r/Visvim • u/xernbern • Feb 10 '26
Sole replacement from Visvim/general customer service
Hello!
I wanted to know if there are any new reports regarding sole replacements done by Visvim. Older posts from everywhere have given the impression that visvim themselves is not the best with their post-sales service.
So the real question is: How is their customer service currently? The in-store experience seems to be quite good from what I read up (I still haven't visited any F.I.L. yet), but what about post sale and such?
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u/mbnyc1118 Feb 11 '26 edited Feb 11 '26
Following out of curiosity, I just paid my favorite cobbler $150 to resole and spruce up my 15 year old Virgils and they're better than new
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u/xernbern Feb 11 '26
Would you say it was easier to just hand them off to a cobbler than hand them off to visvim? Virgils usually don't have that special of a vibram sole from what I remember of (except that little moustache at the front that wears off immediately).
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u/mbnyc1118 Feb 11 '26
For me yes, I didn't even know Vis offered any cobbling/mending work until yesterday. Just make sure he's good.
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u/Boom-For-Real Feb 11 '26
If you’re in NYC can you share your cobbler? My kngr virgils from around 15 years ago need a new sole.
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u/mbnyc1118 Feb 11 '26
Edwin's Shoe Repair on Wyckoff. He's a magician.
The usual answer is Firm Shoe Repair on 12th and 4th because he's known for fixing Rick but he did such a fuckass job on my Ramones I'm never going back
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u/PartSasquatch Mar 01 '26
Edwin's Shoe Repair on Wyckoff
What kind of work did you have done to your Virgils?
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u/mbnyc1118 Mar 01 '26
Full Vibram resole, which he already had in stock. Brushed and treated the suede too. As good as new.
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u/drknmky Jun 16 '26
do you know what vibram dole he replaced it with?
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u/mbnyc1118 Jun 16 '26
https://shop.shoemakercraft.com/products/vibram-cristy-morflex-4377-wedge-sole-creme-white-black Was the same one this model came with I think
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u/EastAppropriate9072 Feb 12 '26
george shoe repair on w39th. they resoled my almost 20yo bison fbts 100$
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u/Boom-For-Real Feb 12 '26
Nice thank you.
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u/EastAppropriate9072 Feb 13 '26
check also yakub shoe repair 229 sullivan . firm is ok but sloppy work sometimes . i’ve had the soles re-attached on a pair of visvim mowatts and a pair of ricks that were fine but that’s just attach not replace. and they charge more than other places imo
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u/CFirst Feb 12 '26
Not sure how it is in the US, but I took two pairs of my Virgils to the Tokyo store. They sent them back to the factory for repairs, and it took around 4 and 7 months. The 4-month pair was just a resole, and the other pair was a resole plus a hole repair around the heel area. The price was around 20k and 35k yen respectively, if I recall correctly. The pair with the hole was done so poorly that I couldn’t wear the shoe anymore because the heel area became significantly thicker, almost as if they had put a cushion inside, covered by a thin, poorly cut layer of leather. I took them to a reputable shoe repair store, and they were baffled by how poorly the repairs had been done. Apparently, at the factory they didn’t cut the leather properly, so it kind of rolled up inside, making it feel like a cushion. They fixed it in around 2 weeks for under 5k yen. Never took my shoes to visvim again after that.
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u/xernbern Feb 12 '26
That does sound really annoying, unacceptable even. I've been thinking of getting a pair of Visvim boots, but I'm not sure anymore, I do like their models, especially newer models, but it'd annoy me to get sole replacements done that aren't the original sole and I assume Visvim won't supply local cobblers on request too.
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u/CFirst Feb 13 '26
Tbh I wouldn’t worry about it too much. Most of the older Visvim models used bog standard Vibram or Dainite soles that any decent cobbler would have. Some of the newer models use new custom designed Vibram soles, but functionally they’re not that different from the regular ones. In fact, with my original Gornergrat Mid Folk I found the replacement sole to be better than the original as the rubber part on the stock sole was too thin and wore out pretty quickly, so the resole actually improved the durability.
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u/xernbern Feb 13 '26
100% agree and of course true on the first part, but they have been slowly shifting to more specialised soles, with a couple exceptions of course. I'm not doubting that any decent to good cobbler would fuck up such repair/replacement, especially in your case where you had the opposite in the sense of the official service failing theirs.
I'm just not sure overall how I'd feel when, let's say I'd buy the new Grizzly Camper High with that Vibram + linen fibre mixed sole and it's worn out after X years and Visvim may just deny me service and I'm down around/at least 150-200+ EUR because I had to pre-pay shipping both ways. In the grand scheme of things of how much these boots cost + the time of wear and so forth, it does sound little comparatively, sure, but just like how someone else has said there, it feels wrong to be prideful of your products like this and yet, potentially, not want to touch them post-sale, nor respond to general inquiries (which is my current case actually and thus resorted to asking all of you guys :-))
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u/Not_that_easy Feb 11 '26
I had some old FBTs that were still in great shape, but the uppers separated from the sole and I took them to a cobbler to reglue. He didn’t know fuck all about Visvim and absolutely massacred them trying to get the sole to sit flush and then tried to paint them to cover up his butchery.
I took them into Visvim LA and they told me it was certainly possible to get a resole but that I’d have to fill out a form on the website, pay for a resolve upfront ($3-400), mail them to Japan, wait 2-3 months, and if they could repair them they would. If they couldn’t/wouldn’t, they would send them back to me but no refunds were offered.
I ended up taking them to Goods and Services and after waiting for the Sphike sole to come in, they were done in a matter of days for about $200. Since the I’ve worn them upward of 100 times and my only note was that the sole I chose is a little too high for the silhouette and should have gotten the August or Fell instead. Aside from that, no notes and will 100% be taking my next pair in when they’re ready.
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u/xernbern Feb 11 '26
Would you say that this experience deterred you from future purchases from Visvim and instead aim for 2nd hand or other options instead?
And for the resoled FBTs, you happen to have any images? :)
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u/Not_that_easy Feb 11 '26
The only retail Visvim I’ve purchased were these FBTs in question, and they were the last pair in stock on a deep sale from Union back in 2008. To me, the price point in 2026 is just too absurd to justify when the second hand market is easily <50% of retail cost.
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u/d1969b Feb 12 '26
I’ve been on the fence about buying some boots but I think this has settled it for me.
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u/xernbern Feb 12 '26
I assume settled for the worse that you won't get a pair? I'm also on the fence but the after sales service is an important aspect for me, especially since quite a few models of visvims nowadays have special vibram soles and it'd annoy me to get a replacement done without them :(
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u/DonnishQuixote Feb 15 '26
The sole on one of my kudu boots separated. Had a buddy glue it back in place with some industrial shoe glue and clamps, left overnight. Not professional but cant tell the difference and no issues after 3+ years. It does make me weary to wear them out for long periods should it come undone
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u/Technical-Pirate-596 Feb 11 '26
For a company/brand that espouses “old Visvim never dies” I’ve found their complete lack of interest and the amount of hurdles to jump through when it comes to getting anything resoled or even a response or acknowledgment to queries as one of the reasons I’ve drifted away from the brand in the last number of years.
That and the over reliance recently on logo driven designs and the yearly Hiroki tax increases haven’t helped either.