Clarks - inconsistent foot measuring - how can this be?

[twirlaround]

This week I tried the same model of boots on dd in 2 different Clarks shops.
One told me the correctly fitting size for her was 10F - which was strange because that's what she measured last winter - but they were adamant that 10 1/2F was too big.

The other shop fitted her at 11F.

How can their staff be properly trained if they can differ by 1 whole size in their fittings? And should I take this up with Clarks?

ok, the measuring guage is ONLY A GUIDE! it says it on there and you ought to be told that by staff as well.
there are a number of reasons why you can get a different reading from it, and it only provides a starting point for a trained fitter to fit a shoe with.

as to trying them on and being fitted in different sizes i agree that is odd. did you mention it at the time?
the difference between half sizes is only 4mm and in a boot it CAN be difficult because they are not done up so tightly round the ankle that it is possible for the foot to slide forward more than in ashoe

ie, if your daughter was standing up and leaning back against the chair slightly her feet might move forward and it could feel like a size 11 was ok on her iyswim

if you are worried abot it though, then i would advise that you ring or write to the branch involved. it could be that they need some refresher training!

fwiw, did you get the boots? and in which size?

Last week Clarks measured DD one size and one width fitting TOO SMALL - 8E. Next day I took her to John Lewis - 9F. And every pair of shoes that fit her - Clarks, Startrite, etc - were at the bigger size. Hmmm.

Didn't get the boots at all!

The 2nd shop was the one I had faith in. They advised that the boots weren't the perfect style for my narrow ankled girl - and I bought some different ones in 10 1/2F from the second shop.

I don't think the first shop was much cop - it recommended boots which I think were too small & the wrong style for a good fit on dd anyway due to too much ankle room. Is there any point contacting the first shop or should I go to Clarks HQ about this hige inconsistency - or just give that particular shop a wide berth?

well, if you can remember the name of the person who served you i think you would be better off contacting the actual shop,
that way they can decide whether or not that particular person needs some more training or not.

The thing is I would have bought the boots at the first shop except that dd didn't like them...so I nearly paid £28 for boots that could have damaged dd's feet.

How crap is that? I don't know the name of the woman who served me and I don't want to get into an argument with the manager of the shop - just not sure quite what to do if anything!

did they say that the 10.5 was too big in length? or just overall?

Too much room in front of the toes - too big on length

Oh can I join in?...i'm a novice mn. Well tbh the exact thing happened to me and my dd about 10yrs ago . Went into three different Clarks shops and each measured her feet differently from 1-2 sizes. I wrote to HHQ hoping to get an apology or a voucher, but no all they said was to ask for the managar/s to measure the next time . I felt very let down as i believe that they are dealing in a specialist area, where it seems some of the staff are undertrained. Locally for me now one young girl is fantastic and tries lots and lots of shoes to get the right fit! She has restored my faith in Clarks!

To put this in to perspective I live abroad and always wait until we return to UK to get ds feet "properly measured " at Clarks. Compared with what we get here they are fantastic .

However having read this thread I might just get 2 opinions next time!

Message withdrawn

Ds measured and proclaimed a 6F - shoes fine, then bought him a pair of Clarks Doodles 6.5F and he hates them - they are obviously too tight on one foot. So whats the point if the shoe styles mean they all come up different!

I just had my dd's feet measured, and I am not convinced at all that the shoes fit her, so she has not had them on, and is wearing her old ones. I want to take her back and have them checked again.

I had my DDs measured ages ago - 6.5f then went back recently to get them checked - 6f! I said 'oh that's strange, means her feet have shrunk' and the girl measured them again and said 'oh yes 6.5f'!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I know there is a very small difference in sizes especially half sizes but even so.......!

Message withdrawn

Hiya all
I work at Clarks-please don't shoot me! The measurement is only a starting point, this should be stated- it is one of the things that the mystery shopper looks for. As for different sizes being given- it is down to human error. We are all individuals and read the gauges differently. I always start out by asking the child's current size, and the last time they were measured in store-being measured anywhere else and expecting Clarks to be the same is ridiculous as Clarks are made differently. Once measured I let the parent know the size, if it seems that the child hasn't grown, then I say that I will start out at that size to get an idea then move up. Another point to know is that all the styles fit differently, you can have two 'f' fit shoes but they will be totally different. If you feel that you have not had the service that you expected talk to the manager. I know that at the store where I work, the management team take note of any complaints, and usually give a complimentary voucher for their trouble. We also exchange shoes even if they are not faulty, just if the parent feels that they are not right- perhaps causing a blister. I myself have had a few bad experiences with other Clarks shops, some staff just can't be arsed. Sorry for going on!!

They don't measure feet here (or if they do, it's very casual, standing on a bit of plastic with sizes on and seeing where the feet come to), and they don't do width fittings. Buut I don't see a lot of crippled (am I allowed to use that word? No, probably not) Belgians, or ones with scrunched up toes, just because they didn't get their feet measured or were put into the wrong size. Ditto France and everywhere in Eastern Europe. Think this is a big propaganda thing put about by British shoe manufacturers to make you buy their shoes rather than ones from Asda.

That's my rant for the day.

to answer your title question - because Clarks are crap. Go to an independent shop or get startrite from John Lewis.

I used to work for Clarks and swore I would only ever allow DS to wear properly fitted shoes BUT my recent experience has made me think again. I was trained 10 yrs ago and told that children should be left without shoes for as long as poss but when they had begun to walk and needed foot protection then shoes were an appropriate buy. My DS was beginning to toddle about and so I took him off to be measured. The assistant was very young and the large new shop very busy, he was measured and fitted within five mins. I was fine with this until I noticed him constantly trying to remove the shoes. I had to almost force his feet in! When I fitted them myself I felt they were far too small so I took DS back to the shop. The assistant agreed they were wrongly fitted and offered a 50% discount on next pair. I refused this as I felt that a fortnight's worth of growing room warranted a free replacement pair. Unfortunately the manager was not available and I then put the shoes on the roof of car while getting DS in, I drove off without them! I decided to get a pair from Next and checked the fit myself - fine!

Incidentally if the child isn't correctly seated or foot placed in exactly right place on electronic guage you can easily get wildly differing measurements. Tip to check the length is to put a little talc into shoe and ask child to walk up and down once or twice. Foot imprint in the talc alerts you if they are too small.

Had fantastic service at Clarks when I got DSs new school shoes a week ago. Measured both of them then bought out the shoes and decided that the measurement did not give enough growing room for DS2 and went up 1/2 a size. Perfect. I queried the width as they'd been the same width forever and this time had gone up a fitting but this was double checked by the manager and all was fine.