to be hopping mad that Clarks have given DS the wrong fitting two times in a row...

[Eve4Walle]

and now he has a huge blister!

He's 15 months, and I had him fitted for a pair of Clarks Doodles last week, was told he was a 4F and despite my querying that because he's been an H with before now, was told that this was his size.

Said Doodles have left a very red line along the soles of both feet. Went back yesterday and had a moan, he was re-fitted at a 4.5H and this time the doodles seemed to fit much better. Fast forward 5 hours, he's in the garden toddling about, and then suddenly starts crying and trying to take his shoes off. I have a look and OMG - there's a hUge blister on his foot that is weepy and very sore looking. My poor boy!

I am gonna bust some ass at the Clarks shop later! I do realise that I probably won't resolve much without writing but I am appalled at this....AIBU?

Last year DD1 wanted some Doodles sandals with ice creams on (she is still obsessed ). They sold us a 6 1/2 (she was in a 6 at the time) and said they fit fine. By the time we got home she'd fallen over so many times I'd had to put her in the pushchair. When we got home she ended up falling over and stuck her teeth through her lip! Apparently the sandals have to be fitted exactly right or else they are a trip hazard....hmm I guess sales girl was desperate to sell us a pair of shoes.

DD2 had her first pair of shoes fitted at Clarks for her bday present from my dad. In the shop she was a 2 1/2 g and even with me checking with sales girl that they fit properly and was assured they did.

Get home and she's toddling around in new shoes when all of a sudden she's only got one shoe on. The shoe has fallen off as it's too wide.

Take the shoes back and she is then fitted to a 3G . Not sure the sizes are consistant accross the styles.

Also got bolloxed once for reusing DD1's shoes with DD2. They both have wide feet with high arches and very narrow heels. Only very few shoes/styles fit them. I have even had to buy plasticky shoes from Shoe Fayre to last for the 2 weeks DD1 grew out of one size at Clarks before growing into the next.

I used to think our local Clarks was ok, but DD got measured there last week, came in as a 9G. They didn't have any school shoes available in her size at all, had none available to order either (which made me a bit ), but then she said that there was just one style she could order me a 9.5G and that would be fine... "it's only 4mm difference"

So what exactly am I forking out stupid large amounts of money for to buy Clarks shoes when it appears to matter not a jot if she wears shoes half a size too big?

She tried on the 9.5G's when they arrived and they rubbed her foot something horrible just walking around in the shop (we didn't purchase). We went to the independent Startrite shop and they not only had lots of choice but shoes that actually fit her... cost a bleedin' fortune though! Ah well...

I have fitted my childrens shoes myself for ages, i got fed up with having to point out that the shoes were gaping (gapeing, gapping??) or pulling off at the back. Now I take a peverse pleasure in walking into clarks, selecting shoes, trying them on and going to pay without even taking a ticket

The staff get all twitchy and start to shake.. usually someone asks if I want help, I say no thank you (all smiley and polite) and they go off to their corner to quiver and point

Anyway, Op, YANBU to create a fuss but I wouldn't expect it to change anything, the clarks training programme is flawed by all accounts (well acording to the Startrite fitter I know anyway!)

In defence of Clarks, they're not all useless. Our local one has a great lad who's done his training and is a really good fitter for toddler shoes. He spent ages with us when we got DS's first shoes, and when I went in the other day to see about sandals for him, he wouldn't sell me a pair because he was convinced DS wasn't comfortable in them! I'm not so sure myself, I think it was just a new shoe thing, but the lad certainly wasn't trying hard to make a sale.

I had my dd feet measured in 3 different clarks stores in the same week and they all measured her a different size! After writing a complaint I took her to little independant store and paid a fortune for a lovely great fitting pair of shoes! The owner of the store said she reguarly gets customers in complaining about clarks and how they like to measure them at an F width as this is what they stock more of!! I will not be going back there and YANBU!!!

MamaHobgoblin, the thing about your story that strikes me, is that the lad you are talking about clearly stands out - even to you. In reality though, he shouldn't, they should all be like that!

I used to go to three shoe shops every time we were looking for new shoes. Then I would take an average reading and go back there. They always differed hugely. Now we have three children, I just go to the shop with the lift!

Before now my children have been fitted by fitters that clearly haven't got a clue. Luckily, by now, I sort of know what a good fit is meant to look like and can query them, but it's still a lottery. No, YANBU!

Update for those interested:

Went back to Clarks yesterday and spoke to the Manager. He said he was sorry but it looked as if DS was a bit flat footed and this was common in children this age which is why he had blisters! I explained that every other pair of Clarks shoes he had had were fine but the guy was adamant this was what was wrong. He also defended the original fitter by saying nobody else had compalined about him.

He then went on to offer me another pair, I said no way, got my money back and left. I will be writing to head office.

I went straight to Jones Bootmaker (they sell StartRite), waited for a bit and then was served by a very nice lady, who asked her boss over to check the fitting of DSs sandals and ended up buying them for £25 - these

BTW - someone asked if the blisters were from the first pair - they weren't, the first pair were too narrow and caused a welt lengthways along both feet. The blisters were caused buy the Doodles Sandals.

I think flat foot is quite commonin children this age - the arch takes time to develop... so, why on earth is that not allowed for either in the style of the shoes being offered or in the fitting of the shoes being offered?

I am pleased you got what you wanted from Jones

Clarks are a truly dreadful shoe shop. Never shop there. I've only ever had disappointing service and products from there.

I have just bought shoes for dd from Startrite _ £36

She has the narrowest feet in the world, 10D, Clarks say ' Oh, we don't even make them that narrow'

eve glad you have ds new shoes, i love startrite.

I suppose that i should be embarrassed at being so tight but whenever my older girls were fitted for shoes, I always asked if they could try the next half size up to see if they would fit just as well ( and they almost always did, funnily enough). Probably saved buying a couple of sizes each year for 2 kids.

And i heartily agree about how poor Clarks can be- I will only go mid week but i really hate the fact that i never ever am able to say to my kids- which shoes would you like off the display? It is always without fail, please bring what you have got in the right size. Would adults ever do that? If I buy adults shoes in Clarks, they almost always have the ones on display ready and waiting.

Oh and who buys beige nubuck suede shoes for a child? They always seem to have those available!

Rant over.

I am flabberghasted at the price of these tiny pieces of footwear though. Last years sandals for Dd were £32. I never spend that much on my own shoes/sandals. I gave them away to a friends Dd who is the same size as Dd was last year. Sadly, Dd is the biggest girl of the group so there are no hand me downs for her...I had a choice when in StartRite last month. Shoes or sandals. The shoes were in the sale, the sandals weren't so it's pretty cotton summer frocks and clompy winter shoes.

And don't get me started on those flippin' toys they put in the soles. I mean, what idiot thought that up? Who has ever seen a child that is going to turn down a good fitting shoe without a toy for an uncomfortable one with a toy!

I've had problems with Clarks and a local independant shoe shop who, in my opinion, need the sales more than a branch of Clarks. Now I go to John Lewis or Russell and Bromley who stock both Clarks and StartRite as well as others. Clarks shoes are often foul and it irritates me that they're the market leader and the choice is usually awful.

@ £40. It's ridiculous! It's not even as though you could sell them in 6 months time and get half your money back is it? no one wants to pay more than a couple of quid for second hand shoes.