A genuine question for QVC re shoes.

[Bea Frugal]

I would like to know why today's Ecco show didn't feature one single pair in a size smaller than a 4. They are a good brand with a great range of sizes and every time small sizes feature on qvc they sell out first. The Hotter show a couple of days ago had small sizes across the range. I don't know who decides these things but I do know that if you don't offer it you aren't going to sell it. Very annoying for those of us with smaller feet.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

same gripe with half sizes. All this go up/go down a size gets me. surely a 5 is a 5 not a 4 or a 6. Considering the big increase in postage I think shoes will not be something customers will be prepared to take a chance on. It is one thing to order 2 sizes of a top and swallow the p&p but it will make cost of shoes extortionate.

 

[Ballerina]

Quite right. I am a size 3 and don't know why they start at a 4 when the maufacturer's do make a 3.

 

[Vienna]

I`d never order shoes from Q because I take a half size in some makes but need to go up to the next full size with other makes. With the p and p and then the cost and trouble of returning the other pair, its just too much hassle. There are many online stores who`ll deliver for free and will also include a returns label or arrange free collection.

 

[donna255]

Another size 3 here. I get p*ssed off with QVC about this one. Every shoe show they have in some brands the odd size 3 in certain styles, but the number is very small. The only shoes I have ever bought have been Birkenstocks, but I do see some nice ones but of course never start at size 3.

Oh, and Clarks in store another shop that if you are very very very luck might have one pair of size 3 in stock. But once they sell it never get it in again. You actually have to go order online and get them delivered to your nearest store. Now good if you are wanting them that day.

 

[Bettyboo]

I was chatting to a lady in M&S the other day and she said they had stopped stocking size 3 shoes in store not sure about the web site though.

 

[Evie]

Take a look at the Pavers site or their TV channel. They have shoes from 2 - 8 and sometimes even have sizes 1 and 9. Their customer service is excellent and postage is capped at £2.99

 

[donna255]

M&S!!!! Oh crap, I buy boots there.

 

[felinewoman]

Donna, the guy in Reids once told me that they only order a few small and large sizes and once they're gone they're gone. A very narrow-minded outlook if you ask me.

 

[Bea Frugal]

same gripe with half sizes. All this go up/go down a size gets me. surely a 5 is a 5 not a 4 or a 6. Considering the big increase in postage I think shoes will not be something customers will be prepared to take a chance on. It is one thing to order 2 sizes of a top and swallow the p&p but it will make cost of shoes extortionate.

During the Hotter show Catherine asked the rep the usual qvc question - if you are a half size should you go up or down? The guest proudly said that Hotter are true to size and do a full range of half sizes. Awkward pause, then Catherine said that they didn't have them at qvc, so what should the qvc viewer do? Oh dear. It's a strange way of selling imo. Would it not be possible to order your true size through qvc and then have Hotter supply it as required, even if this involved a bit of a delay?

I didn't know that M&S have stopped doing size 3 although I have noticed that they aren't on the shelves lately. I also have noticed that they are few and far between at Clarks. These stores are the backbone of the highstreet and could be depended upon to cater to everyone. I don't consider a size 3 to be outside the normal range. I can understand that maybe people are getting bigger and that there are larger sizes available in clothes but feet are feet! They may get wider if they are carrying heavier weights but they are not likely to get longer are they? This is becoming really annoying.

Oh, and if any retailers happen to read this, please note that people with smaller feet are often shorter and would appreciate having the small sizes on the lower shelves and not on the top racks where you can't reach them, while taller folk have to risk putting their backs out to get down to their sizes.

 

[spartacus]

During the Hotter show Catherine asked the rep the usual qvc question - if you are a half size should you go up or down? The guest proudly said that Hotter are true to size and do a full range of half sizes. Awkward pause, then Catherine said that they didn't have them at qvc, so what should the qvc viewer do? Oh dear. It's a strange way of selling imo. Would it not be possible to order your true size through qvc and then have Hotter supply it as required, even if this involved a bit of a delay?

I didn't know that M&S have stopped doing size 3 although I have noticed that they aren't on the shelves lately. I also have noticed that they are few and far between at Clarks. These stores are the backbone of the highstreet and could be depended upon to cater to everyone. I don't consider a size 3 to be outside the normal range. I can understand that maybe people are getting bigger and that there are larger sizes available in clothes but feet are feet! They may get wider if they are carrying heavier weights but they are not likely to get longer are they? This is becoming really annoying.

Oh, and if any retailers happen to read this, please note that people with smaller feet are often shorter and would appreciate having the small sizes on the lower shelves and not on the top racks where you can't reach them, while taller folk have to risk putting their backs out to get down to their sizes.

Don't buy them? If they don't stock your size why do they think viewers want to try an alternative. I don't know about anyone else but if I tried a shoe a half size bigger/smaller they'd either need insoles or heel grips and I don't get on with either, or they'd cramp by toes.

 

[Weathergirl]

I saw a really nice pair of Clarks shoes on Q recently (Drum Major in the nude colour). I decided to go to my local Mall and look at them properly and try them on. They were perfect- and I saved myself the £5 postage. The price in Clarks was about £49 I think compared with Q's £47.50 but the saving on the outward postage (and the risk of extortionate return postage if they hadn't been right) more than made up for it. My husband needed new shoes too so we would have made the short car journey anyway and parking was free. We took the children to pizza hut afterwards so made a bit of a treat out of it.

