Carmina Shoemaker Reviews 101

I bought a pair of boots 2 years ago, came apart on sole and elastic on ankle on both boots frayed. After numerous emails back and forth Customer Services (Brenda) used the excuse of the boots being 2 years old that they would offer free repair if I covered the cost of shipping £100. It was visible that the boots were not worn that many times and certainly after paying a lot of money, I did not expect them to come apart how they did. I bought the boots after reading Carmina boots were made with excellent craftsmanship etc.
The company would not budge and unhelpful in every way. Therefore I will not be purchasing from this company.

I have been buying from Carmina for years and I can say their customer service is truly exceptional. I visited Spain recently and wanted to visit an actual Carmina store (I used to only buy from their website online). Trying my luck I contacted Marie who's been my go-to for years to see if an appointment can be arranged. Marie has been more than helpful, coordinating with the store to reserve shoes for me. I was then greeted with super friendly and clearly very experienced members of the store. The experience has made my visit to Spain even better. Honestly cannot recommend the brand and its team more.

Brenda and the Carmina team were awesome in ensuring my MTO loafers arrived on time + were able to be customized to my requests. Would highly recommend Carmina to anyone looking for a pair of great shoes, thanks so much to the Carmina team!

Marie from Customer Service was absolutely great. I had a non-typical return/exchange, and she handled it so easily, and was very polite and nice to me! Really made me feel good about the $850 purchase. Great experience - Marie!! and great shoes.

I am very impressed with my Balmoral Boots from Carmina. They look amazing. The shoes are made from very high quality leather and are also good year welted. And the craftsmanship gone into the shoes is impeccable. The Rain last used for my shoes give them a very sleek and classy silhouette with a stylish chisel toe. I absolutely love them and am very much looking forward to wearing these out. On top of that, the customer service is also excellent whereby they responded to any questions promptly with very helpful advice. I will certainly be buying more from these prestigious shoemakers.

Hello
i must say i really appreciate Carmina's shoes : it's quite rare to find goodyear's welted shoes of quality for woman !
The woman shoes succeed in the perfect balance between feminine touch and masculine design on the oxford/derby models with flat heel.
I love also the abilitie Carmina have to stay truth to tradition while improving modern searches.

I must say that i sometime buy some shoes in the man line : some are really délicate and elegant so they can be worn easily in androgynous outfits.

I must give a special thanks to the customer service (Brenda is so patient !!) who pay attention to their clients with so much skills and kindness.

and a special one also for the parisian shop team : it's always a pleasure to go to the Opera Store !

The Simpson last is the best for the shape of my feet (long and sleeks)

I own around 10 pairs of Carmina and have only one pair whose leather is just a little bit under my expectation (the client service gives me a discount !)

I do recommand Carmina !

Supernice company. You taste the heritage, dedication and kindness of a long lasting company that specializes in a special craft: making outstanding shoes and leather products with a clear Carmina signature. Products are beautiful, packaging too and customer service is outstanding.

Be careful with fitting the shoes - do it on a carpet, as the leather is so supple, it can quickly wrinkle (also the soles).

Hope to visit a Carmina (offline) store in the future, too.

Great shoes, friendly people !

I had a wonderful experience with Carmina. The service staff was very helpful in providing assistance with sizing. I initially ordered a pair of shoes on the Rain-last, which would have been too narrow, but Brenda quickly and efficiently changed my order to a pair of Chestnut longwing bluchers on the Detroit last. They fit like a glove and are very high-quality shoes, especially for the price. I could not recommend Carmina enough, and I will be ordering a pair of cap-toes from them soon.

They make quality shoes, but recently they have become fraudulent with their return policy. I wanted to make a custom size for a pair of boots. I sent pictures of my measurements (calf and feet) and Brenda replied saying that I would not need a custom order, that UK size 9 would fit me based on my measurements. Brenda also said I should let them know how it fits when I receive my order. However, the boots didn't fit when I received my order and they did not reply any of my emails when I requested for a return/exchange. Carmina doesn't provide a return slip, their policy requires the purchaser to contact them to initiate a return/exchange. It's sad because I have bought about three pairs of shoes from them in the past and I have also returned shoes with them, but my last experience with them was deceptive.

*update* my response to Carmina’s reply: Carmina is trying to make it sound like I made a custom order. I did not make a custom order. Carmina recommend a size to me based on measurements I sent but the boots did not fit my calf area and Carmina refused to accept my return. This is a form of fraud.

