Is anyone else fed up with Clarks?

Counting_Pennies_2

After yet another frustrating visit, is anyone else fed up with the monopoly Clarks seem to have in the UK?

My children all have deep feet. They take an H fitting, which Clarks advertise themselves as supplying.

I am so fed up with the amount of times I queue up for half an hour with my numbered ticket, only to find they don't have any shoes in my children's size.

They then try to squeeze their feet in to G fitting, only to find they rub and hurt and I have to throw them away after just a few weeks wear.

I have written so many times to Clarks and got no where with them.

Is anyone else fed up with the monopoly they seem to have over childrens shoes?

Flashdaisy

Yes, I agree. In our town Clarks is really the only choice that we have for buying fitted shoes, but I got so fed up with general bad service, and shoes being poorly fitted (things such as being sold a bigger size for my eldest DD as they didn't have her size in stock and the sales assistant claiming that the size they are measured at doesn't mean anything), that I now travel 25 miles to the nearest independent shoe shop. The service is a lot better, and there is a much wider choice.

Counting_Pennies_2

I really do think Independent shops are the way to go too.

I used to think they wouldn't fit my children properly because they don't have width fittings. But as long as they have a good fitter, which the independents stake their reputation on, so they always do, they actually end up fitting better than Clarks.

My problem always used to be living so far away from a good independent, but I have now decided I would prefer to spend the half an hour in the car going to a good shop as opposed to half an hour in a dreadful Clarks!

rosie-lee

I fail to see why Clarks Shoes even bother to measure feet. To say it offers a guide is laughable when they come back out with half a dozen pairs of shoes in different sizes. Not one being the size actually measured.

rant over.:p

Obviously not looking forward to shopping for 'back to school' shoes!

jenhug

I agree, my daughters are an H fitting too. We luckily have a local independant shop that fit Clarks start rites and hush puppies, and they bring out a mix and keep going until they fit well. And even better they do a loyalty scheme too!

ailuro2

Here in Dundee we have a choice of Clark's - last time they didn't have anything suitable in the kids department but fitted my DD with a 3 1/2 from the ladies section, the shoes fit really well but did cost more.

The only other option is Brantano who say they fit shoes but don't seem to have any wide shoes on display, or an independent kids shoe shop which costs approx twice as much as Clarks.

I do wish there was more choice, but can't complain as all my DD's shoes from Clarks have lasted well. Tried cheap boots once, made sure they fitted properly, but they lasted a fortnight, so not going there again.:rolleyes:

Flashdaisy

I have also heard very positive things about Start-rite shoes and fitting, however we don't have any Start-rite stores nearby so I can't speak from experience about it. Apparently they do more choice of widths too, so are ideal for very narrow or very wide feet.

V.Lucky

I use an independent store too and they fit Clarks, Start-rite and trainers such as Skechers and Geox. They even fitted ds for a pair of Crocs today too.

Excellent service, and I have taken shoes back once as they rubbed him and they were happy to exchange them for another brand. Can't fault that.

Spendless

I'm fed up of shoes not lasting! Someone has suggested to me that ds has fallen arches and I'm seeing the school nurse about it next week. Meanwhile I've put him in trainers for the rest of the school term and sent school a letter explaining why.

I don't have a problem with the fitting in Clarks but wish more shops offerred width sizes and half shoe sizes, as I find myself limited to where I can purchase shoes from due to my kids having wide feet.

whatatwit

The problems with Clarks are not new.
My DD is 16 and when she was little, I always had problems at Clarks. My biggest complaint was the style & colour. DD had to have plain black, most years, I had a choice of 1 or maybe 2 pairs.
In the end we managed to find an independant shop.

money_saving_diva

Hi, I have a 20 month old son and before he was in shoes I assumed I would get all his shoes from clarks but I heard about a shoe shop in the next town which does clarks, start-rite etc and he has had 3 pairs of shoes from them - and none of them have been clarks. When I went to get his second pair of shoes I had a choice of 2 pairs that fitted well one was a pair of clarks and one start-rite and when I looked at them together the quality of the clarkes ones were terrible compared closley to the clarks ones (£4 price difference). I went yesterday to get his next pair of shoes and all the clarks ones she ftried to fit slipped. It has really put me off of clarks shoes for kids (especially toddlers that can not tell you how they feel). I would avoid because I think Clarks now have no competition on the high street their quality has gone down hill which is a real shame.