Two pairs of Hi Tec shoes bust within a year, not happy

I bought a pair of Hi Tec light hiking shoes in 2018. They were used for walking on well worn mountain trails, jeep tracks and footpaths around Table Mountain in Cape Town. I would estimate that I get to walk an average of once to twice per week, for an average 90 minutes per walk. Within 12 months or so, these shoes (can't remember the name, but they were a khaki brown/green colour with net/webbing on the uppers and '**** suede' features, rugged green soles) were ragged and the webbed uppers were torn and the soles were worn so that there was little grip. I've owned so many different pairs of shoes used for all kinds of physical activities and sports and I was a bit shocked that these had lasted such a short time. I then eventually went to a branch of Cape Union Mart in October 2019 and asked the salesperson what shoes to get to replace them. He said that maybe I had been unlucky and recommended another pair of Hi Tec shoes, called a Langdale 2. These were in a similar price range but looked a little bit more robust than the previous pair. I have use these for exactly the same purpose and with the same frequency and very moderate intensity. A few weeks ago I started to notice that they really weren't gripping well. Then last week, I noticed there was a large (7cm) rip in one shoe where the upper joins the sole. If you looked at the rest of the shoes, you would think they have had very light usage indeed, as they look to be in very good condition. But this rip now makes them unusable. Bear in mind that if you deduct the 2 months during which we weren't allowed on the mountain due to strict lockdown, these shoes have in effect given me no more than 8 months of service !! I'm not even a heavy user. I have never ever had any shoes that have lasted such a short time, yet I play squash twice per week for an hour each time and even my squash shoes last longer than 1 year. I took them back to Cape Union Mart and they told me that they can neither issue me a refund nor a credit note, but have to send them back to Hi Tec for inspection, which process can take 8-12 weeks. They claim they have no control over this and that it is not their company policy to override Hi Tec's process in favour of the customer. So...they have my money, some of which has gone to Hi Tec, but I have no shoes ! Not a great result. Two ******* pairs of shoes on the trot - I think they must be very shoddy products and I certainly won't be buying Hi Tec again. I would love to know what the company has got to say about this in their defence.