Damaged in a day

I reside in the Western Cape and I recently went on a work trip to Mount Frere for a period of 2 weeks. While in Mount Frere, I bought a pair of Puma Sneakers at a Studio88 there. I bought the sneakers on 27 November, but didn't wear them until the 3rd of December when I was on my way back to the Western Cape. During a break stop when I got out of the bus I noticed that the shoes were torn at the bottom lace-up area. I was shocked as I had been sitting in a bus the entire time and hadn't done anything strenuous that might've caused the shoes to tear. On Tuesday the 06th of November I decided to visit a nearby Studio88 store to do an exchange as the shoes were worn only once and were damaged immediately. The manager at that particular store was helpful and friendly, but they couldn't do an exchange because they didn't have that particular shoe at their store...only Johannesburg and Mount Frere stores had stock. Furthermore; he stated that the shoe counted as damaged stock and therefore couldn't hold it at their store. He did however get in contact with the Mount Frere store to try and get the matter settled. The Mount Frere manager stated that I had to 'physically' bring the shoes back to their store and this was the only possible way they could assist. Physically taking the shoe back to Mount Frere would be more than double the price of the shoe. I followed this up with Studio88 head offices who put me in contact with Mount Frere regional manager; that particular manager repeated the same thing that I had to bring the shoe back where I bought it. When I explained to him how going back to Mount Frere to return a shoe made no financial or even logical sense, he became rude and aggressive and hung up the phone. I love shopping at Studio88,particularly for sneakers as they have a wide variety to choose from and at a reasonable price, this experience has however left me doubting if I'll ever spend my money there ever again.