Disgusting return policy

My wife and I often shop at Green Cross. She's a doctor and swears by them, while I enjoy the comfort. We buy for thousands. We normally purchase our shoes from Sandton but on 10/4/16 we decided to visit the Edenvale branch. We bought for R3200. I tried on my pair of shoes and it felt fine in the store. After trying the shoe at home in my yard, I experienced a sharp pain on my left foot. What happened is that the aglet combined with the thick leather lace began exert too much pressure on the top of my foot, on my bone. I went to return the shoes on 16/4/2016 and I was met with fierce resistance. The manager told me that they needed to send the for a quality assessment and only if the shoe was found reject, then I could return them. Since I am a consumer law expert, I refused. I told her my problem with the shoe above, and that the shoe was in an excellent condition. I didn't even want the cash back, all I wanted was an exchange. After I raised my voice so everyone in the store could hear me & announced how much I spent, she conceded. The whole return policy doesn't make sense if a shoe is uncomfortable subjectively. Where is the after-sales service? Why do you penalise consumers?