To think that Clarks/ starite shoes are rip off

[ReallyTired]

The shoes cost a bomb and my son's shoes fell apart after four months. Yet I feel guilt tripped into not buying fitted shoes, (even though half the assistants have no clue about fitting shoes)

Am I really going to do untold damage to my son's feet getting him school shoes from sports direct?

www.sportsdirect.com/propeller-bart-back-to-school-junior-shoes-093009

Ds tells me that these shoes are more comfortable than the clarks shoes. At £6.50 I am in profit if these shoes last a month and I buy four pairs.

Goose I'm sorry, I'm just not surprised by what you say at all, regarding some fitters just not being very good at it.

Is it asking too much that if a fitter 'fails' their training, or doesn't 'get it' after having the training, that they aren't allowed to fit children's shoes?

After all, that's exactly the thing that Clarks is selling their shoes on - that other shoes won't be fitted as well as theirs. A lot of parents feel guilt tripped into buying Clarks on this basis and here you are admitting that some of the fitters are just rubbish at it!

I don't think that's good at all.

We have always had teenaged fitters in Clarks. Their experience can't be more than a year or two.

One pair as I said had got a hole in the toe within a week - the front bit of rubber came off on the first day he wore them to school, and of course there was nothing to protect the obviously poor quality leather after that.

Thankfully I had got them in the sale but still, £20 wasn't cheap enough to throw away.

Another time I bought ds2 a pair in advance, so not fitted, and when I came to try them on him a few months later, they wouldn't actually go on his feet.

Bear in mind that he was in a Clarks 6 and a half at the time - these were a 7 and a half - when I took them, and him, into the shop, they tried them and said, yes, these are the wrong size - they gave us another pair the same size that DID fit

Their explanation was that the shoes arrived like that, not uniformly sized, some were bigger than others, though they were marked the same.

I couldn't BELIEVE what she was saying. I have only bought very cheap sale shoes from there ever since. We get their feet properly measured and fitted by the older woman at our independant shop now and buy start rite - which funnily enough seem to be made from proper, dyed through, (not just on the surface) decent quality leather.

Many, many times I've had them measured in Clarks and been told they are a certain size, then they have brought out other width fittings or sizes saying 'well every shoe is different and we didn't have anything in their actual size'.

Enough already! What is the point of that? It's a gimmick and a bit of a con.

When my son was younger my local Clarks strongly recommend we bought his wellies elsewhere as theirs didn't fit him. I've trusted them ever since. I worked at Clarks myself and fitted shoes and have agreed with all their fitting since. I live in a small town and know the fitters too which definitely helps.

Should add that when I worked at Clarks 10 years ago we had targets as to selling shoe care - polish etc. You were supposed to have 5% of your sales made up of this. There were no targets for how many shoes you were supposed to sell. We were told not to sell children's shoes that didn't fit. May have changed now of course but there were no sales targets then.

I think they're extortionately priced, but DS has very wide feet so I'm kinda stuck. But I tend to take him to get his feet measured then buy new Clark's shoes in the right size from eBay, usually about £20 cheaper! It's rare his width fitting is available in sale shoes.

Rooners. I don't understand why you are cross that the shoes didn't fit if you bought them in advance, didn't have them fitted and only tried them on your child a few months later.

I have always bought clarks shoes for DD and ive never had any issues. we go to the outlet and as a rough rule they are generally 1/3rd cheaper than the shops.

we went yesterday and her feet were measured on the computer thing. When she was being fitted with my chosen shoes the fitter advised that I should get 1/2 size larger because she didn't have the thumb width growing room that they advise (it was about 3/4 of a thumb width). I'm always vigilant and ask the fitter to explain what they can see and if I think they look too tight, for example, I ask them.

The only issue I have had is with some of the cerise coloured shoes, in that when they get polished with the correct polish it leaves a bit of a dirty look to the scuff, but I only get that colour as nursery shoes.

So the shoes were £23 and if they last the first term them i'll be happy.

Fwiw I always had clarks shoes and I'd say 90% of my shoes are by clarks and just as long as you care for them, dry them properly and polish them etc, i've found they have last, so in my mind they are worth the money.

