Schoolblazer.com - completely useless

[Avocets]

I can't believe how poor this company is. We were forced to switch over to them at the start of the academic year when our school merged and we lost the school uniform shop.

Quality is rubbish. Things fall apart. Eg onto our third sports bag already and have just had another email saying nothing will be available until may! Service is dire. No human contact, hideous website that requires me to enter all my daughter's measurements before I can even log on - she grows - duh - what is the point of that. I have told my children not to lose anything or grow because I don't want to have to deal with this dreadful company if I can possibly avoid it.

[70isaLimitNotaTarget]

No dealings with this company but our school has had alot of complaints from parents regarding school jumpers.
They can only be bought from the school shop but were so acrylic and crunchy that DS almost had static electricity sparks arching off his body (on the rare occasion he wore it)

Then they came to an events day with grey and green clothes when our uniform is grey and red

[citruslemon]

The quality of uniform from official uniform shops is appalling!! My daughter's pinafore was £35 and it's not nice material at all :/ The polo shirt from the official shop was oddly shaped and not nice material (cost £9.99) I went to Asda and got 2 for £2.50 and they were much nicer!!

[verityverbiage]

Is there any way you can use badges off old school uniforms and put them on new items not from that shop?

[CreamolaFoamless]

well you are eing unreasonable if you view your daughters school as 'a company' .

It's a school with real people in it , that you can approach

[LilBlondePessimist]

Eh, the op has to use the 'company' schoolblazer.com since they 'school' have taken away their uniform shop. So I imagine it would do very little good to talk to the school as they have nothing to do with the supply of the uniform any more. What a strange reply, maybe try reading the op next time?

Are there any other uniform outlets op who cover local schools?

[LilBlondePessimist]

*the

[Groovee]

I'd approach school and try to source different suppliers they may be willing to change too.

[Bullseyealpha]

I would second everything you have said: the sizing is useless and even taking the assrance from their staff that the next size would be ok it wasn't. Nothing was ever in stock and the returning process was slow. Avoid at all cost, one of the worst school uniform experiences ever and not even cheap.

[LineRunner]

OFT says this is poor practice - so why do governing bodies still condone it? Awful.

OP, I'm with you.

[ApocalypseCheeseToastie]

A lady I knows kids wear the same uniform all the way through school, she buys one set for their first year then snips the badges off and sews them onto el cheapo jumpers, clever bugger.

Dunno how this will work now her dcs are heading for secondary, their the school trousers even have to be official ones with a logo. I'm sure it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact schools here get 10% of the profit made from selling their schools uniform.

[LineRunner]

Oh and another thing, in respect of bizarre decisions to change a school uniform as a response to an Ofsted report criticising attainment.

I would like to ask of the secondary Chairs of Governors banging on about the kids' carbon footprint, when you overnight make about 3,000 polo shirts utterly redundant, what you think actually happens to those textiles? And are you happy that some of the poorest parents in the country have to put them in a textile shredding bank / bin?

[TomBacsi]

My DD's/DS' school recently switched from uniforms being only available at John Lewis to Schoolblazer.
The price has gone up massively and the quality has fallen through the floor to worse than jumble sale levels. We have sent back large numbers of clothes as the quality is so bad. E.g. bobbly, after less than 1/2 a term; yesterday, we got a brand new coat and the popper flew off immediately.
The school doesn't like to admit it, but it gets a cut of the cost of uniforms from Schoolblazer. That's the real reason for the switch.
We buy as little as we can from Schoolblazer (only the stuff with the logo on) and all else comes from JL/M&S/Asda etc, which is much much better quality.
The school know about the quality issues, but I can only presume the commission kickback is worth it. It's a private school too, so it can hardly want for money given its fee levels.

[louise843]

Although this is a dead thread it seems to be the only way for anybody else to find feedback on Schoolblazer.com. There isn't a review section on their own website and guess what....the quality is lousy!!

• Swimming bags that split after 6 weeks (6 trips to the pool) whereas the older style ones from another supplier are fine after 4 years
• Winter coats that just about hold together from the back end of Autumn to Easter then they're beyond repair...at upwards of £45 each!!
• jumpers and cardigans that pill badly so look scruffy after one term
• jumpers and sweats that fade quickly. School says that we should all buy from Schoolblazer so that all the greys are the same grey but guess what...they're all different after a month or so due to different people's laundry techniques.

-there is an 'ethical trading' statement on the website but it doesn't seem to cover selling decent, long lasting school kit to parents.

[Hassan1]

I am furious with customer service . I returned an item overpriced sub standard quality. Rugby shorts for 12.00 costing 17.00 . I Returned it with returns sticker .. However did not special delivery it another expense. 3.95 cost . It still not revived by school blazer . In whole three months I have little concern help or assistance . I called endless times .. With the same you have no proof of returning . What happend to managers discretion? What happend to credit note ? What about an apology for inconvenience? What about how can we fix it ? I have paid over 300.00 to this company. I don't warrant customer service . I am very frustrated by their lack of custner cate . They are happy to take money not give it back

[karatemum789]

Sorry to add to this thread, but Schoolblazer do not get any better with keeping. I bought training pants last year.....fine. This year, same size, three inches narrower on the leg, shorter in the rise by 3 inches and it's my fault for not ordering the right size and not realising the spec has changed! Useless customer service, several phone calls and still no resolution all for £27.50 for the pants! Overall quality dreadful, have had to mend loads of things not to mention shorten or adapt......and don't get me started on the "out of stock until winter". In Scotland winter starts earlier than Warmington. What a joke these people are, shame we have to buy from them, in the normal world I would vote with my feet and never shop again in their store. Rant over, good luck you poor unsuspecting parents.

