Needless to say, my family and I have been customers of the esteemed brand for years and have never faced such damage, especially to a leather good item. Noticeably, this is not a damage inflicted by a customer but a natural one done due to perhaps terrible quality and make of the shoes themselves. How can genuine leather goods tear themselves apart? Leather items especially from Gucci, LVMH & Hermes Houses are made to last a lifetime. I am not sure how to feel about this as this has more or less made me question the entirety of the Gucci name? How could the Italy office refuse to take responsibility and accountability- this reflects on poor luxury client relationship management along with disastrous quality of genuine leather items. Both Prada & LV have repaired the few times with zero questions asked. To shortly conclude, if Gucci wants to maintain their haute couture image they should present themselves like one. Or else one might as well get shoes from a junior brand since they are going to tear away in 5 years or less anyway.