Start-rite Reviews

I'm really surprised at bad reviews on here about Startrite as I have had the complete opposite experience.
My children have worn Startrite shoes since first needing shoes. I am lucky I have a local independent shoe shop who stocks Startrite as I often go there to get their feet measured and buy. Having said that the seasonal sales Startrite have on their website are amazing! I often buy a number of shoes in bigger sizes as they are such good value...often 70% off the RRP.
My children both love all the shoes I have bought from Startrite. The leathers are so soft, most shoes are leather lined so amazingly comfortable my children say. In fact once my son was larger than a size 4 (that's the biggest they do in casual shoes) I really struggled to find comfortable, casual shoes he liked. It would be great if they made a few casual shoes in sizes larger than a L4. School shoes are up to a size 11.
All shoes I have purchased have lasted till my children have outgrown. Some shoes I have managed to sell (ebay, fb marketplace) after use due to them being in such good condition still.
Well done Startrite, keep continuing to make amazing quality shoes!

Leather shoes with no rubber sole as per description which is very misleading! The sole are of a very poor quality and worn off after 3 months of wear and before my son grown out of it. I took it to Timpson's to see if hey can help but was told it is cheap mass production and unrepairable. Please stay away from Rhino boys school range as the quality is shocking for the price.

Saw Start Rite shoes initially on JoJo Mama Bebe website but not the colour I wanted for my 18 month granddaugher. I figured if JoJo are selling them, they must be good - which they should be at £36 for a pair of toddler sandals.
My granddaugher wore them for the first time this week and at nursery her teacher noticed she kept sitting down and reaching for her feet. On checking, she found my granddaughter had blisters on her feet from the sandals.
I called Start Rite today and all they could offer was for us to "rub the leather to soften" or get her to "wear them in the house about an hour a day with socks" to soften them.
REALLY? Is this the only solution for manufacturers making such hard shoes for such sensitive feet? There are other leather options to use. Will never buy from them again.

I bought a pair of school shoes for my 7 year old grandson. Initially they were scuffed on the toes but within 4 weeks the leather had worn right through and the split was getting larger. I contacted Startrite and sent a photo of the shoes. They said it was not a manufacturing fault but offered to look at the shoes if I returned them. I didn’t think this would be worthwhile. My disappointment with the shoes is that they are not fit for purpose. They are expensive and a 7 year old boy runs around a lot and kicks footballs and I expect them to last at least a school term.

I used to regularly order startrite shoes for my little girl, the last pair that I ordered were out of stock so I was told I would be getting a refund. 3 months later and still no refunds I just seem to be going round in circles with their customer service team. Appalling service really. Won’t be using again absolute con artists.

Having been a regular customer for years, I am very disappointed. My daughter has had countless pairs of Chelsea Boots over the years. Sadly, she keeps tripping up with the latest pair. This has never happened before with the very same boot style. Size would have been a possible explanation, however her Startrite shoes the half size down are too small and her old boots of the same design a size down will not fit on at all. The measuring gauge also indicates her size as being that of the current boots. There is also a much wider gap at the ankle than usual and they seem relatively much larger for just one size up compared to before. Customer service sound irritated and bemused rather than helpful, saying they must be over-sized but that this isn’t usually a problem with these. Such a shame they couldn’t help me solve this puzzle. Will now have to take my custom elsewhere.

Fantastically helpful woman in John Lewis Oxford street who yesterday measured both grandchildren and sold me two pairs of shoes.
3year old granddaughter had the StartRite Fantasy gold metallic leather trainer to wear at nursery at £42.99.
She wore them for the first time today, in the garden for 15 mins at the most before both shoes had scuff marks in the front where the gold had flaked off.
I will be returning them this week.

Bought large foot gaude and it's half a size out would not give me a refund poor service

A pair of toddler shoes ordered on the 9th January. Despite showing as dispatched, Royal Mail have still yet to receive the item to deliver. Emailed and phoned on multiple occasions to the customer service team and we are simply told it’s Royal Mail. No ownership of the issue, no updates unless we chase and we we left totally in the dark about how to receive a pair of shoes. We have since gone to John Lewis, where the item was ordered dispatched and delivered in 4 days. Do not purchase with these, as we haven’t even received a refund.

Pleased with the shoes I purchased (sale price).
Good choice of styles.
Appear to be good quality. Delivery was quick.
I've not had to return any, so can't comment on that side of things.

My son has extra wide feet (H width) and Startrite is the only place I've found quality shoes that fit him comfortably. I always have to order online so I've had to return shoes on occasion where I've not got the size right but never had any issues with that. They are quite expensive but you can usually find reasonable prices in the outlet section. My only complaint really is that I wish there was more choice in the wider fits but I understand there might not be enough demand for that.

Hello, I have had the same problem. I returned a pair of shoes and the refund has taken over 1 month - after several times chasing it. I will never buy again, at least directly from their portal.

Very very poor quality product. I would recommend any parent to stick with Clark’s. We bought our daughter a pair of shoes for school. After a weeks wear looked terrible. AVOID AT ALL COSTS

Not only it is indisputable that Startrite Shoes are high quality shoes, but also they have an amazing customer service.
1. I ordered the wrong size of boots. They dealt with the cancellation of the 1st order for me. By the time I received the 2nd order, I was already reimbursed from the 1st one.
2. I received the 2nd order within 48h, there was a small stain of glue (demonstrating this is hand-made). They advised on how to remove it and provided a discount to my satisfaction.

All was dealt very quickly, and in a very polite and kind manner. Thank you !

Despite every interaction with this company suggesting our refund would be no longer than 14 days, we waited 21 days.

We won't shop here again, as in 2020 you'd expect a much more efficient returns process.