Clarks shoes, brand new, rotting in their thousands - check your wardrobes now!

[Deleted User]

When I was a child, Clark's were a good make. When I tried several times to buy my children shoes (we all have wide feet) for school and there were none of the right size in stock, I realised things had changed and there was no advantage to buying shoes compared to cheaper brands.

So I stopped buying from them or even going near them.

I'm afraid nowadays there is nothing special about Clark's at all.

lincroft1710

Might the deterioration of the quality of Clarks' shoes be attributed to the fact they are no longer made in Street, Somerset, but have been made in various factories in Asia since 2006

Doc_N

deannatrois wrote: »

I'm afraid nowadays there is nothing special about Clark's at all.

lincroft1710 wrote: »

Might the deterioration of the quality of Clarks' shoes be attributed to the fact they are no longer made in Street, Somerset, but have been made in various factories in Asia since 2006

deannatrois, there is something special about Clarks still, to be fair - the very high price unmatched by the quality.

And as you say, lincroft1710, it has everything to do with stopping production at Street.

Clarks then was a very different animal, with a highly moral Quaker background.

Clarks now however seems to have no morality whatsoever. It churns out cheap, badly made shoes in the far east, sells them at outrageous prices by exploiting its brand name, and when customers dare to complain about their shoes disintegrating they do nothing about it and blame the very materials they chose to use to keep costs to a bare minimum.

LilElvis

Doc_N wrote: »

deannatrois, there is something special about Clarks still, to be fair - the very high price unmatched by the quality.

And as you say, lincroft1710, it has everything to do with stopping production at Street.

Clarks then was a very different animal, with a highly moral Quaker background.

Clarks now however seems to have no morality whatsoever. It churns out cheap, badly made shoes in the far east, sells them at outrageous prices by exploiting its brand name, and when customers dare to complain about their shoes disintegrating they do nothing about it and blame the very materials they chose to use to keep costs to a bare minimum.

Outrageous? Men's office shoes start at £55 and women's court shoes start at £45. At that price point you're getting what you pay for. I paid more than that for good shoes thirty years ago!

Doc_N

LilElvis wrote: »

Outrageous? Men's office shoes start at £55 and women's court shoes start at £45. At that price point you're getting what you pay for. I paid more than that for good shoes thirty years ago!

Outrageous in the sense that those prices are about twice the price of the equivalent shoes sold without the magic word 'Clarks' stuck to them.

Doubling the price doesn't improve the quality in any way, and while those shoes you bought thirty years ago would have lasted well - and taken repairs - the Clarks ones now at that price certainly won't.

This thread is all about Clarks shoes that self-destruct even if not worn - the soles just disintegrate into a crumbly, plasticky, gooey mess because of the materials used. That's bad enough (and some of the shoes that did it for me cost around £70 some years ago) but what makes it worse is the complete absence of any remorse or recompense from Clarks for brand new but disintegrated shoes.

LilElvis

Doc_N wrote: »

Outrageous in the sense that those prices are about twice the price of the equivalent shoes sold without the magic word 'Clarks' stuck to them.

Doubling the price doesn't improve the quality in any way, and while those shoes you bought thirty years ago would have lasted well - and taken repairs - the Clarks ones now at that price certainly won't.

This thread is all about Clarks shoes that self-destruct even if not worn - the soles just disintegrate into a crumbly, plasticky, gooey mess because of the materials used. That's bad enough (and some of the shoes that did it for me cost around £70 some years ago) but what makes it worse is the complete absence of any remorse or recompense from Clarks for brand new but disintegrated shoes.

Where can you buy shoes with leather uppers at circa £25 per pair?

Doc_N

LilElvis wrote: »

Where can you buy shoes with leather uppers at circa £25 per pair?

Not at Clark’s, for sure - unless they’re reduced and in the sale.

M&S however (not exactly noted for low prices) sell some well reviewed ones at a standard price of £35, and I’d back their shoes against Clarks any day.

Miró

Doc_N wrote: »

Not at Clark’s, for sure - unless they’re reduced and in the sale.

M&S however (not exactly noted for low prices) sell some well reviewed ones at a standard price of £35, and I’d back their shoes against Clarks any day.

Me too...I've never had the 'crumbling sole problem' with any of M & S's shoes, (yet!). I too have had the problem with, perhaps, half a dozen pairs of Clark's, Hotter and Ecco shoes over the years.

Doc_N

Anybody who's had problems with Clarks shoes falling apart, despite being unused or barely used - Watchdog ran a story about this last week and are looking for more people to let them know of any problems.

Let them know, and bring Clarks to book on this one for knowing about the problem, keeping quiet about it, and failing to offer help when asked.




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Fuzzy_2

I had a Clarks pair disintegrate in the wardrobe; made a horrible mess, as I recently discovered. They hadn't been worn that much and I don't know how long I'd had them, but they were several years old, so wouldn't have had any recourse, and I didn't have the receipt