Columbia Redmond V2 Mid Men's Hiking Shoe (Open Box)

I owned the original Redmond model and hiked across Europe in them. I bought these and wore them casually about 6 times during the 2 months I owned them. Looked down and saw they were already split apart for no reason. It was past the return window, so I called Columbia. I saw all the other reviewers posting similar failures. It took over a month to create a warranty claim, pay to mail them both shoes so they can verify they were defective, and then finally to get credit to re-buy some shoes off their online store and then pay extra for tax. So, all in all, I bought DEFECTIVE shoes and had to PAY $30 approx out of pocket to replace them. I will NEVER buy another pair of Columbia shoes for that reason. I have dealt with many other reputable companies that honor their warranties and make ownership a pleasant experience, but it seems Columbia couldn't give a rat's ass. From now on, if I can't trust the shoe/manufacturer, I will only buy activity shoes at REI since they honor their customer satisfaction 100%. That means that Amazon is losing out too. I know I'm one tiny fish in the ocean, but seriously, almost every other manufacturer that has a warranty will ask you to cut off the labels and mail it back to verify purchase and photos to show defects. For example, Swiss Gear is fantastic. If there's a failure during warranty, they totally honor it and send you a replacement. Only Columbia makes you go find a box on your dime, pay $20 to mail it to them so they can say "yep, it was defective, here's credit to buy another pair" in which you will pay more taxes on and wait another two weeks to get shipped from Kentucky. What a POS company. The shoes were barely 60 days old and worn 6 times. I'm supposed to get my replacement pair tomorrow. I wonder if they'll last past 6 times. efF Columbia.