[MKMum99]

Ditto the above. Our school switched to school blazer.com at the beginning of this academic year. Thankfully we had most of the sports kit already but we needed new socks. I ordered the 4-6.5 size for my 12 year old with size 5 feet. The feet of the socks were so huge and heavily cushioned that she couldn't get them in her trainers. The toes measured 4" across (that's an 8" circumference!!) We sent them back and waited 4 weeks for the next size down (12-3.5) which are great in the feet but the legs are so tight they are like compression socks. I have ordered from another supplier (at 1/3 the cost) and will argue the case with school if need be.
Today, we received delivery of a pair of leggings to wear with skirts for hockey training when it's cold. The website advised me to get a 26" waist which it said would be a 'perfect fit'. The 28" it said would be slightly loose. I went with the 28" and they are really tight. In fact, even if you pull the waist really hard, it's impossible to get it to measure 28". The legs, on the other hand, are about 3" too long. So these leggings must be designed for someone who is about 5'6" tall with a 22" waist. (The elusive size 0??) And they wonder why girls think they are too fat?!
I'll be taking it up with school in the morning.

[Wonderwom8n]

Schoolblazer quality is terrible. Fabrics feel cheap and rough. I have returned 5 blazers as they are stitched incorrectly and the lapels don't lie correctly and fall open. The pockets are in the wrong place and the piping appears, disappears onto the inside of the blazers then reappear... Shocking, they tried to tell me it was the schools design fault but clearly is poor workmanship. The buttons have fallen off my skirt and the hems fallen down. Also the lining on both skirts and pinafore have split all the way up the side. The blouses are poor quality, stain easy and are a nightmare to iron! I have spoken to the school but they clearly do not want the hassle of changing uniform again! The sizing system is hopeless as the garments are all completely different sizing .., the coats measure huge and the blazers tight. Also it is sooo expensive!! Feeling very annoyed.

[TheRealMBJ]

I am so glad I came in here before spending £££ on uniform for both my DC starting at a school using Schoolblazer.com. It IS so expensive for basics. Will just get the labeled stuff on there. £90 for a blazer in pre-prep.that is shite quality?!?

[APRMCK]

No change here then with Schoolblazer. I ordered a blazer on 11th August which arrived 9 days later - too big. Returned on 21st Aug for smaller size - their returns system took 7 days to register the return and I am still waiting for new blazer - all fully paid for on 11th Aug. Son goes back to school with no blazer on Monday! No reply to emails/phone messages - I cannot believe that in this day and age that (1) product shipment takes so long and (2) Returns process is by 'shanks mare' (3) Customer service is non-existent. To make matters worse I would have been happy to pay for another blazer to be shipped by next day delivery but lo and behold they, in their wisdom, have suspended this service so they can deal with getting all orders shipped at this busy time. Heaven forbid - they are a school outfitters and surely this 'busy time' didn't just creep up on them unexpectedly. We are not talking complicated 'build your own nuclear power station' or Savile Row suits - how difficult is it to hold stock and ship within 2 days or overnight. Its not as if the prices are inexpensive. Over £90 for a senior school blazer - surely next day delivery should be a given. I am so frustrated by this company and have written to our school to complain.

[lifeonthesofa]

Do you remember which measurements do they ask you to fill in?
Is it just a whole web page where you have to fill in individual measurements like shoulder width, arm length, etc. or is it more specific depending on the garment?

[boogypig]

I can only say what a pity this is a universal experience; I know huge numbers of parents at my school are losing the will to live over the paucity of this company, too. The school itself gains a percentage per sale and doesn't appear to be listening to parents' experience; perhaps their focus should be less business and more family?
The underlying problem with Schoolblazer seems to be their monopoly status - there's just no incentive for them to improve either quality, service or pricing. The website is appalling, too.
Our school had a 100% new wool jumper changed (because the quality was so poor) to a 100% acrylic one, but the price remained the same - £23! The same acrylic jumper - minus a single blue stripe - was selling in John Lewis uniform dept for £4! Schoolblazer is overpriced and schools need to be more alert to the fact that parents are being ripped off, as well as having some concern for the often low quality, poor service, pathetic stock-keeping, and unreliable returns. Not to mention the self-flagellating experience that is navigating their website.

[boogypig]

Oh how could I forget? You have to complete your child's every detail, inside leg, shoulder to waist, inside arm, etc, etc. This is no laughing matter when you only want to order a tie. Also, if you have several children, you just want to string up a noose because - guess what - they all grow constantly and the recommended sizes are often absurd. I just by-pass the whole lot by using a fictitious child's name and the system is so unintelligent that, although I have stated that my 'child' is just eighteen inches tall - this is actually the default option they offer - they still suggest 'he' will fit a 28 inch blazer! Try it and enjoy! But make sure you've got a couple of hours spare if you decide to go for the tie.

[Russ100]

Just bought an item with Schoolblazer quoting free delivery. When I came to paying they had added £4.99 delivery! Why I asked - they came back and stated that if the order is >£50 then they charge for delivery.....and it is added at the end of the order process! Another rip-off!!

[MyHeadHurtsNOW]

I'm disgusted that my children's school switched to this online school shop considering the astronomical school fees we pay. Delivery charges are outrageous and the delivery takes forever which in my opinion should be standard next day. How long can we wait for a spare pair of socks that they need immediately after being lost or stolen? I'm incensed that some children resort to stealing each others kits because of the hassle and they are probably nervous about asking their parents to get them spare ones. Big mistake by this public school to get rid of their uniform shop!!!! I obviously have a school issue, but this site is a ripoff, poor quality with unbelievably unrealistic delivery setup.

[PinguForPresident]

Oh no, I've just reaslied my daughter's school are switching from an onsite uniform shop to this supplier. Bugger. Great. The uniform shop was fabulous - if expensive - but it sounds like this place is a million times worse :(