Highly disappointed Customer over an exchange not refund....

I bought a pair of boots on the 23rd of July 2020 and were only delivered on the 6th of August 2020, as a loyal customer to Steve Madden i understood that the Pandemic might have had an influence on the delivery which was supposed to be 7 days. I did not try on my shoes till the 11th of Sep and found that the shoes did not fit me. I went to the branch in EastGate and was told that they can not help me as the grace period to return my shoes has passed. My issue is if we as customers are expected to understand the delay of delivery, what is the reason Customers can not be given grace as well. The only thing I wanted to do was to exchange not even a refund, but that was denied. The item I was returning was still in-store and the shoes were in a condition they were when I bought them. I am very disappointed by the store's policies that don't cater to special cases. I only went back to work on the week of 7th of Sep 2020 hence I only tried them on, on the 11th of sep and took them back to the store on the 12th. I cant even put the boots on, I only need exchange, Is that too much to ask. the shoes are still new, what type of business is Steve Madden running. I ma highly disappointed. I have 3 pairs of shoes i bought from their store and this is how they treat their customers?