Is a shoe shop liable for infant foot damage?

Evidently Yahoo Answers has its fair share of judgemental nasties, so I must clarify that this question is to see whether I have a legal argument that would strengthen a letter of complaint and scare the shop into improving processes.





My daughter has just been measured for shoes (14 months old). The shop said she had previously been measured up wrong (by another branch) and has therefore been wearing the too big (size 3 instead of size 2.5h) shoes for 3 months. Of course we noticed they may be slightly too big but were assured by %26#039;the experts%26#039; that this was indeed the right size%26#039;.





If this has caused lasting damage (being at a formative stage in development), do we have a case for lawsuit?

Is a shoe shop liable for infant foot damage?
Umm, no. Wearing shoes a half of a size too big is not going to hurt your daughters feet. Also, why don%26#039;t you take your daughter to the Dr first and find out if she has any %26quot;Long term deformities%26quot; before you talk about anything legal. You just money hungry or is this your first child? Jeez, get a grip.
Reply:I worked in the retail shoe trade for many years and can assure that wearing shoes that are to big for her will not do any harm to your daughters feet in fact it is better that the shoes are to big as she will grow into them the only way your daughters feet will be harmed is if the shoes were to small for her
Reply:I don%26#039;t see how wearing a shoe that is too big will cause any lasting damage. I wouldn%26#039;t worry so much about it.
Reply:go to citizens advice and ask them i wouldn%26#039;t be very hopefull though
Reply:As everyone here has said, wearing shoes that are too big will not harm your daughter%26#039;s feet. What will damage them is wearing unsuitable shoes - ones that are not supportive, have high heels - 2%26quot; heels for a size of shoe suitable for a 3 year old. Although I don%26#039;t think you have a case and feel it is small minded of you, I do think shoe shops should look more at what small feet need in shoes rather than the silly fashion sense of our more chavier parent!
Reply:A shoe store or its employees have very limited liability here. If this was an orthopedist, or there was an existing foot problem, things would be different. Ultimately, you are responsible for your children, and decisions of what they are wearing.
Reply:If you saw they were too big - why did you buy them? It%26#039;s a shoe shop, they are not experts, they are shop assistants who work in a shop that offers a measuring service, of which you do not have to avail yourself - would you have taken their word that shoes were the right size, if you could clearly see that they were too small? You have the right not to buy and to take your custom elsewhere - nobody made you buy shoes that you think are too big.
Reply:As someone who used to work in a shoe shop, it is incredibly difficult to get a child (especially of 14 months) to stand properly to have their feet measured.





As someone else rightly points out, it will not damage feet by wearing shoes too big - now too small would be a different matter. But I still don%26#039;t think there would be any liability to the shoe shop.



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