I bought all DD's first shoes from Clarkes, but then took her for a fitting and a week after buying the shoes DD refused to put the shoes on. On finally putting them on her we realised they were too tight across the top of her foot, making her foot bulge over the line of the shoe. After that I changed to Hush Puppies. They were fantastic, and always lasted ages and fitted to her foot properly (they change the innersole to fit the width - so good if one foot is slightly wider).
But unfortunately the outlet shop stopped stocking smaller sizes, so we tried Startrite, and after a day of wearing them my daughter had a massive blister.
So we returned to clarkes, but started to check the fit our selves. DS's shoes are falling apart after just 3 months - though he has given them some real stick. DD's are looking very tatty.
We have just bought some Sainsbury's shoes (for a formal occasion), but I am tempted to send them to school in them and see how they do.

Disclaimer: my children are now adults, so things might be different now. Both DCs had ridiculously wide feet ( as do DH and I). This meant that no shoes were available to fit them. We had a lovely independant shop in our nearest town wher they would measure their feet, get the best fit available (almost invariably Start-Rite) and then send them to the manufacturers to be stretched to the right width. Always done free of charge and the shoes always lasted until the DCs had outgrown them - sometimes just one term, but more often, two. If we were unsure whether new shoes were needed, we could always turn up at the shop and they would check. We were never sold a pair of shoes that weren't needed.

I do not deny that shoes were expensive, but having had problems finding comfortable shoes all my life, there was no way I was going to take any chances with my DC's feet.

Rooners - personally, I think you're right. If someone can't fit properly then they shouldn't be allowed to fit children's shoes. Unfortunately, that would mean they are next to useless because in smaller shops there is often only two staff members in at a time so it makes it difficult to manage. Someone in my store did get let go because of it - it took almost 18 months to go through the training, retraining, target setting, warnings etc before the manager was allowed to sack her though - in that time we had various complaints and were double checking the shoes she fit whenever we could.

The whole thing about bringing out different widths to what was measured etc is in our training. Every shoe is different, even ones that are the same style - all of the components of the shoes are cut out by a machine but then put together by a human with a sewing machine. Some styles come out slimmer than others just because of the style. Sometimes a child can measure an E fitting but go out in a G because they have a really high instep and need the extra space in the shoe for it.

I'm rambling a bit but what I'm trying to say is the measurement we take is purely a guide - somewhere to start from that is more scientific than looking at a foot and going 'oh, it's about a 10, I reckon and probably a G fitting'

Wrt fitting gauges you can use at home, clarks sell them (I think they're £6 but I'm not certain) and there are tutorials on the clarks website.

We do still have shoecare targets to hit but they're not as high as 5% (which I am really to hear it used to be - I hate pushing it on people and would never have hit that target!)

A word of warning re startrite... Please make sure they are suitable for your child's feet, not just fit. By the time I was 14 there was only one pair of (male) startrite shoes that fitted me. They had a thick sole and good strong leather. Perfect, although fugly. Except I have long, narrow, bony feet with an exceptionally high instep (to the extent I have a bony growth on the top of my foot) and I hyper flex my foot when I walk. I was agony in those shoes. The leather round the edges dug into my ankles and rubbed. I had to lace them so tightly to stop my feet flapping around that area round the top of my foot was rubbed and in almost constant pain. The back of my heel had a blister for about 6 months until the leather had softened a bit, and I just to have "flappy feet" because I couldn't flex the sole of my foot when walking. I eventually managed to crack the soles across the ball (twice!!) and mum told me off (it wasn't deliberate, I have no idea how I did it!) she then bought me a pair of cheapy shoes at the Easter to last till end of term (we were abroad, leather shoes, £15 - good exchange rate!) the foot pain went away, I could walk properly and the black heel is had for about 10 years from constant rubbing went away.
Sorry it's so long, but mum bought into "startrite are best" so wholeheartedly she couldn't see they really weren't beat for me (or my brother, who had similar issues).

Sorry for typos and missing words.. I just got on a rant and forgot to preview!!

well these shoes are synethic not leather and only available in one width fitting, which is fine if your DS has feet of average width.

I don't buy clarks as I don't think the quality is good, but each DC has had a pair of start rite shoes at the start of each year and they have always last whole school year....

My mum always drilled into me that shoes are the one thing you should never skimp on. If your feet are uncomfortable it makes life that much harder, generally. So i always take the kids to Clarkes, & by & large their high-instep, wide feet are a lot happie for it. Back to school time is investment time in our house - spent over £100 there on friday. Still, i tell myself it's worth it.

