Platte Canyon Water Friendly Sneaker (Women)

I bought these shoes before a trip to Costa Rica during the rainy season where I knew I would be doing hiking and water activities together, so no need to have dry feet. They were great for this purpose. I do think I could have bought one half-size smaller and been ok - there was extra room in the shoe for my feet - but overall I didn't have any problems or issues with my regular size.

I bought the shoes because I thought they would have excellent grip and be good quality. Unfortunately I was not impressed. I went on a five day paddle on the Missouri river and by day two the plastic cinch that holds the laces stopped working and locked the laces in place making the shoes extremely difficult to get on and off. The shoes filter water out but left an incredible amount of sand in my shoe. This is not terribly unusual for water shoes however not being able to get them on and off very well made the problem worse. I contacted North Face and was told that I would have to go through a warranty process. I unfortunately don't want a replacement pair, but would have rather returned the shoes and received my money back.