Very disappointing service from Cape Union Mart

I bought a pair of 'hiking' shoes from Cape Union Mart in October 2019. I was advised by the salesperson that they were a good pair and the price seemed reasonable. I live in Cape Town close to Table Mountain and take my dog for 1 to 2 hour walks once or twice per week, that's what these shoes are used for. Fast forward 10 months later, I would say that the shoes have had an average 2 to 3 hours usage per week for 8 months since new (I'm subtracting 2 months as strict lockdown meant we couldn't walk on the mountain). The shoes exhibit little signs of use on the uppers, although the soles are not wearing well and the grip is starting to wear. But earlier this week, I suddenly noticed a large rip on the left side of the front of one shoe, about 7cm long. This effectively means that the upper is detached from the sole on this shoe. This is not wear and tear - this is a fault with the manufacture/reliability of this shoe. The brand is a well known brand and the warranty clearly stated 1 year against all defects. I have had so many different pairs of shoes in my life including many running, tennis, walking and squash shoes - never has a pair lasted such a short time. In fact, since this pair of shoes broke I have been using an old pair of Brooks running shoes which must now be over 8 years old. They are still in wearable condition after all this time. So...I took the 10 month old shoes back to the same branch of Cape Union Mart where I bought them. The attitude and lack of good service was astonishing. I showed them my receipt, of which I had taken a photo after purchase, as the print on till receipts fades very quickly here and they become illegible. Firstly, I was told that I needed the original box. What ?!? Why would I keep that for 10 months ?!? Customers would need to rent storage or buy a 2nd home in order to warehouse the original packaging for all their purchases !! It is nonsense and completely impractical. The attitude of the shop assistant who served me was not great, Cape Union Mart obviously don't train their staff properly in customer service. It was almost as though she was trying to make me feel guilty for bringing back a defective product and for not hanging on to a useless cardboard box. After a while, I called the manager, as I didn't seem to be getting anywhere. Interesting to note that soon after he arrived, the box issue became irrelevant. So why make such a fuss about it in the first place ? He then told me that I had the wrong shoes for walking on the mountain (and this is on worn/popular trails and jeep tracks, not serious hiking through the bush). He said they were only any good for flat/grass walking. I asked him why then his salesperson (who didn't appear to be in the store that day) had sold me these shoes, if they were unsuitable. He had no reply to this and quickly moved on to another subject. I mean, he could at least have apologised for the incorrect advice given by one of his staff. He told me that whilst he accepted that the shoes looked as though they had been cared for and not excessively worn, he could neither process a refund nor an exchange, but had to send them back to the manufacturer for inspection, which process could take 8 to 12 weeks. When I explained to him that that left me in the position of having no shoes to wear whilst they still had my money, I felt this was unsatisfactory. Again, he had no answer to this. So it looked like I had to spend more money on getting a new pair of shoes whilst I waited two months for a resolution on the other pair. So I asked him what kind of shoe he would recommend to replace these and he took me to a much more expensive range of shoes and I tried some on. I then asked him if he would consider discounting a new pair of shoes if I bought, in lieu of the trouble I had had with the existing pair. He said he was sure he could do something, and would call me the following morning. It's now three days later and I have received no call. I think this experience is very poor and follows the previous time I shopped here, bought a torch and found that the torch stopped working after a couple of months. I'm sure not all their products are poor quality, but this retailer really needs to tighten up their customer service - especially during a time in which people are going to be much more choosy about where they spend their money.