SpeedwellBlue Sun 18-Aug-13 10:35:02

Rooners. I don't understand why you are cross that the shoes didn't fit if you bought them in advance, didn't have them fitted and only tried them on your child a few months later.
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The point was that they were a 7.5, and he was wearing a 6.5, which still just about fitted, when I tried them on him. They were smaller than the 6.5.

The shop took them back (to their credit) as both were Clarks, the size was clearly totally wrong on the 7.5 shoes - holding them up sole to sole with the 6.5s he already had, they were smaller - and then they gave me another pair of 7.5s in the same style, which WERE bigger than the 6.5s, and fitted him.

Then they said that sometimes shoes are quite variable, and that was their excuse for the 7.5s being smaller than the 6.5s.

I hope that helps.

Best to always get them fitted.

Well yes, but then I'd have ended up thinking he was a 7.5 when he was a 6.5.

I don't always think fitting is necessary. I can do an approximation of it myself.

I do object to shoes being sold that are vastly different in actual size but marked the same size by a company that sells itself on correct fitting.

I always buy clarkes for my 3 for school they last all year. The woman in the shop gave me a tip...buy the next size up and put an insole inside then they dont grow out of them so fast.

I would only buy good quality leather shoes for my dd. We go to the local independent shoe shop and usually end up with Start-rite or Ricosta or Richter or occasionally a slim fitting continental brand.

I think you can spot shoes which are synthetic material after a few wears as the coating scuffs off and the edges fray. They can't be polished and wouldn't last the whole school year like quality shoes.

If your child has anything but average width feet then cheap shoes will likely be too narrow or too wide.

I see kids in the playground (mainly girls) with terrible fitting shoes all the time, gapping at the sides, slipping off, fat feet bulging in little mary janes. Would much rather shell out for fitting and my child be comfortable and able to run and walk easily than save a few pounds.

Well, I buy Clarks apart from a pair of trainers from Tesco I bought for my son. And he LOVES them!!!! He cries anytime I pick up the Clarks shoes and runs over to pick up the Tesco ones!!

Clarks are ridiculously overpriced but the quality of their shoes is very good in my opinion. My son has never worn any out - just outgrown them.

I usually try to get an older fitter as my prejudice leads me to believe they are better and care more about doing their job right. However, recently a young girl aged about 18 served us and I admit my heart sank when she came over but she was brilliant. She was great with my son who has a phobia of having his feet measured and so thorough. He actually enjoyed the whole experience so that taught me a lesson.

Went to Brantano one - never again! Measured both my sons wrong and both were wearing shoes a size too big for them for 2 months.

Someone told me that Clarks/Start Rite cost more because it costs them more to make them in different width fittings than it would to make them all in the same width fitting. My eldest is 9 and we've never had any problems with Clarks shoes or fitting. My dds have sometimes worn them all year if their feet haven't grown. I would never order Clarks off ebay as when we get them fitted a shoe that is the right size won't always fit well, so we sometimes need to try other styles to get a good fit. If you ordered off ebay they may not be a good fit despite being the measured size.

The whole fitted shoes thing is a complete crock of shite and nothing but pure marketing genius.

When was the last time you saw an adult hobbling around because their parents bought their shoes from Asda and not Clarks?

How do all the people in Africa manage without access to a local Clarks/Startrite? I mean they even walk a lot more than we do since they don't generally have luxuries like cars.....

Now you may decide to buy Clarks because you think the shoes last a bit longer. I know that's the main reason I would. But to think that somehow my kid will walk funny without shoes fitted at Clarks etc. Don't make me laugh.

Clarks shoes last a whole year here so no complaints from me!

They are literally worn every day! Bargain!

I like to get my daughter fitted regulary. Having said that her feet hardly grow at all.

I would never get her measured at Clarks - (a) I don't think they do it correctly and (b) you have so little choice - the way Clarks fit isn't necessarily the best fit for your child.

I go to an independent boutique, get her fitted and choose shoes. This year the best fitting were Richter. Last year we had Geox. Interestingly we tried on the same style she had last year and they didn't fit as well as the Richter

I used to buy ds shoes from clarks when he was little and started school but when dd started school I was amazed they didn't have any lace up shoes only Velcro crap so I got her kickers. She has been able to tie her shoelaces perfectly since she was 4 where as my 2 stepsons still struggle at the ages of 15 & 13 because they only ever had Velcro shoes.