See how Mumsnetters got on with the Brantano children’s shoe fitting experience! NOW CLOSED

[AngelieMumsnet]

This thread is for the 95 Mumsnetters who are testing Brantano’s child shoe fitting service.

The Mumsnetters were given £50 vouchers to use on a pair of children’s shoes and asked to try the children’s fitting service.

So, now we are interested to hear how you got on! Please share below your responses to the following questions, and feel free to add any additional comments you have.

• Which store did you visit?
• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?
• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?
• What brand was the pair of shoes?
• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?
• What did you think of the customer service in general?
• What did your children think of the experience?
• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?
• Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

Thanks!
MNHQ

Which store did you visit? We visited the Eastbourne store at the Crumbles

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)? My 13 year old DS took part in the test as he had just popped out of his school shoes yet again! He also has extremely flat feet so a fitting service is essential for him.

• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)? We bought boys Clarks black school shoes with lace ups.

• What brand was the pair of shoes? Clarks bootleg

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service? The fitting service was very attentive and the fitter took care to measure the width correctly. I was surprised though that they used an old fashioned measuring block with a tape rather than a computerised version which I thought was more accurate.

• What did you think of the customer service in general? The fitter was very friendly and took time to measure my DS carefully. He also showed us which shoes would be suitable and had the hals size needed. He took our shoes to the till for us and was very helpful and made me feel relaxed.

• What did your children think of the experience? My DS wasn't impressed with the measuring tape as he is used to an ipad with Clarks fitting service but he thought the fitter was friendly and helpful.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again? I probably would if I had just one child but there wasn't the range of school shoes in my DS size, he needed a half size. We had only four to choose from which wasn't too bad for him as he isn't too fussy, but my DD would have hit the roof.
• Would you recommend it to your friends/family? For friendliness, yes but not for range if needing half sizes.

Thank you for the opportunity to take part.

Which store did you visit?
Wishaw in Lanarkshire

Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?

Dd2 who is 12.

What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?

We went for school shoes but left with trainers for both her and dd1 as there was absolutely nothing else suitable.

What brand was the pair of shoes? Both Reebok

What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?

After browsing around for 10 or more minutes, I went looking for a member of staff. She was polite and friendly and measured dd2 using an old fashioned gauge. She came out at a size 5 which really surprised us as she measured a size three just a couple of months ago when she got the Doc Martens that she is currently welded into. She said that if we wanted her to check the fittings just to come back down. We went back up to the children's department and started trying shoes on. All the 5's were far too big so went eventually settled on a size 4 pair of trainers.

What did you think of the customer service in general?

A bit mixed to be honest. No one acknowledged us when we came in although I only noticed one other customer. The children's department was near the back of the store and we were left to look around without any interaction by the staff.

After dd2 had been measured it would have been helpful if the assistant had asked us how we were getting on. The shop was quiet and it would have good customer service to come and find out how we were doing. Although she did offer to check the fitting, she was at the other end of the shop.

What did your children think of the experience?

She wasn't particularly impressed at the range of shoes for her size. We saw one pair of school shoes she quite liked but they were too big. A lot of the styles were slip on's which although fashionable, don't suit her as she wears corrective insoles. We noticed very little choice in brand names, the vast majority of shoes/trainers were own brand which we weren't keen on.

Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?

Probably not. The size 5's were far too big and it was easier just to try different ones one and fit them myself. We were disappointed with the range of suitable shoes in her size.

Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

Maybe for smaller children. I appreciate dd2 is at the upper end of the age range for this product test and she was between children and ladies sizes. We found the size 4 childrens shoes quite babyish and the ladies size 4 were too old fashioned for a 12 yr old. There did seem to be a fair bit more choice for younger children.

The lady who served me was very nice and chatty, she asked the children about the upcoming school holidays and was generally very pleasant. As I mentioned earlier, she could have perhaps interacted with us while we were choosing shoes. When we made contact with her she was very helpful but didn't go out of her way to assist. This does seem commonplace now having read all the other feedback posts.

