ALDEN

[madmonday]

NP seawolf u deserve those cudos.

on to Alden

my issues were never with the quality or lack of quality of Alden, it was always the way they dealt with customer service. i support people i "think" i like & as such haven't bought an item from them since a friend had issues with them.  It came down to my not wanting to support a company who didn't stand with the product they produce or even worse put me through the ringer to address a concern i have with a product i spend my money on.

with that said, i still have 2 pairs &  they are my "nice" or "dress-up" footwear . . . which means i never wear them

[summ3rhays]

@grandmasterben My one pair of Alden are the Indy boots. I would highly recommend and I've worn mine often for 2+ yrs. Zero issues or complaints.

[tigerpac]

I've never heard the quality being described as a joke.  I have 3 pairs and they're among the best.  Now the customer service… that's another matter.

[arrow]

to my knowledge, no other US shoe maker uses steel shank for support.  Please correct me if I'm wrong.
To me that is the key in providing the comfort.  Even the suede chukkas feel solid.

[Giles]

By shoemaker, do you also mean bootmaker?

If so, Wesco use a Non corrosive steel shank

[superfuzz]

I think there have been some issues with Alden quality control since they have blown up over the last few years or so. I've never had any quality problems. But it had been a few years since I bought a pair.

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[aho]

I wore my 405's through an abusive two years straight as my daily work beater pair (including two Chicago winters, salt and all) and aside from needing a complete resole, haven't had any major issues with them. In that time however, I did go through 4 pairs of their waxed laces (which really do suck), and had some bending on the speed hooks which were easily fixed when I took them in for the resole. The leather is surprisingly durable and I honestly didn't take care of the boots at all in those two years!

[arrow]

Thanks for the clarification Giles.  What I meant to say is, are there other Alden-like companies that uses steel shank for their dress / casual shoe line?

Companies like Allen Edmonds come to mind and they don't integrate steel shank in their shoe manufacturing.

[denimeric]

[*

[seawolf]

Um…. I don't think that was Giles' point at all.

[seawolf]

And going back through and reading it again, I'm certain that wan't was he was saying. He was saying it's bullshit that our service members are buying good quality gear (in this case my pair of Aldens) to replace the crappy stuff that we're issued.

[derivative666]

Exactly,  @denimeric you are misunderstanding what G is saying.

[denimeric]

Every brand has had or will have some quality issues one time or another.

[Giles]

I have no idea what @denimeric said as it has been deleted, but what I was saying (or indeed wanted people to hear) is as per @seawolf 's reading of it:

He was saying it's bullshit that our service members are buying good quality gear (in this case my pair of Aldens) to replace the crappy stuff that we're issued.

[Giles]

@denimeric:

And every brand has had or will have some quality issues one time or another.

Of course they do.  And Iron Heart is no exception.  We fuck up some times and it hurts when we do, it really does (you don't want to be anywhere near me when we have let a customer down).  But what defines a brands customer service, is how they deal with the shit.  Being great when everything is going well is easy.  Dealing with shite is not so easy, and some brands are empirically shite at dealing with shite…And I have no time for shite...

[hajduk]

So true…

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[denimeric]

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[denimeric]

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[seawolf]

"Anyone can hold the helm when the sea is calm."

-Publilius Syrus

[Chiba J.]

Haven't had any problems with any of my Aldens.

My one regret is that I purchased a plain toe boot rather than the Indy. Really wish I had gone Indy.