Think wisely before buying Salomon!

Ok, so it's a little naieve to think that one pair of boots will make the entire distance but after only 800km my no longer waterproof boots have split. Buying boots was a complete minefield with so many options available so i put my trust in a global brand after having owned a pair of their trail runners before. For the outer material to have split and having no foot ailments or injuries i automatically assume it's the fault of the design/material of the boot and so expect some help from Salomon. However, this has only bred disappointment after Salomon US put me in touch with Salomon OZ who put me in touch with Salomon UK just to find out that Salomon don't have a dedicated customer service team and so cannot help me! They only deal with shops and not the end user so I'm expected to send my boots back to gooutdoors in the UK and then wait for up to 4 weeks for my case to be assessed and if they provide new boots they'll post some back out to me! That's 6-8 weeks downtime! What do i do? Stop the adventure because of faulty boots? Of course not, I'll carry on walking and risk not being able to get refund because of their archaic business strategy. Think wisely before buying Salomon unless you do all of your adventures close to the shop where you buy their equipment from. Other global outdoor brands have moved with the times and realise that being flexible and looking after the customer is of paramount importance so with that in mind, goodbye Salomon you have lost a valued customer and i will do my utmost to inform others of your weaknesses.