• Which store did you visit?

Gloucester

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?

My 12 yr old daughter

• What type of shoes did you buy?

School shoes

• What brand was the pair of shoes?

Clarkes

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?

It was not busy so we were approached straight away. We had a young man who was really friendly and seemed to know his stuff and explained about fitting shoes properly. He engaged dd and asked her questions about what she liked and what shoes and size she was wearing presently.

• What did you think of the customer service in general?

Very good. I wanted some sandals and flip flops for my younger dd and he helped with that too. He showed us the different choice of the style she preferred (brogues) and brought them out to her and fitted them carefully. He explained about the discount we could get for the next pair and when we could use that discount. He wrote this down as well as the date thst dd should be remeasured.

• What did your children think of the experience?

Dd loved it as she got to pick the very expensive shoes Id said no to last month.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?

Yes I would as the choice was very good and the pocess efficient.

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

Yes definitely.

Thankyou.

MNHQ: I have changed MN username for this product test.

Which store did you visit?
Kilmarnock store

Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)
My 10 yr old daughter

What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?
Trainers & some wedge sandals

What brand was the pair of shoes?
Trainers - Adidas
Sandals - Blox

What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?
It was fine, the method used was the board with the gauge, my daughter measured as a size 3.5 and we got lots of information about half sizes and width measurements. We got a date card with a follow up fitting date as well.

What did you think of the customer service in general?
There was no member of staff around when we arrived (Sunday, early afternoon) I think they were all busy with other customers.. We found someone and had to ask to be fitted, he then went to inform one of the fitters. The fitting itself only took a minute, we had time to browse, and were offered help as and when we needed it.
I don't recall the assistants name, but she was really knowledgeable and confident with the information we received..

What did your children think of the experience?
The assistant serving us chatted away to my daughter treating her as the customer, which I liked.. asking her opinions on shoe styles and telling her information.
She loved being the centre of attention.

Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?
Yes

Would you recommend it to your friends/family?
Yes

Thank you Mumsnet & Brantano!

I visited the Wakefield store

I took my three dcs, ds1 age 6, dd age 5 and ds2 age 2

Ds1 got some sandals and dd got some school shoes, ds2 didn't get any

The sandals were brantanos own brand, and the school shoes were clarks

I was disappointed in the shoe fitting service, a young man brought brantanos own fitting implement over. Which was a metal sheet, we weren't offered the clarks measure.
The fitter guessed at the widths as the brantano implement just had narrow, normal or wide. He said ds2 was a g fitting but I know he's a h.
I was disappointed that once he had told us the sizes of the dcs feet, he was no where to be found again. I thought he might have offered to check the shoes we had chosen or given us some advice on what shoes to choose, especially since both boys have a very high instep and wide feet.

I wasn't impressed with the customer service at all, we had to approach the staff even though at one point they were leaning against the rails chatting, so not even busy.
When I approached the duty manager for some advice on ds2 shoes, as the shoes in the sizes he was measured at weren't fitting, she told me that I had to find a style to fit and then turned back to the conversation she was having. By then my ds2 was becoming bored and was running round, she noticed we were still there and brought over some brantano sandals and tried them on him. The Velcro didn't meet but she was happy with the fit. I told her I had always been told that if the Velcro didn't meet, it meant the shoes weren't wide enough. She told me that's why shoes have Velcro on, to ensure people with wide feet could buy shoes. At this point I knew she didn't know what she was taking about and gave up on trying to find ds2 any shoes.
At the till on paying, the staff still weren't interested and tried to insist my voucher was only 50% off. The whole experience left me feeling like I was intruding on their socialising time.

My dcs weren't impressed, it was disappointing for them to find a shoe they liked but then not have it in their size. Which happened often, I always get their shoes from an independent shoe shop, so I think they picked up that i was frazzled walking round a large store aimlessly trying on lots of shoes to find the magic pair that might fit.

