anyone tried m&s or next school shoes?

[scabbysnake]

looking for school shoes for ds. his hush puppies fell apart in 6 months so want to steer clear of them and wondered what m&s or next ones are like if anyone could help. thanx

I tried M&S last year - never again.

The sole fell off DS2's shoe within 3 weeks. I mean properly falling aff, flapping from his toe to halfway down his foot. Now I know he is a 7 year old boy and they are quite hard on their shoes, but shouldn't school shoes stand up to 3 weeks wear?

I phoned customer services and they were really unhelpful. I don't live near a store (the nearest one is 1.5hrs away) and I had bought them online, but they tried to make me pay postage to return them or drive to a store! I got free returns in the end, but was told that it would take up to 6 weeks for them to look at the shoes, establish that they were faulty, and send a replacement pair. What was my son supposed to wear to school in the meantime? I ended up having to order another pair from them and then have the faulty pair refunded when they looked at them.

The new pair lasted about 3 months before springing a hole in the toe seam and in the sole under the heel.

So I will not be buying school shoes in M&S this year!

1 is heavy on her shoes (heels) but these were ridiculous, wore down in a couple of weeks.

Next on the other hand, roughly same price, but lasted so much longer. The uppers were proper leather and could be polished daily, and they lasted her months.

That should say M&S shoes weren't all that, dd1 is heavy on her shoes

Had Next shoes for DD. They were sturdy enough but the dye in the leather ran and made all her white socks black.

M&S shoes were so tough my kids couldn't wear them even with thick socks. The next shoes were nice but the Velcro lasted less than a month so were pointless.

I only do Clarkes now.

I do Tescos for my Ds and have found lovely comfortable school shoes for 12 quid.
[Did Clarkes when toddler as I was working then. Far too expensive now].
BHS seem to have good selection too. Not tried MandS or Next.

I recommend Hush Puppies - lasted a whole school year in good nick!!

I've always gone for Clarkes, I'm a bit paranoid about trying other high street or supermarket brands and the above comments haven't helped persuaded me.
I'll have a look around at weekend but suspect I'll end up back at Clarkes.

I'd second the Hush Puppies rec, DD's just lasted her the whole of this last school year, they looked tatty but technically had more wear in them (but getting new as she's starting a new school). Have bought HP for DS (YR) this year and he's a bit harder on his shoes than DD so we shall see. I did order some next school shoes from the sale for DS to try but they've not arrived yet, may keep a pair for spare when they arrive if they fit.

My DSs (7 and 9) have had Sainburys school shoes this last year; they did 2 styles of boys shoes, both black leather, with velcro straps. Both pairs lasted from Sept to April and cost £12. I saw yesterday that they still have the same style in there this summer so we will be getting another 2 pairs there in a week or so

Have had M&S in the past but the last ones we had only lasted til Christmas.

As much as I seem to resent spending £80 on my 2 dc new school shoes it definitely clarkes all the way. Money is particularly tight at the moment but they are such good quality :)

Mine go through Clarks too actually, but not as quickly as M&S.

Am trying Boden Chelsea Boots this year (bought with 20% off in the autumn preview) as they have proper grips on the soles and no seams over the toes. The points that seem to show wear are the smooth soles and any seams, which seem to spring holes. I think it is walking to school that does it, they walk miles over the course of a term and I'm not convinced that school shoes in general are designed for that heavy use. It wouldn't work if your DC's school doesn't let them wear boots though.

We bought from Next- my son was right through the toes after 4 days. Would recommend Sainsburys - they have lasted us 6 months before and are very reasonably priced.

thanx everyone

We buy all kids shoes from M&S and have been very happy with them. Switched when Ds2's start rites were trashed within half a term. M&S school shoes last (on him!) for a full term and are half the price of start rites, so it's been a no-brainer for us.

Next were dire, the sides went floppy after a couple of weeks so offered no support at all.

Sainsburys shoes were good for me too, also found a seller on ebay doing end of range Barratts school shoes for £4.99!
DD1 can go through a pair of Clarks in 2 weeks so i refuse to buy from there. Simply can't afford £40 a time.
DD2 can make a pair last all year but is having a long overdue growth spurt.

I've bought 5 pairs of shoes/trainers from Brantano today for my 3 DC. Spent £70 and should last them a while!