@ flutterbunni. When the complaining, crying and begging brings you no solution. When public scorn leaves you with no satisfaction, that's when you turn to humour. Somehow It doesn't feel right when you're here doing your correspondence on the forum. Doesn't it say somewhere that we can't do business on the forum. Stop fluttering on the forum and get back to your clients. Leave the rest of us to have a laugh at our misfortune for ever having had to deal with you.

Garvin

he garv, not sure if you're joking, but sjees bru if you guys can have a go at them in an open forum then surely they can respond accordingly. the only thing worse than service in south africa is the amount of complaining....... if guys give you crap service take your business somewhere else. we luv the free market

ps: i think the jokes are funny

To tell you the truth I'm not even sure if I'm joking. A man's shoe are a serious thing, But I do feel kinda over it. The joy of taking a stab at them in whatever form is to great to resist. So take it as you like, I'm seemingly making no a big difference to there thinking or operation anyway. So young and yet so set in there ways (joke).

Then, a question: Do I know you? Cause I try to discourage even my closes friends from calling me by anything that isn't my real name or Frank I don't mind being called Frank. (Not joking here, only please don't take it badly )

Garvin

sorry frank, no disrespect intended won't take it badly

Hey moks, (sorry, mokganjetsi), I have to disagree with you. If you give someone money to do some service, and they take longer than they said they would, they don't reply to you communication, then you have a right to complain. If you don't, then you are condoning the qualikak you get. And when you condone it, then you can expect nothing more in future. And then it all goes for a ball of shit, you see?

So at Hayden and Miranda: how about you either do what you charge people money for, in good time...or you don't - stop resoling. Or, get Danny and Heinrich, who have been singing your praises, to tell people that you guys actually aren't that great, you'll probably not email back, you'll probably give them some snotty remarks online and take ages to do what you said would be fast. Because Danny and Heinrich (climbers whom I respect greatly) look rather silly in front of everyone else if they say you guys are the bees knees when you evidently, to many people, aren't.

I have 3 pairs to resole, and you know what? I bought new shoes rather than going through the hassle.

In fairness you did, but only after I posted here. Additionally it was only a response to say "Sorry I have been out of contact! I have been utterly swamped...". Not a real response to my previous (very polite) emails asking where my shoes are.

Last email was yesterday afternoon requesting an ETA. Still nothing.

If you're struggling to get them done or haven't started, then perhaps just pass them on to Bug Sprouse (0726391819). Hopefully you haven't spent the cash I EFT'ed

zb.

he joupie, wasn't really condoning or excusing bad service for that matter - just felt that frank (also known as garvin) was bullying flutterbunni a bit (as per the quote), and as a gentlemanly man its my duty to speak up for her. now i wouldn't mind it if frank swung a baseball bat to your head, nevermind telling you to shut up and go back to work, but poor flutterbunni just seems so fragile and innocent. [note: frank might not have been bullying flutterbunni, he was probably joking]

and never, ever call me "moks" again, its "mok" or "mr mokganjetsi" to you

Hey Bruce

I think this name thing has gone too far and we should just change everyones name to Bruce which will avoid all confusion.

Regards

Wayne I mean er Bruce

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Fat men are harder to kidnap

Fortunately I have been liberated from such blatant chauvinism. She seems quite capable of defending herself and the substandard correspondence job she's doing. And so it is with pride of conviction that I take my swing at her. Rise above the bondage of gender based discrimination and be free mock, insult and slander at will.
I thought the name thing would head down this road or one that could be confused with this one.

Garvin
PS. gender based discrimination is in my opinion truly as degrading as racism is dehumanising.

