Poor quality face masks

I bought 2 packs of disposable face masks on Sunday for R149.99 each and the strings just fall off. I have tried contacting them from Monday and was told the matter is escalated. What am I suppose to wear in the mean time. Let alone the fact that on Monday I had to be without a mask at work from 9 till 14:30. What if I got infected in those hour? Am I expected to request transport for 300 to back and exchange these low quality masks? Are they even protective enough with such poor quality?