about $275.

After he received them, he was disappointed.

You all tell me--are these minor problems? My opinion, three or four (depending on how many you see in the photos) of them could be considered VERY minor and acceptable and maybe even give the boots character (although I don't see these problems on other quality shoes in that price range). But one of them is totally unacceptable in my opinion. All three together indicate a quality control problem--again, in my opinion.

And hey--if I knew that I was losing my job because some big corporation bought out my employer and it was just a matter of time until I was in the unemployment line--well, I probably wouldn't give a rat's ass about the quality.

But you all tell me: Are these acceptable as first quality shoes?