Hi Guys,
Got my La Sportiva Mantis climbing shoes back from Rocksole after a very long wait.At first they looked like c@#p,on the front is a toe cap wich I peeled of myself 'cause it looked even c@@#$er..But boy,does these shoes stick like poo on a woollen blancket,amazing!!!5/10 on looks,10/10 on performance.
cheers

I think that Heinrich and I praised Hayden's work because we both have experience in resoling and could appreciate better workmanship. However, I certainly haven't been singing Rock Frog's praises for some time now. My phone number is still on the Rock Frog Website (though I had been promised that it would be removed some time ago) but I refer anyone who calls me to this thread on the forum. I have a mate who has waited for over 4 months for his shoes and that certainly isn't something I'd like to be associated with.
Over the last couple of weeks I've been hearing some good word-of-mouth reports about Bug Sprouse's work so that's who I've been directing people to.
As potential resole clients the things that we (the climbing community) should be looking for, in order are: Service, workmanship, price, and whether we are supporting a fellow climber. Currently Bug Sprose outscores all competitors in each category and that's who my next resole will be going to.

This is the sad thing about any internet form, you can't read tone of voice and body language. So my first impression was, " He sounds quite calm about this". I would be hopping mad if someone did that to me.So I went and check true as nuts there it is. I thought for a second I should give you a call, but I manage to stop myself. So tell me are you as calm as I first thought?

Garvin

So here's my mixed and rather disappointing report:

I sent two pairs of shoes to hayden, like I dunno, almost two months ago.. or something - I can't even remember when, because it's longer than the promised 10-14 working days.

After much begging and plenty of phone calls from my side I received one pair back - Mad Rock Demons. They look and feel BRILLIANT. It's close to perfect.

BUT, i've been calling and sending sms's constantly about the other pair of shoes and I haven't heard anything back. This is a problem to me, as that pair of shoes belong to a friend of mine, to whom I recommended RockFrog Resoles. She wants her shoes, I can't give it to her. This is a very bad thing for me. My phone calls and sms's are met with silence.

It really saddens me that a resoler shows all the potential in the world to be the best in SA with his trade, but can't seem to produce consistent results and doesn't seem to be bothered with correspondence. And Pierre, you're right: Danny and I do look rather silly, but as Danny explained, we have our reasons for praising them. I am a VERY tolerant person - more than which is healthy, but unfortunately I too have come to the end of my tether: I can't accept such poor service any longer.

I've recently had two pairs of shoes resoled by StickyShoesResoles (aka Bugs). I got the second pair back last night, they took 9 days (with many apologies for the slow turn around time) because of the Easter long weekend. The previous pair took 5 days.

A great job has been done on both pairs. As a result, I am a happy customer. Enough said...

Edit -- Name change and comment on quality of Muira resoles (Awesome! They work really well, only niggle slight loss of "sensitivity" due to increased thickness of rubber on the new soles)

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At the chaaaaains boet!!

a market with a fair bit of demand and not any quality players. new kids on the block (NKOTB) enter and does an excellent job. news spreads like wildfire and everybody starts sending their shoes there. NKOTB are very stoked 'cause their business is flourishing and off course they want to get the market. then problem: they work part time and cannot manage the workload, resulting is (a little) sub-standard work and sloooooow response times. market becomes irri and new new kid on the block enters (NNKOTB), doing excellent work. news spreads like wild fire. cycle starts again????

just hoping that hayden & co gets a cue: manage your workload and custormers' expectations; do not over-promise and under-deliver; the resole job you guys did for me is still the best one i've had by a country mile - we know what you are capable of; just manage your workload and communicate with your customers! i would hate to see your business go bust.

Now going into month 6 waiting for my shoes.......WTF!!!Everytime I get "I am busy with your shoes,nearly done will be there next week blah,blah,blah.....

Mokganjetsi, also please note that if you ever need to refer to me, I shall be called Mr Chabalala ! not Bala or Balala and definitly not Balas.

he balas glad to hear you're still alive!!! i wish these guys would get a clue and just go buy old bufo's - that russian rubber never needs a resole.....

Can someome please send me Bug's contact details.
Thanks

Guys,
I've just got my shoes back from Rowan Winters - and they are awesome!
His resoling is world class.
I had to post them from CPT up to Durbs, but postage is just R20 each way.
After the resole the shoes are good as new. In fact probably better (stickier rubber)
I know there are some other good options, but my shoes will all eventually find there way to Rowan.
You can get him at 0832423838,RocSport

Is he doing set prices for sole and re-rand and how much?

