unfortunate, unusual and unacceptable

You did nothing wrong. Any shoes shouldn't fall apart in the rain on the first, second or twentieth wearing. I think you got seconds, thirds, rejects, or ???
I'd jump up and down and yell at the seller.
For what it's worth, next time buy sewn rather than glued. I've owned AE shoes, some for over 10 years, worn them through rain, snow, and Manhatten! The should last a long time if you treat them well.

I repeat, YOU didn't screw up.:icon_smile:

 

First, most of the accolades for AE on these fora are related to their welted, made in USA line of shoes (retail around $300). The "Made in Italy" line (retail in low $200s) is not welted and utilizes much cheaper method of construction in general.

That said, no shoe should fall apart after one wearing, and AE may fix this free of charge, so contact them. They do stand by their product, even if it's second quality.

As far as recrafting goes, this is a quite from AE web site:

"Italian slip-on shoes and some woven shoes cannot go through this process due to their construction"

so your shoes may not be recraftable to begin with.

You did nothing wrong, so exploit every avenue to rectify your problem either with the seller or with the manufacturer.

 

I would contact grapevine, and then AE...

 

As one of the foremost A-E advocates in forumland, please accept my apologies for whatever role I have played in your decision. All my experience has been with the made-in-Wisconsin AEs. I did buy the made-in-Maine Cameron loafer for my boy. It seems perfectly decent. I have no experience with the Italian-made shoes.

I have a hunch the glue holding the soles in place dried or something. Before you do anything else, you might have a cobbler look at your shoes. Its very possible he can re-glue that sole for a very modest fee.

 

My suggestion:
(1) First contact Allen Edmonds Directly and explain the situation. They have been excellent to me in the past.

(2) Contact GrapeVineHill and explain the situation too. They are honest, but very slow and often it takes 2 or 3 emails for them to understand something. I don't know if they have automated support that is the cause. Also, they have sold me second hand shoes stated as first hand and always cover shipping back to them and an apology.


I only have experience with the American made shoes and they have been fantastic.

 

My U.S.-made AEs have all been exceptionally durable. I have no experience with their Italian line. But when a company puts its name on a product I believe there is an implicit, perhaps explicit, guarantee attached regarding level of quality. I believe this to be true even with a huge, multi-tiered operation such as RL. You're entitled to repair or replacement from the manufacturer.

 

Thank you

Much obliged for the sound advice. I will let you know how it all turns out.