lt reminds me of a story a shoemaker told me once. A bloke from the street popped in and asked for a heel replacement and the custom shoemaker said that'll be $40 thanks. The bloke looked at him and said that he could get it done for much cheaper down the road and that he'd give the cordwainer $20 for the job instead. The cordwainer said that any old cobbler could do a hash job using ordinary materials for that price, but if he wanted it done properly he'd have to pay for it. The bloke from the street was huffing and puffing and carrying on like an old pork chop and wasting the cordwainers time over 20 minutes, so the cordwainer thought to himself, i'll fix this bugger', so he said to the bloke "o.k, i'll do you a really good deal, i'll put a new pair of heels on for only $4". The bloke was surprised and thought he was the greatest wheel and dealer ever and puffed his chest out and said " see, l knew you were charging too much". Later that day the shoes were ready with new heels. A week later the bloke came into the shop ranting and raving like and old buffoon complaining how his heels wore out. The cordy said "well, you get what you pay for".


Kingstonian: why are the heels more expensive? Is the cobbler taking longer to do a better job, and is he using better leather? Maybe he is. But of course it could always be as we often suspect; the cobbler wants to go on an extra nice holiday, or maybe the rents are more expensive. Having a good relationship with a good cobbler is worth it's weight in gold, maybe the extra price is worth it...can't always base everything on price.

It might be best, for safety's sake, to send the shoos back to the manufacturer (although it will cost more).