He charged me R260 but phone and ask him - it might depend on the size of shoes/ nature of the job etc

Its been a while, but I found the pics of my Rowan Winters resole. Note it was re-randed as well

Can anyone else vouch for the quality of the resoles done by Rowan Winter?

I'm loath to buy new shoes as the uppers usually far outlast the soles, but have to think of cost too...and the price of resoling is, quite frankly, ridiculous. Hoping the price quoted above still applies...

sam

That resole looks okay.. nice edge, but the sole of the shoe looks rounded. If you have downturned climbing shoes, you don't want to lose that shape when you get your shoes resoled.

The guys that bought out Rockfrog are doing an excellent job these days. They even washed my shoes, and sewed the tongue back on! You can contact them via their website:
http://www.verticalworld.co.za/index.ph ... &Itemid=88

I have had shoes resoled by Rowan Winter that were truly excellent! Admittedly it was a while ago & the last time I had shoes resoled by him he basically did it under protest as he seemed to be moving away from resoling.

The current Rock Frog guys are very good! I had 3 pairs done at the same time & they basically saved the one pair from the bin. They are also willing to take on difficult jobs, which impressed me.

If you are based in Gauteng then its a bit of a no brainer. If you are based in Natal & Rowan is willing to do your shoes then thats a no brainer too. If you are going to get fancy about the price then maybe just go buy a new pair of cheap shoes for the same price

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Really, its not that bad...I think it's my shoes...

Thanks guys,

Just reread my post. "Ridiculous" is perhaps a little strong. Sorry! I meant very expensive, in my view.

I don't know what the raw materials cost, but I'm assuming most of the cost of a resole is in the labour. Fair enough, it's a skill to resole well. BUT. I think many more people would consider resoling their shoes if it weren't so darn expensive. There are a lot of people climbing on mid-range priced shoes and the resoling is at least half (and in many cases upwards of half) of the value of the shoes. So, factoring in the hassle and uncertainty around quality, I think many people just buy new. If resoling was cheaper, I think more people would go for it.

Sam,

I did resoling for about 3 years (I started the abovementioned Rock Frog) but stopped because of the fact that the labour intensive nature of the job made it financially unviable for me to continue. I challenge anyone who thinks that resolers are coining it to give up their jobs and try resoling - you don't need a degree to figure out what to do, but the amount of time it will take you will make your current income seem very lucrative.
Vertical World took off where I and others left, and I hear that they have now invested in decent machinery. The economic rationale of doing so escapes me, but I'm sure that they are taking a (very) long term view of the situation, which is good news for all climbers as they have been doing a superb job.
One of the most common comments that I used to get from climbers who sent in old, cheap shoes for a resole is that they came back better than they were when they were new. I have heard many such comments about Vertical World's resoling, which effectively means that you are getting a new pair of shoes for the price of a resole. A cheap pair of shoes will set you back around R 650 (guessing), while for less than R 400 you will get the same shoes that will last you longer and perform better due to superior rubber and workmanship - a no brainer!
I have had 2 of my own (expensive) pairs resoled by Vertical World, and although I had a couple of comments, am very satisfied with the job that they did. I am confident that if you give them a try you too will return to this forum singing their praises.

For what it its worth, I definitely agree with Danny.

Resoling from somewhere like Vertical World is certainly not "very expensive".

Considering the quality of the job (mine came back better than new), it is great value for money.

I have had 2 pairs of shoes resoled by Vertical World. I am happy with both pairs, they have given me new life in my old shoes. One pair i had worn a hole in the toe and they fixed it up. As for the price i am a firm believer in you get what you pay for. If they make it to cheap then it is not worth it for them to to carry on. That said i don't know how much it costs them to do the work but i am happy with the service that i have received for the price i paid.

I am lucky enough to have climbed with them a few times and they are not the sort of people that are trying to get rich off the business. They love to climb and love the sport (and love to drink but we can leave that out for now). This resole sideline business is a way of trying to get there name out there, there primary line is that they import gear. If any of you have every met Nigel, i am sure you will agree with me.


well that is my 2 cents worth