So I have a pair of black Aquatalia boots that were coming apart at the front seam (one shoe only) and with slightly worn heels (these are molded soft heels). I asked for the front seam to be repaired and the heels to be repaired;this was at Nordstrom. On the first attempt to pick up the shoes, I found that the seam has some sort of copper adhesive put in it (instead of stitching the seam and it looked awful) and a hard heel had been nailed into the bottom of the soft heels (didn't look horrible, but not sure how that's going to hold up).

I sent them back for repair #2 to redo the seam and maybe the heels. I got a call back last week saying that the shoes were ready. I asked the woman on the phone what the seam looked like and she said "it looks fine." Then I asked her if it looked exactly like the other side. She says, "it looks fine. Oh, the repair guy is here, let me ask him." She comes back to the phone and says "the repair guys says it's as good as it's gonna get."

Wow, bad customer service. I am never taking another shoe to Nordstrom. I haven't gone in to pick up the boots following the second repair.

(1) Best case scenario: he got the copper gunk off and sewed the seam as it should have been in the first place. I could probably live with the mismatched heels.
(2) Worst case scenario: The copper gunk is still there and the heels are poorly done.

Can I refuse to pay for the repair if the scenario turns out to be anything but case (1)? Do I have to pay for the repair in order to take the boots elsewhere to undo the poor workmanship and fix them? I'm treading in unfamiliar territory here.