I wouldn't use brantano again, I like the personal touch and I like to be confident that my children are wearing the right fitting shoes. The measuring is too haphazard, and I know from experience that just because the shoe is the right size it doesn't mean it's the right fit

I wouldn't recommend brantano to friends and family, the store is like looking through a jumble sale to find what you want and I wasn't impressed with the staff at all

Sounds like you might have had the same young man fitter as we did MapMyFace.

• Which store did you visit?

Brantano Coventry Central 6

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?

My 10 year old daughter

• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?

Black leather school shoes

• What brand was the pair of shoes?

Hush Puppies

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?

I thought it was average at best. Member of staff measured my daughter's feet when I requested, I said we were looking for school shoes but she didn't offer to go and get any for us to try. I asked if she had any school shoes in her size, and she said yes follow me. We went to look but there was very little in her size to choose from. When dd tried them on, I was the one having to ask how they felt, go for a walk in them etc and member of staff didn't do this. I had to keep prompting are they a good fit etc. She seemed to take a while to warm up, and then did offer heel grips, insoles when it became apparent dd's feet were quite difficult to find well fitting school shoes for. I had to keep asking her to go and get some more to try on, didn't feel she was that interested or proactive. She did offer to order other shoes into store though for us to try but I declined.

• What did you think of the customer service in general?

Member of staff was friendly enough but I just didn't feel that she was that interested in getting the fit right or offering the full service. In fact I got the feeling she was relieved when we finally got a pair to fit, even though the store was quiet (weekday evening).

• What did your children think of the experience?

Dd liked the shoes we got in the end, but she did say she preferred our local independent store for fitting and attention.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?

I don't think so, unless I couldn't get into town to the other shoe shops.

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

No not really.

I've still not received my voucher so cannot offer any feedback.

Which store did I visit?
Glenrothes
Which child took part?
DD 8
What type of shoes did you buy?
School shoes
Which Brand did you buy
Clarks
What did you think about the fitting service?
Very Good
What did you think of the customer service?
Excellent, the store manager dealt with my daughter whilst another assistant dealt with my DS who was also getting shoes. My DD wasn't fussy about what hers looked like and the assistant tried lots of different styles and varying sizes/widths to get the correct fit.
My DS, 11, wasn't so easy to please as clarks are now too uncool so the assistant was extremely patient, she was obviously used to dealing with awkward DCs which certainly kept my stress levels down.
What did your children think of the experience?
To be honest they both found it about of a chore but this was nothing to do with the store, solely because school shoe shopping is boring to them
Would you use the store again?
Yes
Would you recommend this store to friends and family?
For those with younger children definitely, probably not for those with older children. Again this has nothing to do with the service, more to do with the brands available that are seen as "cool" for older children

• Which store did you visit?

Leeds, seacroft

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?

Ds age 11

• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?

School shoes

• What brand was the pair of shoes?

Hush puppies

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?

Not too bad, i expected a little more....

• What did you think of the customer service in general?

Quite good

• What did your children think of the experience?

Not too bad but like i said i expected a little bit more...the shoes we bought seem a bit big, not sure if my ds feet were measured right.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?

Probably not

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

Probably not...

Which store did you visit?- Southampton West Quay

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)? My 7 year old daughter.

• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)? Trainers

• What brand was the pair of shoes? Nike

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service? It was very thorough. The assistant noted that my daughter is slightly flat footed which has never been picked up before. The fitting was as thorough as a larks although you don't get the same width information. The size was the same. The assistant said to call her when we were trying shoes on to check the fitting. Which we did. She apologised for the lack of half sizes and commented we might find it difficult to find shoes that fitted well because of the half size. This was accurate so we bought trainers instead.m

• What did you think of the customer service in general? The team were all very helpful and friendly.

• What did your children think of the experience? My daughter says it was good. She felt the fitting took took long.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again? I would but I'd still go to Clarks because of the eider variety of half sizes and width's in stock.

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family? Yes

They offer half sizes..... Typo craziness!

I was delighted to be picked for this - thank you for the voucher!

