The lady in the shop where I returned my faulty boots yesterday was superb, she had a brand new pair ready for me and apologised profusely for the inconvenience, though obviously the fault was in the manufacture and nothing she could have foreseen. I can't recommend Winters of Middleton-in-Teesdale enough. It's the sort of service you don't get anymore, unfortunately it's the kind of small business that is struggling most at the moment.
I recently had a very different experience in a shop owned by one of the big chains which I won't name, but it starts with "M" and ends with "illets".