Zwartjes van 1883

The best service

I kindly asked the shop assistant for fitting advice, since I saw a beautiful pair on the internet. Without listening further to me, he refused to help me. I understand his position, but in my opinion this is a not a good service for any high quality shop. Besides, he looses potential customers, since I was interested in any shoe - not only the from one online.

Good shoe selection.

Great store with a variety of brands. English, Italian, Dutch, etc.. also the shop which has a great selection of my favourite brand: Crockett & Jones!

A normal greeting seems not possible in this place. Unfriendly and uninterested staff with an arrogant attitude. Such a shame for such a pretty store. The older gentleman with glasses (more reviewers here seem to have noted his behaviour, he is the store manager so probably nothing is going to change here) checked my shoes upon seeing me, which is rude and unnecessary. When he realised I wore one of the brands he sells he begrudgingly asked me if he could be of any assistance. He could be of help yes, but unfortunately he wasn't, and he lost a customer. To be clear, I did not enter the shop to have a silly argument. I just wanted some advice, get some shoe polish and potentially buy new shoes. Bear with me. I have bought my Crocket & Jones shoes and boots in the brand's flagship store in London and over time one of my pair of boots have slightly changed colour. I asked the seller for advice on darkening the leather of my shoes back to their original colour. The rude salesman interrupted my question and replied in a very condescending tone: "These are not the same boots as we sell here." I replied they actually were: Crocket & Jones, dark brown Islay boots. He again denied they were the same. I told him they have discoloured a bit, which is perfectly normal for a natural product. He didn't believe me and asked me to take off my shoes. He inspected them for one second and immediately said:" I can't see the model name because the inside is redone. So I can't tell, it is not original anymore." To which I replied friendly but obviously a tiny bit annoyed: "I just had them repaired in their original Northampton factory via their original shop in St James in London." He looked at me as if I was making this up and said: "They wouldn't loose their colour if you would maintain them in the right way." I replied that I use Crocket & Jones' own ORIGINAL shoe polish. Finally the answer came: "Yes, we can make them darker for you." No further explanation on the procedure, costs or timeframe were given. Silence. I said thank you and goodbye and there was not a kind word in return. One more thing: This particular brand is overpriced at Zwartjes. For the same price you can buy a plane ticket to London AND buy amazing shoes in one of the wonderful Crocket & Jones shops and get the best costumer service you can imagine. Make sure to go to one of their shops at Jermyn St in St James and you'll be met with kindness, patience and a humble attitude. Zwartjes, please take your personnel to London and see how customers should be treated. I just moved from London to Amsterdam and after reading many more discouraging reviews I decided to not to go Zwartjes again. This particular salesman puts the wonderful products he sells to shame.