• Which store did you visit? Glasgow Crow Road.

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)? DS1 age 6 and DS2 age 4. I had DD1 measured but she has tiny feet and they didn't have any in her size available.
• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)? 2 pairs of sandals and a pair of canvas shoes.

• What brand was the pair of shoes? One pair of Clarks sandals, one pair of Skittles sandals and a pair of Poodle canvas shoes.

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service? The staff were very friendly but I didn't have much confidence in the measuring. I was told my DS2 was either an 8 or a 9 and a G or an H width. No advice was given on what size I should try. Although I didn't get my DD any shoes I got her feet measured and was told she was a 2.5H and she was measured in Clarks yesterday as a 2.5G. The staff member didn't appear confident about what she was doing. Also when measuring the feet my DS2 jeans were bunched up at the back of his foot and they weren't rolled up before taking the measurement. The checks on their shoes afterwards was ok but checks were very basic.

• What did you think of the customer service in general? The staff were very friendly but I didn't feel that the staff were able to fit shoes any better than I could have done using the gauge and looking at the shoe fit.

• What did your children think of the experience? They enjoyed picking new shoes but found it frustrating that most pairs they picked didn't have their size in stock and then when I did find their size and take them to try on the wrong ones were in the box. The staff were friendly toward them.

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again? Probably not, I wasn't very comfortable with the fitting being correct and there wasn't a great selection of shoes in stock in the correct size.

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family? Probably not.

NON-TESTER

I wasn't selected for this product test but as I have a Brantano really close to me and my DD needed new shoes I thought I would go in as I've never been before. I'll add my comments in case they are useful to the marketing team at Brantano who I presume are reading this.

I've never been in store before as it's at a retail park I don't normally shop at (I don't like the supermarket on that site) and it's not really occurred to me to go there before. I didn't know they sold kids shoes.

The store was really busy and I was wandering around for a short while before finding a staff member to measure my almost three year old's feet. I had her measured twice recently at Jones and Clarks and the sizing came up the same, using a plastic Clarks slider. I was told her width without prompting. The staff member then vanished and I was left to browse myself, although somebody did find some shoes for me when asked if they had that style in her size as none were out. I'd have liked her feet to be checked in the shoe as well though - this wasn't offered and I couldn't find anyone at that point to ask.

The main issue was that the toys were very distracting and she kept wanting to play. She also threw a tantrum as I wouldn't give her a coin for the arcade style toy dispenser - I don't think there is any place for that in a shoe shop!

I didn't find a smart style of shoe in a style I wanted (but I hadn't in Clarks or Jones either; that is me being fussy) but we found some branded trainers and jelly shoes that I was happy with. Contrary to some of the feedback I thought they had a good selection. DH also found a pair of shoes he liked so all in all a successful trip.

Thank you Mumsnet for prompting me to visit!

• Which store did you visit?

We visited the Glasgow Nether Auldhouse Road store.

• Which of your DC’s took part in the product test with you (age and gender)?

My 5yr old son.

• What type of shoes did you buy (trainers/school shoes/ sandals etc)?

We planned on getting school shoes but ended up getting trainers as well.

• What brand was the pair of shoes?

Hush Puppies and Adidas

• What did you think about the children’s shoe fitting service?

It was quick but accurate. No width fitting check though, and as he was a 1/2 size it drastically reduced the choice available.

• What did you think of the customer service in general? The girl who measured his feet was lovely, the two sales assistants we met while paying were friendly and helpful too.
• What did your children think of the experience?

He had a great time!

• Would you use this store and the children’s fitting service again?

Yes, although the choice was tiny so we had to go up a 1/2 size. I will definitely consider returning when next buying shoes, although it wouldn't be the only place I'd visit as I like a bigger range to choose from.

• Would you recommend it to your friends/family?

Yes, I would have no problem recommending Brantano. If the range was expanded a bit more it would be even better. The option to dirt/waterproof the shoes for £4 is a good idea too.