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If I could only boycott Bloch!!


Kat09

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Sorry a bit of a rant. I have just been to the Bloch store to collect DDs monthly quota of pointe shoes to be told that they have gone up over £10 a pair ... That's 25% !! Inflation isn't low when it comes to ballet :( how can they possibly justify such a hike!!! Grrr

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Just looked at website and seems they have all gone up. My dd's now 59.95. Ridiculous. Will look at Russian Pointe instead now.thanks for warning Kat.

Edited by chaperone
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Kat09, I feel your pain, my dd needs new pointe shoes and I argued point blank with her (pardon the pun!) that I have never paid almost £60 for them before, even with discount it is an unreasonable amount but unfortunately it seems to be true, am taking the hit this time but going to start looking elsewhere if her school will allow. Her big sis wears freed and gets longevity out of them at moment at approx £40 ish per pair but as she is due to start upper school in Sept, i'm beginning to worry about how long they will last. It is a nightmare of a hidden cost.

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That's a huge increase! A couple of years ago when we were in the UK, DD went to a course at ENBS and was surprised that so many of the students were wearing Bloch pointe shoes, she had presumed that most would wear Freed because they are made in the UK. She was even more surprised when she saw that they were only £40 which at that time was cheaper than in Australia!

I've just checked the website here to see if they have had a price increase but most styles are stil $100 which is about £50. My guess is that the cost of labour or materials have increased. I think most of the shoes are made in Thailand.

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Most of the Bloch models appear to still be onsale at other online stores at the 'old' price but I guess will increase at some point. Unfortunately the ones suitable for my dd only available direct from Bloch.

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same for us Chaperone :( What makes me so mad is that Bloch mistakenly sent me an invoice for the wholesale price last year , lets say the mark up wasn't small  :wacko:

Thank you ladies for the alternative sites :)

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My DD had a pair of Bloch to try recently and liked them but as she's worn Freed for this long she will hopefully carry on. The only thing I'll need to try to work out is if she can keep the discount that WL seem to get if I buy in bulk.

I hadn't factored in that amount of pointe shoes so I appreciate you warning me. I'm really not sure how I'm going to manage yet but at least I have a little time to plan ☺️

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Ladies, thank you for your interest. I have sent a letter to Bloch outlining my strong feelings on their current pricing policy. I've suggested that perhaps they might like to extend a (much) larger discount to vocational students :P If I get a reply I will be happy to share it with you …. of course the more communications they receive, the more they might sit up and take notice. It's possible to message them via their Facebook page Bloch dance europe or email ukstore@blochworld.com 

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Thanks for bringing this up, Kat.  Even my Bloch flats have shot up from about £12 to about £20 in recent years.  I wonder if I can get them cheaper online too?

I'm sure that you could alison - as well as those already listed, you could look at Dance direct.

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Thanks for bringing this up, Kat.  Even my Bloch flats have shot up from about £12 to about £20 in recent years.  I wonder if I can get them cheaper online too?

a year or two ago i got my bloch flats on amazon as they were a relatively new style to the uk so i think they were from america (had mesh in the sole basically which uk shoes didnt) much cheaper, about £10 cheaper per pair if i remember rightly and is ordered 2 pairs which lasted my a long time as flats last alot longer!

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Just looked.... DD has Serenade and think they were about £42 last time I got them from the shop but can't be totally sure without digging out receipts.  Says £49.99 now and I definitely didn't pay that.  Still £37.50 on Dance Direct so might stock up quick.

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Harrumph. I just tried pointeshoe.com to compare costs, as I pay £60 for DD's Blochs here in NZ. Looked good, at £36.95 a pair, but then they add on £9.95 shipping. If I get two pairs, shipping is £13.95. That is pretty ludicrous for a teensy pair of pointe shoes or two! I won't order them as DD is 11 and feet are still growing, but I'm keen to gather information. I've actually been ordering her flats (Capezio Juliet in canvas) from Amazon in the US as I can get them for £17 including shipping, when they cost £25 here – still better than £30 for the Wear Moi super-soft leather ones that showed wear on the upper after the first half-hour private!

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Well we decided to boycott Bloch and dd got her first pair of Freeds on Saturday.  Fantastic service, lots of explanation about the shoe and its fit, we left very happy and pleased with ourselves...... then last night DD announced after 2 hrs of wear, she is worried they are getting soft - she says they still feel hard when she is on flat but when she goes onto to pointe they feel soft. Noooooo!! Surely this can't be so??  My other DD has said it may just be she has to get used to a Freed shoe after wearing Bloch, I know nothing about pointe shoes so can't really comment....her teacher has suggested she harden them with some type of wood glue but she can't remember the name, does anyone have any suggestions of a 'wood hardener'? Feel really quite fed up as I certainly cannot afford to buy shoes every week so it looks like back to Bloch we go! :(

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Well we decided to boycott Bloch and dd got her first pair of Freeds on Saturday.  Fantastic service, lots of explanation about the shoe and its fit, we left very happy and pleased with ourselves...... then last night DD announced after 2 hrs of wear, she is worried they are getting soft - she says they still feel hard when she is on flat but when she goes onto to pointe they feel soft. Noooooo!! Surely this can't be so??  My other DD has said it may just be she has to get used to a Freed shoe after wearing Bloch, I know nothing about pointe shoes so can't really comment....her teacher has suggested she harden them with some type of wood glue but she can't remember the name, does anyone have any suggestions of a 'wood hardener'? Feel really quite fed up as I certainly cannot afford to buy shoes every week so it looks like back to Bloch we go! :(

I think dancers use Shellac to harden their pointe shoes,Wildflowers.

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Hi Wildflowers. My daughter is a fan of Freeds and she has special orders of which I order 5 pairs every few weeks as they take a little while to be made. They are lovely but she gets through a pair a week sometimes more. Freed actually do a pointe shoe hardener in a little tube thing. Also the other thing you can use is Shellac which I have ordered through Dance Direct before. I don't know if it still exists but there used to be a floor polish called Clear and some people used that to harden their shoes. Bloch are more expensive but they do actually last longer.

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Just an update … I posted a Facebook message to Bloch and sent an email , to date NO response :(    pretty poor show considering the amount of money I spend with them. Not feeling a valued customer ….

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Well I have to say that I'm quite impressed with GMs ... Dd normally wears freed studio pros with the full hard sole and had been getting through at least one pair per week in upper school, however, she got a pair of Gaynors at Easter and they've stayed the course for about four weeks so far!

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