So then...CLARKS shoes, it's been a while since we've had a tale of woe...Indulge me.

[TinyGang]

Went to the inferno of hell otherwise known as Clarks today. Bad move at half term? Actually no, or so I thought. Poking nose in the door and everything seemed fairly calm. Entered with dd and collected my ticket to oblivion...

Dd is 5yrs....we waited so long we were practically discussing her gap year at Uni. Still no sign of 'our turn'....

Hang on a minute...there's an assistant over there...no! make that two!! Arms folded gazing out of the door doing...NOTHING. Sweet FA!

Approaches with dog-eared ticket and grey hair. 'OH no. You must wait. All the assistants ARE BUSY' You will be called when they are free.

We go back and sit down. And WAIT. We learn new languages, I plan my retirement and hell freezes over....

Hang on the two assistants are still over there. Doing sweet FA. Arms folded gazing into the middle distance.

I approach. 'Will anyone serve me??' No!!!!..I must wait. But there are two of you here doing....NOTHING. 'We must be here FOR THE ADULTS WANTING TO BUY SHOES.'
'What adults?' We all look about. Tumbleweed is blowing across the shop. The only adults are decaying in the children's section.

I leave insane at the thought that even though I don't want to (yet AGAIN) spend an arm and a leg in 'that shop' they won't even take the time to rip me off with their poxy shoes.

Stomping out, the icicng is placed lovingly on the cake. Apparantly all this is funny...if you are an 'assistant' employed for the sole purpose of gazing out the window.....

I doubt the teenagers serving adults know how to measure up kid shoes, they have to be especially trained and are probably not certified, and therefore useless for helping you?

(But then, you knew that).

Strangely the ladies allocated to serving the adults were of far more mature years than the teenagers doing the children.

I don't buy this 'properly trained' business. According to a friend who worked at Clarkes' during our uni years, the training for fitting childrens's shoes consisted of a 10 minute session in the staff room.

I have lost count the amount of times Clarkes have sold me the wrong size shoe and given my dc blisters. Only two months ago they tried to convince me that ds's feet had SHRUNK a whole size over a period of 6 months. Errr....?

They sold my friend some school shoes for her dd that were such an awkward shape the heel kept popping out!! Surely they should not have sold her these! (she should not have accepted them, but that is another story)

Can't stand the place!!

Don't be sorry sobernow - just let us all know where this fabulous branch is so we can all benefit...

The one in my town is pretty lousy...I tried the neigbouring town and that was worse (dd was only 18 months and her shoes blistered her little toe .

I keep going back to Clarks as other options are a bit thin on the ground around here, apart from an independent shop but for two dc you need to take out a second mortgage...

No that's good Sobernow...must be that thing where something crap happening in one shop means something good happening elsewhere

I have mixed reviews of Clarks. Last pair DD got blisters, took them back and changed them, still not right. Manager gave me a refund. This time, all good, perfect fit, reasonable style (she likes them at least). With one pair we tried on they did suggest she had a heel grip in them to make them fit better. So I said I wasn't paying 30 quid for shoes that didn't fit properly and a heel grip is hardly a good fit. So, we persevered and got there in the end.

I got DS's shoes in M&S and he's had them since Sept and they aren't even scuffed. I am in shock.

I know exactly how you feel. Every time I go through the whole Clarks rigmarole to get shoes I swear "never again".

One morning I waited outside the shop for it to open to avoid the horrendous queues.

And their shoes are horrible, but the guilty mother gland obviously goes into overdrive on shoes.

Message withdrawn

I think part of the problem is that Clarks do not have any same sized equal competition on the high street.

Like peegeeweegee I'm starting to be disilusioned by the 'only we can measure' theory. It's not rocket science surely??

Funny really because you can get Clarks shoes in NZ but they are just sold at a normal shoe shop that sells lots of other brands.

They use the Clarks foot measurer but also have an adjustable metal rod that goes into the shoes, so check the actual size.

And miraculously they are cheaper here, despite having travelled around the world. Hum!

Peegeeweegee, the same thing happened to me, ie being told dd's feet were now smaller than they were 5 months ago. The assistant (who looked about 16) tried to sell me some shoes in the smaller size and seemed surprised when I declined. I was tempted to ask for a second opinion, but all the other assistants looked equally inexperienced.

I have twice had to return shoes to Clarkes because they didn't fit and caused broken skin on the heels.

The alternative is an independent shop which only had 1 pair of shoes available in dd1's size, in patent leather, when I visited.

Sigh.

i am also not a clarks fan, same probs as everyone else, have to wait ages, shrinking feet etc, but once you have had 3 hours waiting and looking at the shoes on the shelf, the assistant measures their fet then says i'll go and have a look at what we have in her size, then appears with bloody awful looking shoes that would go with nothing! they never have the ones on the shelf, WHY?