Clarks shoe fiasco

[ApolloRain]

I just went into Clarks as the sole had begun to come away from the front of my daughter’s school shoes. I purchased them late Aug and obvs she didn’t start wearing them until term began. Well I just be naive because I expected them to be really helpful, I have only ever bought them Clarks for school and never had another other than great service and shoes. Well the lady was vile! She said I hadn’t looked after them and it’s normal wear and tear, she was referring to the bottom being dirty and inside where the sole had come away having some dust inside. It is her first year of secondary so not running around on a playground and school is a short walk away. I said as much and that they had been properly polished weekly and have never had issues before. She was really rude and in front of my 11year old, I am truly baffled. I said they have been worn for 35 days total, surely for £50 they shouldn’t fall apart after that? However she totally disagreed. I went in fully thinking it would be a helpful/polite process as it was when I made the purchase and have walked out utterly shocked?

That is outrageous and you need to set this out in a formal complaint

These companies drive me mad, they’re all taking the proverbial. Your daughter’s shoes should last the whole school year.

Make a stink about it on TikTok, mumsnet etc. Give Clark’s a chance to fix it but let them know you’re not dropping it and bad publicity coming their way

I had the same with Geoxx and Nike. I only use hush puppy now, it wasn’t this hard when my mum needed to buy me school shoes. Just a nightmare now.

DC are 13 and 16 now. I've bought a lot of school shoes in the last 11 years!

Clark's school shoes are not cheap enough to reflect the quality or high enough quality for the price. They have a reputation of being high quality, which they no longer deserve.

M&S are far better quality for 2/3 the price, and always lasted all year.

Again, I wasn't talking about the OP but future, hypothetical, CFs. Who are even less relevant than in my post because the OP got her replacement anyway

Yes I think it’s because of their name and heard about guarantees that I thought they would be super helpful. I mean they certainly were when I was spending over £100 buying hers and my sons. His are absolutely fine, admittedly the boys ones are better but he is still at primary and running around in them all day. She does a ten minute walk to school and then is in school, lunchtime she sits on outdoor bench and eats. That’s it. I bought two pairs of Clarks shoes, 2 pairs of cheap trainers for PE and 2 pairs of Nike trainers for day to day on the same day and it’s only her school shoes that we have had issues with.

Clarkes aren't the Clarkes of the old days.

They now have some investment from a Chinese company.

I gave up with Clarks when they never had my sons' size and helpfully pointed out 'it's a busy time' - no shit, it's August, get more sodding shoes in, and that I could order some in to be delivered to their store 20 miles away.

Every time I've taken shoes or boots to get repaired with them, they've quoted me more than just buying new.

We have these and have taken two pairs back exactly for this reason - one after 4 weeks and one after 6. The shop manager simply replaced them. I assume they know it's an issue. Unfortunately, my daughter's school has a narrow list of acceptable footwear and these are the only ones she can comfortably wear.

In a moment of enlightenment my son's school, which is one of those ones who gets overly (IMO) invested in uniform, now allow Nike AirForce in plain black.
Now DS's feet have stopped growing I am happy to invest in these. They are very durable and sturdy.

Under the sake of goods act, goods have to be fit for the purpose for which they are intended.

Shoes that last a month clearly are not.

Have a google

I'd complain about her attitude in writing

Buy from the Clarks Outlet Store (there’s a website). I rarely spend over £15 on DD’s shoes by shopping in sales etc. That way even if they do fall apart it’s not a big deal

Thanks for all other brand recommendations. I definitely will write a complaint. I agree, if they were cheaper shoes I would have just bought new ones, maybe not after 35 days used though as that is rubbish for any shoe isn’t it. But for one of the market leaders in children’s shoes you would expect better. She didn’t give me a new receipt or have me sign anything, just chucked the box in my direction. All of this in front of my 11 year old aswell so even more annoyed. I feel like the quality of so many items has got progressively worse and we are just expected to accept that so I am glad people agree it’s unacceptable. I am going to call/email as even though I have new shoes, Its put me off going back, if it’s a fault with the shoe guessing it could happen again.

Dd trashed through Clarks in a month.
Geox or start rite now..never have a problem with them

that's not right, the sole should last for ages, at least a few years.

How interesting, they clearly aren’t upto much then. Have the latest pair done it?

Funnily enough I normally do, this year I was disorganised so had to go to the local one at the end of August so have paid twice as much this year for half the quality!

I've had those shoes for one of mine before. I agree with you, that's not long enough wear.

Definitely write to head office and in detail tell them about this awful manager. Not only was she in the wrong, she was rude and belittled you. Disgusting behaviour and a horrible experience for you.

I agree with the other posters, Clarks has been crap for years now - but for kids there’s not much choice I agree!

This is what I had to say to a manager in Clarks after we had exactly the same thing happen.

We got a replacement pair, but I couldn’t believe they were even hesitating to sort it out just a few weeks into term.

Definitely not made to last like they used to be, such a shame.

Clarks are normally pretty good with their customer service. But there's always the odd person with a chip on their shoulder.

It's obviously a poor quality shoe and the replacements not coming out of her pocket! A refund would have been better.

In case you're interested for next time, I do always buy similar shoes from Sports direct (Kangol/Lee cooper Isabella) for my DD, they last the whole year and are a fraction of the cost.

Like pp I've moved from Clarkes to geox as the quality has gone down hill.

I’ve just remembered she said that you can’t wait on grass in them, because there were a a few blades of grass on the bottom. 😂 Funnily enough the few days we have had rainy weather I have driven her to school as it so close to us I can easily nip her there and get my son to primary so they haven’t even had any real wear from weather. I would imagine they will dissolve off of her feet if she does go out in the rain in them.

I work in footwear (manufacture not shoe shops) 100% she is in the wrong and I would make a formal complaint to head office about her. Thats a product failure and really really bad customer service which Clarks should know about.

It's still in the first school term she should be able to offer at least an exchange or credit note as you are outside of the 30 days.

Most likely it was badly glued when it was made.

It would be protocol to send faulty items to head office as they will keep a log of "faulty" returns so if its a bad batch they can make a claim against the factory.