...to expect brand new Clarks shoes not to disintegrate if just left in the wardrobe?

[doce]

This little video ( ) shows 13 pairs of brand new or little used Clarks shoes after they'd been in the wardrobe for a while, unworn - an incredible scene of unaided, rotting, disintegrating shoes.

Worse still, Clarks across the world are washing their hands of the problem, offering trifling amounts of compensation (just a few pounds) if they're really pushed, and hoping people will forget about the problem.

Clarks are cheaply made imported shoes (UK manufacturing ceased long ago) sold at high prices to people who trust the name - in reality you can't trust the name (or the shoes) at all, because in the event of a problem like this they just don't want to know.

Check your cupboards and wardrobes (and your partner's) - those nice new shoes you put away for later are probably rotting in their box!

But the video has sinister music so something MUST be going on

I've had this happen to me with about 4 pairs of sandals all clarks. A couple of pairs were unworn but in storage whilst I had moved house. As soon as I started wearing them the soles would crack and crumble.

DCs have worn Clarkes shoes for years and I have sandals etc that are stored away from one year to the next and they always come out fine. DC1 got out her prom shoes for the first time in a year and immaculate. Not saying not a problem but I have never had one and you can only go on your own experience.

OK - so some posters say it HAS happened to them - fair enough.

Clarks need to look at:

1. How old the shoes were - was it to be expected?

1. Which models - is there a pattern with materials used?

1. In which countries are people finding faults - climatic conditions?

1. How the shoes were stored and for how long?

1. The countries where the shoes were made - conditions or faults in the factories?

1. How much wear had the shoes had?

I'm sure there will also be other factors.

Oh - and I'm not saying shoes don't crumble but the shoes in that video have definitely been sliced open.

Another one who's seen it in military issue boots. Remember trying to check yours were in good shape before you signed for them while 100 people around you did the same. Bloody nightmare.

I've had 3 pairs of Clarks shoes do this to me. 2 pairs of wedges where the sole / heel just split across the bottom and then disintegrated when I was walking along. Another pair of slip on shoes with a thick rubber sole I came across when going through the shoe boxes in the wardrobe, I bent them to check and they split right across the bottom. The wedges had been worn quite a bit and had been stored in my wardrobe. They were probably 10+ years old though. The rubber had just perished.

My feet haven't changed size since I was 11 and my mum never throws anything away, I have a pair of clarks that have been kept on a rack in a damp cellar for years and years and they are still fine and I could wear them if I wanted to. Maybe the quality has changed but I don't believe those videos at all.

Always bought Clarks (& I'm very old!) and have never had this problem.
Sounds like utter bullshit.

I think I'll stick to my experience of clarks being pretty good.
DH & DS's all have very wide feet and we struggle to find many other brands that accommodate them. Yes they are eye wateringly expensive but 9yo DS gets about a years wear out of his before he grows out of them and they are usually still in pretty good nick. DHs ones for work last about a year but he does some serious mileage everyday walking round the complex of buildings.
I have a more mixed bag of shoes from different shops but the clarks boots I bought 2 years ago and wore all winter each year are still in perfect condition.

I've had 3 pairs of non Clarks shoes crumble.. in fact my Buffalo boots did this just last night. The outer sole just splits somehow and then the inner rubber just crumbles. Admittedly all of them were 15+ years old, but they hadn't been stored in a damp place.

What a load of bullshit! 😂 I have about 4 pairs of Clarks shoes that are in storage and have been for 2 years, if I retrieve them and they are like the ones in the video I'll bloody go on the 9 o'clock news about it! What ever next, M&S clothes come to life if you don't wear them!

Meh. Soles will perish if you leave them and they are rubber. Found a lovely pair of mules in my late mothers stash of shoes. Wore them round the house and couldn't work out what the black powder that had appeared all over was, till I realise it was the foam from inside the shoe sole crumbling !

I had a pair of daps from the 1940's, I wore them on a 50 mile hike and the buggers fell apart! Ffs. I didn't expect that! 😂

My mum has to buy me Clarks school shoes I would get 2 pairs every year for school and I never had any problems with any of my shoes. Clarks made brilliant shoes when I was a kid. I don't know what they are like now though because I haven't had a pair of shoes from them since I was in high school.

BusterGonad in my experience after the shoes/ sandals have been in storage they will look pristine but as soon as you start wearing them you notice the soles seem sticky to the ground and then they leave a trail of black bits

I've googled this and it appears to be related to the type of material the sole is made of rather than being a Clarks problem.

What a load of ballocks. Been buying Clarks for 12 years for dc and this has never happened.

I was joking Robin, I obviously failed!

Well problem is easily solved. Don't buy Clarks shoes!

It only happens if you put them away for years. My DHL is an accountant and believes in buying a bargain. So his very nice leather shoes, bought at a good price and probably then in his wardrobe for 10 years, disintegrated during the course of a day when he wore them. Not Clarks, well made good leather shoes. The showmender said not to store shoes unworn for years as this would happen.

"I've googled this and it appears to be related to the type of material the sole is made of rather than being a Clarks problem."

Spikeyball, it does relate to the material used, and it was used by Clarks for cheapness and corner-cutting. The more quality-conscious manufacturers stuck to more traditional materials - and for goodness sake you'll find shoes in museums that are centuries old. It doesn't have to be like this.

The real complaint, though, is not so much about it happening (and for those who think it's all made up - just spend a couple of minutes on Google with words like Clarks and hydrolysis) but the failure by Clarks to do anything about it - despite vast numbers of hacked off ex-customers across the globe.

A good company makes a mistake and sees its customers right. A bad company makes the same mistake but tells its customers it won't do anything about it. And that's why Clarks is getting so much bad publicity across the world for this.

Really love the people taking the line 'didn't happen to me, so it didn't happen at all'!

OP, but why focus your ire on Clark's? It happens to shoes from all sorts of manufacturers. I am suspicious of your motives.

I have a pair of leather clarks shoes that have been left outside for 5 years & they haven't rotted.

Those shoes look like they've been chewed by a dog.
I've got loads of clarks shoes. My brown leather boots are over 10 years old and are fine.
If they've been stored for years in a sweaty bin bag or put away damp from sweaty feet full of bacteria then it's your own bloody fault.
Can't expect a shoe shop to give a shit years after purchase.
I have always found clarks customer service fantastic.