Merrell Jungle Moc 3 M US Little Kid

I had these for almost exactly 3 months when I looked at the heel and realized it was almost completely rubbed through to the outer layer of the shoe. I did a chat with Merrell to see what the life of the shoe was (I wore them A LOT!) and was told I should report them as defective, which I did. There was some back and forth, but they agreed to replace the shoes and will send me the replacements as soon as I send them a picture proving I made the shoes unwearable. I have a hard time doing that since the defect doesn't really affect the wearability. It seems like a significant waste, although I had expected to have to send them back. I had a similar interaction with Keen shoes a couple of years ago (a problem that didn't really impact the shoe). When I asked them about it (granted in their store), they not only immediately accepted it as defective, they credited me the full price of the shoe, even though I had no receipt and was very up front that I had bought them at a significant discount. When I asked if they wanted the shoes back, they refused. Knowing the company, I would guess that is because they actually wanted the shoe to be used. I know that Merrell's argument is that they don't want somebody to be injured by a defective shoe, but come on! They are sending me a new pair and when those wear out in 3 months, I won't be replacing them again.