 

[spartacus]

I saw a really nice pair of Clarks shoes on Q recently (Drum Major in the nude colour). I decided to go to my local Mall and look at them properly and try them on. They were perfect- and I saved myself the £5 postage. The price in Clarks was about £49 I think compared with Q's £47.50 but the saving on the outward postage (and the risk of extortionate return postage if they hadn't been right) more than made up for it. My husband needed new shoes too so we would have made the short car journey anyway and parking was free. We took the children to pizza hut afterwards so made a bit of a treat out of it.

I know the shoes you mean WG, they're lovely. Brantano stock Clarks shoes and I've recently discovered Brantano often have offers on VoucherCodes.co.uk - last week they were doing a three for two offer across their whole stock. Sometimes their offers are online only and I'd prefer to try them on, so what I do is order online to get the offer price but have them delivered to their store as you only need to pay for them on collection.

 

[Weathergirl]

Thanks Spartacus- good tip. Amazon are ok for shoes as delivery is free and returns are also free- but you take a gamble on whether you will like them. I think Q is really going to get hit hard because of postal price hikes. People have forgiven them for the outward postage so far- but when faced with my bill at the post office for a few retutns yesterday I was horrified.

I returned 4 items. One item that was jewelery- and had only 2 days left on the 30 day MBG. Cost to return special delivery around £6. A beauty set that I was allergic to. Q had unecessarily packaged it in a box. Time left to retutn about 11 days. Cost to send first class around 5.50. A Judith Williams blush that looked pretty much invisible. Cost to return 2.60 because it was just slightly too wide for the narrow slot they use. Finally the Kim & Co TSV. The style and fit of the top was perfect and was half the price of her usual prices (I have one similar shape in navy and white). But I so wish I had paid attention to the forumite who likened the top to a pair of curtains. You were so right!

Anyway, it made me realise that the cost of returns is prohibitive. Because I have returned items individualy (rather than 4 at once) I have not noticed what I have actually been spending on postage. I have stopped selling on ebay too, because of the incessant pressure to either post for free or take a hit and charge the buyer less than cost price. The wake up call yesterday was like a slap in the face and QVC will now only get my custom for:
a) repeat purchases of products I already use
b) something I already own but in another colour
c) brands I know and trust like Mally or Emma Hardie or L'Occitane where the risk of returning is minimal
d) free or other postage promotion.

That means that I will no longer try a new skincare or make up range unless postage is free. I will no longer buy clothing or shoes from QVC unless I am very keen and unlikely to return. No more "I can order it, try it and return it" for me. It is just too expensive.

I am waiting for my Kipling Ginowan and really hope I like it as this will probably cost too much to return. Amazon will be my chosen vendor for kipling from now on.

I can't think of a single product line Q sells that will not be hit hard by the postage price-hike. They will have to do something drastic now surely?

Sorry for the long rambling post. I am a long standing and reasonably loyal customer of QVC and I have had the disposable income to buy from them. But I have finally reached the point where the cost of returns is so prohibitive, that even on my income I am not prepared to waste my money like that any more. I feel stupid for not adding it all up in the past, like I should have done. But lesson FINALLY learned.

 

[spartacus]

I don't buy much from QVC these days, as they hardly ever do jewellery shows and I no longer buy beauty products from them so it's only occasionally the postage costs hit me in the face - once when I was considering a bedding TSV but the £7.95 postage stopped me - yes I know bedding packages are heavy in weight and the postage cost is probably fair or even less than it could be, but I now only ever buy Northern Nights or Easiyo if they have a free postage offer. I nearly ordered three or four clearance items when I had an easy pay code, but swiftly deleted the items from the basket when I realised I'd be paying nearly £20 in postage for items I didn't really need and was only contemplating buying because of easy pay.

 

[Weathergirl]

Well at least if it's heavy they will come and collect it free of charge. Anyone know what the limit is? It may make buying bedding one of the only things safe to buy to try out.

 

[Bea Frugal]

I saw a really nice pair of Clarks shoes on Q recently (Drum Major in the nude colour). I decided to go to my local Mall and look at them properly and try them on. They were perfect- and I saved myself the £5 postage. The price in Clarks was about £49 I think compared with Q's £47.50 but the saving on the outward postage (and the risk of extortionate return postage if they hadn't been right) more than made up for it. My husband needed new shoes too so we would have made the short car journey anyway and parking was free. We took the children to pizza hut afterwards so made a bit of a treat out of it.

This perhaps answers some questions we often ask. The high street is complaining that it is becoming just a shop window. People browse, then find the item cheaper online. It's seriously embarrassing for qvc to provide the shop window, then have viewers head for the high street to get the item for less. This may be partly why we see so few well know British brands on qvc and why we see so many brands 'exclusive to qvc' like Michele Hope and all her American counterparts. Qvc also get round the problem by bringing so many kits, be they beauty, gadgets, food or candles. They can stress the great value but these kits nearly always contain extras that nobody wants or needs. We already know that qvc prices are regularly beaten elsewhere on the net but when the high street joins the party it's got to be time to rethink.

The only brand that I can think of which is available in the UK and which regularly brings competitive prices to qvc with no extras attached and no need to multibuy is Kipling. Is that down to the famous buying power of qvc or, more likely, to a willingness by Kipling to reduce margins?

 

[Weathergirl]

Brilliant post BeaFrugal.You are of course absolutely right.

 

[loveallthingsitalian]

On the general subject of shoes has anyone else found that sizes have gone a bit t*ts up. I am a 4.5 to a 5 and never found it difficult to get them to fit but last year and this I am finding it impossible to get anything and it can fluctuate between a 4 and 6!!

could be my feet but I'm more inclined to think that it is 'made in the far East' syndrome. Doesn't seem to matter which brand either