Great shoe quality but eur 50 for a return or exchange in 2024?? Such a disappointment from an otherwise solid brand

Received full support from Brenda to create a lovely pair of shoes tailored to my taste. Her constructive explanations and advice helped build my confidence in designing my shoes.

The challenging aspects include production lead times, availability of stock for current models, and made-to-order (MTO) production times. These areas could be improved to make the process even more competitive.

Overall, Carmina remains one of my top-tier shoemakers.

First of all the experience with Customer service: Brenda has been responsive all along. She is knowledgeable and gives excellent advice! She is a good listener and patiently answered my myriad of questions. Looking forward to picking her brain for my next purchases...
Now the shoes:
The design is definitely more refined than our traditional higher end shoes here in the states so if a slimmer cut with a more modern look is what you're looking for then Carmina it is. And as much as I hate to say as an owner of dozens of American made higher end shoes from the well know brands, Carmina's finish and attention to detail is definitely a step above. On my 6th pair and will be returning for more

"It has been a pleasure purchasing several boots and shoes from Carmina. The support has always been quick and clear. Very satisfied!"

I ordered two pairs of shoes, one of which required customisations and urgent delivery for my pre-wedding photoshoot, the other one needed more time to be manufactured.

Carmina's customer service/delivery team provided great flexilibility in promptly working on and first delivering the urgent pair, with the other pair delivered at a later date - all without any extra costs.

Special shoutout to Brenda who gave periodic updates to me throughout the process to provide me with assurance that the shoes would arrive on time for my shoot. It was thoughtful and much appreciated.

Customer service is fantastic! Brenda was very informative and especially helpful in choosing the right size for me. I chose the Balmoral Boots in Tan Grain, and I am delighted. The leather is supple; the fit is spot on like a glove; and the color is an eye-catcher in dazzle and beauty. These boots are also such a pleasure to wear and walk in because of their comfort. I love them!

Amazing customer service and attention to detail. A company that truly cares for its clientele. I am actually switching from some very top brands I used to buy to Carmina for their amazing customer service which is usually lacking these days. The quality of their shoes I find to be superior to shoes from their more expensive competitors. A big thank you especially to Marie and Ariadna.

I've rather recently sold off 4 pair of handmade men shoes, but still owe and use 2 pair of EG, 3 pair of C & J and 3 pair of Carmina.

The last pair purchased was actually a pair of Carmina loafers in dark brown suede. This time I used Carmina’s custom online service which gives you the possibility to configure the shoe after your own preferences to a negligible extra charge.

I choose to put on Rendenbach (JR) soles and go for tassels and EE-width which goes extra well on my feet.

The result was pretty much awesome in this price segment, both in terms of quality, fit and not least the appearance. Personally I can't see any reason what so ever not to go for Carmina when it comes to purchase of a pair of pure classic, tassel loafers in suede. And for sure, you will quickly find out Carmina offers numerous of other shoe models to choose between.

I've made all my previous orders on the Carmina official website and I have only very good experiences to share from doing this. Firstly, we are talking about great products & craftsmanship, but furthermore, any inquiry is replied upon in a very prompt & swiftly manor, delivery is fast and easy to track, and at least for me it’s obvious the Carmina staff (not least Brenda to mention anyone in particular..) are keen on and besides very able to make sure you get fully satisfied with your purchase.

Chaussures d'excellente qualité, évidemment, suite à des erreurs de ma part, le service client a été au top car j'ai dû effectuer 2 échanges. Le service client est vraiment formidable et le suivi parfait. Je ne ne peux que recommander.

My order got more than a month of delay because the leather I selected wasn't in stock, and noone notified me.

To make up for that, they upgraded my order to 'custom' so I got the chance to fully customize my shoe, including using leathers that aren't even proposed on the website!! (at least at the time of writing). I could even ask for custom width to the Inca last that is not normally offered in wide, and they accepted, knowing that this would require last modification.

On top of that, they also offered me a complete shoe care kit for compensation of the great delay my order took.

I received the pair yesterday and have to say the shoes were worth the wait, the length is great, the width and instep is slightly (barely) on the tight side but the leather will surely give after a few wear, so the size would be spot on. Construction quality is great. I have another pair of Goodyear welted shoe (Allen Edmonds) and I can say Carmina is better constructed with more attention to details. Only the left shoe sole had some minor stitch alignment issues but luckily noone would get to see that.

Now I am so happy to have a very rare (if not unique) pair of oxford. Thank you Carmina!