Has anyone taken lightly worn shoes back to Clarks?

[Shufflebumnessie]

DD had her feet measured in Clarks last week. She was size 6F. The lady advised that they only had the shoes I wanted in a 6.5F but that they were a smaller fitting shoe and should be ok. She did all the checks and declared them a good fit, I trusted her 'expertise' and bought them.
DD wore them for the first time yesterday and it would appear they're too big. She is slapping her feet down hard (which she's never done before) and tripping over every few steps.
She wore them again this morning and the same thing happened. She's 2.5 years old and told me she doesn't want to wear the shoes as they make her fall down!
I don't think it's a case of getting used to the style as they are virtually identical to her previous pair.
I'm going to take them back to Clarks tomorrow. Is it likely that I'll be able to exchange them for the smaller size as they've been worn (for a few hours only)?

I returned the same style of trainer twice after stitching came undone within a few weeks, they exchanged no problem. In your case I would think it would be fine, they gave you the wrong size.

I have had terrible problems with Clark's miss sizing shoes for both my DD. More than one store as well. I would take them back, I have In the past. Sometimes I've had to argue with HQ though but always got my refund.

I now go to John Lewis. They still sell Clark's but also other makes.

They didn't give you the wrong size. You've bought them and they've been worn, you can't return unless faulty. Children of that age grow alarmingly fast, they will fit her in no time at all.

I'd definitely return them, you bought them in the basis of their fitting, and it was clearly wrong.

We had the same issue for DS a couple of years back - asked someone to check the fit and remeasure. They swapped them no issue.

As an aside I was a children's fitter years back and we'd never have been allowed to suggest trying half sizes up because it was what was in stock. The quality of fitting was why people shopped there.

It's definitely worth a try OP. If they did refuse you, could you pop an insole in them for now? As a PP has said, kids feet grow so quickly they'll probably fit her soon anyway.

Take them back and ask for them to check the fitting. Clark's will do this and will exchange if fitted incorrectly. We ended up,always getting startrite because Clark's just didn't fit. Either specialist independent shoe shop or John Lewis

Definitely worth a try. Next time have her wear them inside for a few hours first. They'll swap them no question if she hasn't worn them outside.

My DS has long, narrow, low instep feet and Clark's always tried to sell me shoes he couldn't walk in, as they were far too big. DS needs 0.5 cm growing room maximum, whereas some children can have 1 cm no problem. Bad fitting and I'd go back and complain. Not sure you'll get anywhere though.

Check out www.happylittlesoles.co.uk for some really good information about foot shape. Bobux are the best shoes ever.

Thanks. I'll speak to them tomorrow.
I only accepted the bigger size as the lady assured me they fitted perfectly. I'll know better for next time.
She did wear them in the house for a while and they seemed ok. It was once she was out and about picking up speed, skipping etc that I noticed the issues.
Obviously she'll grow in to them but I bought shoes for her to wear comfortably now, not in a few months. I don't want her falling constantly whilst waiting to grow in to them.

I had the opposite with Clark’s, with 2 weeks of wearing them DS complained of sore toes. I took him to a different branch to be measured and they declared his shoes too small so I took them back the original branch and asked them to swap for a bigger size -I may have emailed HO first, I can’t remember. I do recall them saying “well feet grow” in a, what do you expect? kind of way so I did make it very clear that I felt the problem lay with the inaccurate measurements they’d had obviously taken. They swapped them for a bigger size.
From then on we always drove the extra distance to the next town so I could be sure he was measured correctly in future.

I've taken a pair back that fell apart in a few weeks. Then I stopped buying children's shoes from there. I started using an independent shop and they were far better.

Is there any reason why you can’t buy a pair for her to wear now? If not I’d just buy new ones, hold onto these for later and complain about the poor service. If you can’t cash flow a second pair of shoes then go and insist on a refund.

I’ve just had this exact same problem with a pair from John Lewis. Returned after two wears and shredded heels. Different assistant declared measurements incorrect. Exchanged without a fuss. Take them back!

Many (10 maybe) years ago ds was sold school shoes by Clarks that were too big. When he flipped his feet walking to school they went flying across the road. They exchanged them as they had measured them wrong.

I did, little canvas type summer shoes for Gdd. They rubbed so badly on the heels that her heels bled - and she was wearing new socks. I took the bled-on socks too, to show them.

They refunded with no question at all.

I did when DS was about 5 (he's 22 now, btw!).

Had been measured but shoes (worn twice rubbed him each time. Returned and was re-measured & swapped for different shoes without any quibbles.