Clarks Shoes
Watchdog has been contacted by significant numbers of people who say that the soles of their Clarks shoes have disintegrated while in storage. We investigate why.
Clarks said: “Clarks puts all of its shoes through robust testing before they reach consumers. If customers experience any issues, we offer a full refund or exchange within 28 days.
“The issues raised on tonight’s show are consistent with a well reported and acknowledged problem in the industry with polyurethane shoes, known as hydrolysis. The term hydrolysis refers to the chemical breakdown of the polymer used when making shoes with Polyurethane soles and occurs over several years, resulting in soles ‘disintegrating’ when stored in certain conditions for long periods of time.
“Clarks began phasing out the use of this material around ten years ago and now uses materials which are far less likely to degrade over long periods of storage. Since 2012 instances of hydrolysis reported to us have declined by 63%.
“As both a manufacturer and a retailer, we carefully follow the guide lines set down by Trading Standards. As such, we give consideration to complaints on adult’s footwear up to six years after purchase, the period that Trading Standards deems reasonable for manufacturers to be held responsible for the breakdown or deterioration of products materials. However in this case, to ensure that we treat all of our customers fairly, we took the decision to offer a courtesy voucher to any customer who returns a product experiencing this issue regardless of the time that has passed since purchase and the absence of proof of purchase.”
