I'm curious what other people would do/expect in this situation. I bought DS some "Phibian" shoes from Stride Rite a few weeks ago. We've had them for 3 weeks now, so not for very long, but they have been worn almost every day in that time frame. I bought these specific shoes because they're rubbery and can be washed. He's newly potty trained and I figured if he has an accident they can just be rinsed out. His daycare also has a playground that I hate, because it's sand. So in normal sneakers the sand gets in them and never totally comes out. These shoes are pretty one piece with no extra sole, so you can just shake them out or rinse them if they're really bad. Overall, I've been pretty happy with how they're working out.

But the other day I noticed one of them is starting to fall apart around the edge. I'm not thrilled because they're so new, and they're Stride Rite, so I expected them to hold up. Also, I'm worried that the way they're falling apart will affect the washability of the shoe, which was really important to us.

I took a picture and sent it to their customer support saying I was disappointed in the quality of the shoe, given how new they are. They responded back and said they want me to send the shoes back and they'll determine if there was a manufacturing defect or if it was caused by excessive wear and tear. I feel like this is a pretty crappy solution. He has another pair of sneakers, but again they aren't washable and they're continuously full of sand. So I should wait around for probably weeks while they figure out whether 3 week old shoes have too much wear and tear? Or go out and buy some Natives instead (which I think function similarly) and hope that I get the money back on the Stride Rites? I told them I wasn't happy with their solution and asked them to suggest something else.

So what would you expect in this case?