looks like the leather got "hooked" or torn?
Yah, Ryth...looks like it got snagged, maybe a couple times, with putting your foot forward to get a shift or something...I dunno.....I think Sidi should have known better than to put any seam in a place where a "snag" could have occurred.....not every time do we dip our foot under the shifter.....I take all my leather woes to a shoe guy here in Las Vegas....He's AWESOME
and has this stitching machine that reaches all the way to the toe......
Not sure getting all worked up is worth your energy. I'd think twice before buying from them again considering.....with or without the toe shield, wouldn't have changed a thing I don't think.....then again, maybe Sidi is making it hard on them on "their" warranty stuff......I had Volkl Skis tell me the same thing after a bent up some tips at Telluride one time.....they said it was abuse, I just "bumped" the crap out of them, and they said that it was abuse that caused the damage....I said nope, it was a mogul.....a whole lot of moguls......
Uhhh....errrr...ummmm..... I never did get them to replace those though......