Kids shoes...why so expensive?

super41

Quackers wrote:

:rotfl: And sometimes stereotyping can be the wrong thing to do. I have a 19yr old fitter who has been fitting shoes since she was 16 and a 48yr old who has been fitting shoes for 2 months. You'd still not trust the 'schoolgirl'?

I appreciate your point, but I was not stereotyping I was speaking from personal experience. Saturdays are inevitably busy and the Clarks I was in was staffed by schoolgirls of about 16 years (as many high street stores are). They are under a lot of pressure with the large amount of customers and I feel they are inevitably inexperienced. My child was being fitted with shoes which could have damaged her feet. You are being served by a 19 year old with 3 years experience, a far different thing. Whatever the age of the fitter, my point stands, that if you are unhappy with the fit get the superviser/manager to check.

mummytofour

My one yr old has no shoes! socks are great! but hes not really walking yet and when he is it will be a few months b4 I buy shoes, at this age bigger bootie things are fine, shoes restrict the feet so the longer they dont have shoes the better. Clarks do what are known as pre walkers, they cost an arm and a leg and are not really needed, to be honest when ds does need some shoes i will see if I can get some doodles from clarks to start him off, they are more summer like shoes but at £12 a good price I think ans they are nice shoes.

Gingham_Ribbon

I agree with you, mummytofour, but it's not that easy when they're crawling around in the playpark. Especially when it's wet or cold. My son couldn't get booties big enough, even at 6 months! We put him in slippers so he could cruise around the climbing frames and crawl on the grass without getting sopping wet and cold.

Doodles are lovely shoes and much more reasonably priced, but are not good if the child has a high instep or very wide feet. (As I discovered after getting my son's feet measured in Clarkes and then buying Doodles on ebay. I knew instantly that they were too tight.)

Kids should be without shoes as much as possible for as long as possible. This not only helps them get their balance because they can feel the floor better, but it is good for them to know their bodies without them being covered in stuff!

MissSunshine

I've always bought Clarks for my 2 boys, they're both a G fitting so can't really go wrong there. Did get told couple of years ago by youngish lad to bring my then 16month old, who'd just discovered tantrums and looked bit older than he was, back for fitting when he was more co-operative ie sit still to get shoes on, stand up to check fitting etc, didn't go back to that particular branch!!

black-saturn

Have you ever noticed how when you go and get your child's feet measures at Clarks or Startright the fitter always says something along these lines: "Your child's feet are very narrow/wide so therefore only this VERY expensive pair will fit him". I've noticed most of the posts in this thread include comments about their child having unusually sized feet. Do you think they could be telling you that to make you think shoes from anywhere cheaper will not fit your child properly and will damage their feet? I can't help thinking this is a ploy to make you shop there.

I only shopped at Clarks once. I had my daughters feet measured and the shop assistant told me my child had a low instep. I spent around £35 on a pair of shoes. After wearing them a day they started to rub all around the toes and the back of the heel so I took them back. They obviously didn't fit properly. I had a full refund and used the money to buy a pair of shoes, wellies and sandals from another shop which didn't rub.

Quackers

mummytofour wrote:

Clarks do what are known as pre walkers, they cost an arm and a leg and are not really needed, to be honest when ds does need some shoes i will see if I can get some doodles from clarks to start him off, they are more summer like shoes but at £12 a good price I think ans they are nice shoes.

The crawling and cruising shoes aren't needed - you are soooo right. The only reason Clarks started to make them was because there was a market for them. People want their children in shoes asap - they want shoes to 'accessorise' an outfit. I didn't put my girls in shoes until they were walking confidently and like you've said the doodles are fab. they can even be chucked in the washing machine and because they are so lightweight they are an ideal first shoe too.

If your son starts walking before the doodles are out on display - ask the shop - its very possible they have some in the stockroom.

Gingham_Ribbon

Just to clarify, how DO you manage outside with a crawler/cruiser without putting them in some kind of footwear that does not leak water/snow/mud? Surely when they are at this stage, having shoes is much better than just socks? The only alternative I could think of at the time was keeping him in the pram when we were outside which seemed really unfair, just because the weather was poor.

If we were indoors, ie in the library, then my son would toddle around in bare feet. You'd be surprised at how many 'oh his feet must be so cold' comments I got. (Don't people love to interfere when you've got a little one though!)

jenpoptab

With regards doodles, my step sister says that Stead and Simpson do them without the clarks/ doodles logo. They are identical shoes apart from that! Maybe you could give them a try as they are half the price of doodles.

Baby_A

Well i invested in my daughters first pair yesterday! £23!!!!!! Prob last her 8 weeks max! Bought them from Clarks in Mothercare. She was measured a 5G last week and yesterday they measured her a 5F!

Anyway bought them with my mothercare gift vouchers which I got as a pressie for my daughter, within 3 hours the front of them had been scuffed up (she walks, never crawls!), just slightly, but alot for 3 hours! Also she was wearing cream tights and when you removed the shoes they had been dyed pink!
I was so annoyed, as they were brand new tights, and I had supposedly paid £23 for quality???

Went back to mothercare (double the fuel cost) and complained, the lady said we can exchange or give you a Clarks gift voucher back. I wanted my mothercare voucher back, wasnt asking for cash but she refused saying it wasnt possible. She was so rude about it and just kept saying im giving you your money back, although she wasnt! She was pinning me into buying again from Clarks and I hadnt decided if i wanted to buy from there again!

I decided to choose a different pair, but they didnt have it in stock! I was furious by now (with a crying baby) so I had no choice but to take the voucher.

I am really not impressed with my first experience with Clarks! Trying to call there head office but the website is down at the moment!

Quackers

Baby_A wrote:

Went back to mothercare (double the fuel cost) and complained, the lady said we can exchange or give you a Clarks gift voucher back. I wanted my mothercare voucher back, wasnt asking for cash but she refused saying it wasnt possible. She was so rude about it and just kept saying im giving you your money back, although she wasnt! She was pinning me into buying again from Clarks and I hadnt decided if i wanted to buy from there again!

I am really not impressed with my first experience with Clarks! Trying to call there head office but the website is down at the moment!

If you pay by a bonus bonds/capital bonds/high st vouchers etc at ANY retailer they only have their OWN gift vouchers to give back to you. They will not have a selection of all the vouchers on the high st!! I understand that they are located in a mothercare but they are a seperate company. They send off the ones you pay with to redeem the money. This is standard practise in retail - she wasn't pinning you into buying more clarks shoes - it was your choice to spend the voucher there.

its sounds like there was some loose dye inside the shoes (i know I'm stating the obvious). Because leather is a natural material sometimes the dye takes differently to various cuts of leather and you get some excess loose dye - especially if its an unlined leather. If you have some protector spray in the house you could always give the shoes a quick spray and this should prevent this from happening again (not that I'm saying it should happen but it does).

Oh, and if she was genuinely rude to you then complain - those rude shop assistants give the nice ones a bad name


Clarks H.O. customer care tel no is 01458 843222.