I thought I'd show you a visual update on how the shoes are doing. I've photographed the shoes most weeks during this 7 week half-term and I took the pictures of the shoes as they came home from school on the Friday. So they have not been cleaned or polished.
First up JJ, he was sent a pair of Warrior shoes from the rhino range, these retail at £55 for his big size 7 feet.
July 2015 Update - JJ has worn these shoes the whole year and they have been fabulous. The best school shoes he has ever had!
Week 1
Weeks 2 and 3
And the final week 7 shot as he broke up for half-term (sorry I have written week 6 but forgot the fact I was away for week 6!)
Conclusion for JJs shoes - We are completely happy with them. They have worn well and I am confident they will last for quite some time yet and still look extremely smart. I would recommend them and they are worth their money. JJ also tells me they are very comfortable.
Miss E received a pair of the Princess Serena shoes, which retail at £47 and I had high hopes of these lasting well as they have have a rubber sole and bumpers all round.
July 2015 Update - Miss E outgrew these in April but they were stil in great, wearable conditon.
Week 1
Week 5
Conclusion - Another pair of brilliant performing shoes. Yes you can tell they have been worn but they have kept their shape, the soles are not worn at all, there are not any scrapes. The design is still beautiful on the front, the diamante's are in-tact and they polish up well.
Last up is Miss M and she received a pair of Dawn shoes from the older girls range (as she has such big feet for a 7 year old).
These were £45 and whilst Miss M loves the fashionable styling I had my concerns about how they might last with their very flat bottom.
Week 1
Week 5
Final week 7 shot
Conclusion - Sadly my fears proved correct and these shoes have not worn well at all. The pattern on the sole is worn off at the ball of the foot and it would not be too long until they went through and the velcro strap looks really scruffy. They are scraped and the sole has broken off at the front. The leather on the front is peeling back where they have been scraped. Realistically I would never of bought these shoes if I had been buying them for Miss M as I foresaw they were too delicate for a lively 7 year old.
Customer Service
I have been sending my pictures into Start-rite and when they saw the images of Miss M's Dawn shoes they were very concerned and asked for me to send the shoes in so that they may look at them and make investigations. I was pleased when they took notice and asked if II was a regular customer and not a blogger testing them would the shoes have been requested to be sent back? This is the response Start-rite sent me -
If a customer had the same problem with shoes and had bought them direct from the Start-rite website they would ask them to be sent back, where they would be tested by the Start-rite product team. If deemed faulty Start-rite would arrange a refund. Start-rite sometimes ask that they send pictures of the shoes if they are worried their children will be without school shoes if they have to send them back to Start-rite, so they can try and assess the problem quickly for them.
If the customer bought the shoes from a retailer stockist of Start-rite, the contract would be with the store. They would need to return them to the store where they would decide whether to send them to Start-rite for testing and then if deemed faulty the store would have to arrange a refund.
So in short the only difference is that you have received a replacement pair as opposed to a refund because of your participation in the field testIt has been good to give thse shoes a thorough road-test and not to just judge them on initial recations. I am happy to buy from Start-rite again and given the good measuring instructions they have I will purchase online so that I have a direct contract with them in case of any future issues.
Disclosure: We were sent these shoes free of charge for the purpose of this review/ field test. I have not been instructed what to write and I remain honest.
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