Anyone else dissatisfied with Guaranteed Fit Tango Shoes?

[yippee1999]

I ordered two pair of shoes from them over two months ago and it has been like pulling teeth getting the shoes. It seems it's a one-man operation and the guy does not seem to be in any rush to get you your shoes, and there is no way to speak to him live, so all correspondence with him has to be by email. His website implies this is a "company" with "staff" that can assist you 24/7, but I am realizing this is not the case, and it's just one guy that lives in Canada who acts as the go-between for the Argentinian shoemakers and any prospective clients.

 

[Tanguera]

I disagree with you, Yippee1999. When you put an order on the website, there's an advice saying that the shoes are hand-made in Argentina and it takes time to get them: an average of three weeks for the shoes to be manufactured plus the delivery time due to the shipping method. You can imagine that around the Christmas time both times increases, expecially the time needed to make the shoes (there's a lot of tango dancers going to Buenos Aires to dance during the Christmas time and they also buy shoes there).

I ordered two pairs of shoes during the past two years and I'm fully satisfied with them (they are the most confortable well-balanced tango shoes I ever had and they perfectly fit my feet since they are hand-made with the sizes I sent them) and with the customer service (they got my last pair of shoes from Argentina and they discovered that the Argentine shoemaker made a mistake, so they wrote me to say I had to wait a little more since they reordered them with the correct size).

So, I know it takes a lot of time to get your shoes (I live in Europe: I can assure you that I waited for a very long time!), but when you'll get them you'll be very satisfied with them.

I can also say that two months ago a friend of mine living in Switzerland got the shoes in two weeks, and they were custom made with the sizes he sent them: maybe it was only a matter of luck...

 

[yippee1999]

Thanks Tanquera. That makes me feel a bit better. Their explanation of the time it takes for delivery is a bit confusing though, as they talk about custom order shoes, versus "in stock". The shoes I ordered were from the "in-stock" category, so not exactly custom-made. Also, he of course doesn't indicate that the shoes are shipped to him first in Canada, and THEN to you, which clearly adds to the shipping time. In this day and age, it seems like 2 months is an awfully long time to wait for something that's not custom-made.

I did receive the first of two pair but had to return them because they were too big, and I will say they were SO pretty, which is why I'm now hell-bent on getting them, as opposed to just asking for a refund. :--)

 

[Tanguera]

I didn't know your shoes were "in-stock"... I was talking about custom-made shoes. Actually, two months is too much for shoes that should be available in a few days... I checked the faq page: these are the info I got:
To reach us by telephone:

You can call our Customer Support line during business hours
(10am-6pm Eastern Standard Time, Monday-Friday) at (416) 767-0045

To reach us by surface mail:

Guaranteed Fit Tango Shoes
2100 Bloor St. West
Suite 6320
Toronto, Canada m6s 5a5

 

[newbie]

Poor Yippee1999! Months of waiting, only to discover the size was wrong!
Maybe on Ebay they have tango shoes

 

[LoveTango]

I bought a pair. It was too small. I only hope that the pair they send this time is going to fit. It cost to ship the shoes back and forth.

 

[newbie]

Where there is a middleman involved, you cannot have high expectancies. I remember ordering "in-store" shoes from a middleman (not Guaranteed Fit) after seeing their webpage. The only thing that was instant was the payment process. Two months (the announced delay was 10 days) later and after many mails the middleman told me that he had not the chosen "in-store" shoes in store and proposed to send me another model. I declined, he said no problem I will refund you, then followed another two months of mail exchanges, with him pretending he had sent the check but the Fedex must have lost it and so on.

I bought the shoes in BsAs one year later.

 

[bastet]

Sorry to hear you have had some trouble.

I tried Guarantee Fit a few years ago. They didn't fit, weren't leather, and I eventually got a refund.

My advice would be to stick with some American vendors who sell tango shoes.

There are several Comme Il Faut vendors in America and you can take your pick pretty easily. Chino Hara lives in New York and sells Neotango and CiF.

If, like me, CiF doesn't fit your feet: try Kathleen at Diva-Boutique. She's got her own brand and several others.

I'm also fond of the Nueva Eopca line, and Carmen at Carmen's Dance Shoes is very easy to deal with.

They may cost a a little more, but they will last longer....

Good luck!

 

[LoveTango]

Sorry to hear you have had some trouble.

I tried Guarantee Fit a few years ago. They didn't fit, weren't leather, and I eventually got a refund.

My advice would be to stick with some American vendors who sell tango shoes.

There are several Comme Il Faut vendors in America and you can take your pick pretty easily. Chino Hara lives in New York and sells Neotango and CiF.

If, like me, CiF doesn't fit your feet: try Kathleen at Diva-Boutique. She's got her own brand and several others.

I'm also fond of the Nueva Eopca line, and Carmen at Carmen's Dance Shoes is very easy to deal with.

They may cost a a little more, but they will last longer....

Good luck!

Thanks for the recommendations. I do regret that I ordered online. Funny that the reason to order online is because it is always difficult to find a pair that fit. I have short but wide feet with high arches. At the time, I needed to have the shoes within a short time for an event. Well, I ended up having to buy another pair anyway since these ordered didn't arrive on time. With all the troubles and extra shipping, they don't even cost less. A total miscalculation.

 

[LoveTango]

Thanks for the recommendations. I do regret that I ordered online. Funny that the reason to order online is because it is always difficult to find a pair that fit. I have short but wide feet with high arches. At the time, I needed to have the shoes within a short time for an event. Well, I ended up having to buy another pair anyway since these ordered didn't arrive on time. With all the troubles and extra shipping, they don't even cost less. A total miscalculation.

my replacement shoes have finally arrived!

They are perfect! Now I don't regret a bit about all the waiting.

The shoes I ordered are Vida Mia brand Valencia style. They are fully adjustable in width. I asked for longer straps, so I was given a pair of longer straps, which help a lot. The best part of the shoes are the padding. I danced all night without any discomfort.