First, I went to Willie's in Bethesda MD, great yelp reviews, for a resoling they did a HORRIFIC job, even for $40, the tacks were sticking out of the heel and into my foot the first time, and yeah you could feel it. I took them back, they were "fixed" them for "no charge" in a week. I picked them up and wore them a little and the sole began coming off in the front, the stitching was hideous, I took them back again, and, after some grumbling on their part that preceded a week of waiting on mine, I was given my Indys back. After a week the motherfucking soles came off again.
Then I went to A&B in Bethesda, they said they couldn't put soles on them.
Next, there was a place in Wheaton MD they said 40 bucks for a resole and they'd have it done by the end of the week. 2 weeks later I stopped by and they had no record of having my shoes and didn't start on them. They found them and just gave them back to me and I left. If a business is that badly organized I'm not trusting them with my $500 shoes.
I went to the Alden store in DC (which is easily head and shoulders the most reputable store I've ever been in, their staff is really good and take pride in their job, I don't want to seem negative about that). I explained the problem and they recommended Sky Valet in Georgetown, this was a bit more expensive but I don't know how much, I think about 80 or 90 bucks said and done. For some reason they polished them with black polish, "whatever" I thought and just put the shoes on, all seemed fine. A week later I found out the soles were glued on and they started coming off in the front. I'm usually a reasonable guy but after a couple months of drama over a goddamn pair of shoes I was done.
I emailed Alden and sent the shoes to them. It took about 4 weeks and about 160 dothraki but the shoes came back masterfully resoled, polished and with fresh shoe trees.
So from now on I send them back to the manufacturer or to ebay. I'm done gambling on cobblers, I don't care who recommends what, not interested. If I don't trust the Alden store's recommendation, I'm definitely not trusting someone on reddit. No offense to anyone.