Clarks Reviews 

Another Clarks store, another terrible experience. Today it was the Clarks at the Tandem Centre in Colliers Wood.

Considering the price Clarks charges for children’s shoes, you would think the company could invest some of that money in basic customer service training and, more importantly, autism and disability awareness.

My son is 6 and is about to start Year 2. He has never had a pair of school shoes.

That isn’t because I haven’t tried. I have taken him to Clarks multiple times throughout his life in the hope of having his feet properly measured and buying him a decent, properly fitted pair of shoes. Once again, we left without his feet being measured and without any shoes.

We deliberately arrived for store opening because my son is autistic and I knew this was never going to be an easy experience for him. Waiting around in a busy, unfamiliar environment is difficult, so I tried to give us the best possible chance by getting there early. Despite being there from opening, we were still left waiting while people who arrived after us were seen before us.

I wasn’t expecting the experience to be effortless. I know my son finds things like this difficult. But a little effort from Clarks would have gone a very long way.

My son can struggle with unfamiliar environments, waiting and having his feet touched. He isn’t badly behaved; he is a disabled six year old who needs some patience and understanding. Yet the way staff looked at him made me feel as though they were disgusted by him, as if they had never heard of autism, let alone seen an autistic child out in the wild.

While we were waiting, I eventually managed to measure his feet myself. I had thought I could simply order his shoes online afterwards, but in reality that now means ordering multiple pairs or sizes, paying for them upfront, trying them on at home and returning the ones that don’t fit, all in the hope that I can work out the correct fit myself.

And honestly, I’m not sure I even want to give Clarks my money anymore.

What makes this even more disappointing is that I used to buy my eldest son’s shoes from Clarks every single year, often twice a year. I was a loyal customer because I trusted the fitting service and believed the shoes were worth paying more for.

This isn’t one bad experience with one member of staff or one store. I have repeatedly tried Clarks with my youngest son because I wanted him to have the same thing, properly fitted, hard wearing school shoes, and we have repeatedly come away disappointed.

It is genuinely upsetting that he is now going into Year 2 having never owned a pair of school shoes, and that my only realistic option is to buy multiple pairs online and hope I can get the fit right myself.

I’ve given up with Clarks now.

Disabled children and their families should not have to hope they happen to encounter a member of staff willing to show them a little patience, kindness and understanding. I wasn’t asking for a perfect experience. I was just asking for Clarks to make some effort.

Clarks needs to do better.

Visited our local Hereford branch for school shoe fitting. Our son is autistic, and this is often stressful, booked a 15 minute slot, so we didn't have to wait. Unfortunately my son didn't want to enter the shop.
Dee was amazing, and so accommodating, she offered to fit outside the store, in the back, or away from the others. After a while he decided to go out the back, Thomas was extremely patient, and really helped him feel settled. Excellent service as in previous years, these changes enable a smoother service happy son, happy mum. Thank you.

Great experience this week in the Reading branch. We had help from Debbie to pick our school shoes which was really supportive for my teenage son. We tried on a range of options and successfully picked a pair. Thanks for great customer service!

@middlebrook Amy looked after us well. Thanks

good vibe, nice staff ..not pushy

Recently ordered my daughter’s first School shoes with Evie at the Clarks Cwmbran she provided excellent was kind to my daughter and was very conscientious in ensuring we got the correct size shoe and offered us a couple of options to buy in store or order online. The shoe we went for needed to be ordered in and she made this easy.

In and out in 10 minutes, feet measured, two pairs of shoes and a backpack. Fantastic service from all staff. Izzi was amazing and really great with our 4 year old son. This was in a very busy Stratford Westfield store.

Amelia has made my experience at the Cwmbran store fun and exciting and helped my mum and I decide what shoes to buy.

We were served by Laraib who had excellent inter-personal skills in the way she helped our shy 11 year lad. Laraib made our experience very pleasant and we appreciated her assistance on helping us purchase new shoes, as well as measuring our boys feet. Lovely customer service. Thanks Laraib!

Holly at the bedford store 10 /10! Super helpful and patient with my little guy!

Max at the Fosse Park store was amazing! They were so caring towards my son who was very shy trying on shoes for school! Thank you Max🩷

Great quality shoes and very comfortable! i was served by Anjali and she done a great job. Great customer service! So helpful and professional will definitely be going back

Isobel in the Peterborough store was excellent with advice on shoes for my teenager who has very slim feet. We were seen quickly, she showed us a variety of styles that were suitable.

Keane was very nice

Louis at Cardiff city center branch helped us yesterday, she was extremely patient with my daughter’s requests. Very pleased with the service. We ended up buying what my daughter was very happy with. Highly recommend!

We came in to get some new trainers and school trainers for our daughter. We were looked after by Lesley (may have the spelling wrong) she was patient, kind, willing to help and found alternatives for shoes which were not in stock. She made my daughter feel comfortable with the whole process, when she can usually feel very nervous. Great customer service

Great service by staff member who was SEN trained

Thank you Clara for great experience at Clarks Newbury

Excellent customer service for my daughter’s first pair of shoes. Jackie fitted them with the help of Lesley who checked they were 100% correct for her! Katie and Debbie were great too as they made my daughter smile when taking the photographs. I couldn’t recommend the staff anymore. Brilliant experience and we’ll definitely be back 😊

Very well organised today as it was extremely busy. My daughter had her feet measured in a separate designated area outside the store to avoid over-crowding and she was seen quickly. We barely waited 5 minutes to be seen. Very quick and through service to check fit. Ten out of ten for organisation and effort and politeness of staff member Aaron. Thanks!