I have the same boots, size 12. They are very comfortable. I had them for less than a week when one of the speed hooks pulled out though. All I wanted was a new hook but Carolina wouldn't do anything about it. I found some new hooks on EBay and put one in myself. Another one came out a few days later so I took the boots to a cobbler and had all 8 replaced and swore to never buy Carolina again. Thorogood is all I will buy from now on.
I too would be done. I have/had 2 pair of their logger boots in my cart. Glad I came back and saw this. I believe your request was pretty easy to fulfill and shipping them back would have been silly. With today's technology, a couple pictures is all that should be needed to get a pick-up slip generated for a return. I'm thinking I would have just taken/sent them back to where I bought them and called it a day.
Their policy:
https://www.carolinashoe.com/Customer_Service
Carolina Shoe Company produces quality footwear that serves many different purposes. We stand behind the products that we produce. At times, despite our best efforts to assure the best quality, a product purchased from a retailer may have a defect in materials and or workmanship as there are many components and processes that go into footwear manufacturing.
If a consumer believes that a manufacturer's defect has caused unusual wear or otherwise affects the use of the footwear, we require the consumer to return the footwear to the retailer where the footwear was originally purchased. The original selling retailer has its own policies and processes in place to satisfy the consumer including an initial inspection for normal wear. In the event that the selling retailer cannot reasonably satisfy the consumer, that consumer may then contact the brand manufacturer. If someone other than the original purchaser contacts or attempts to contact Carolina Shoe Company it will be necessary for us to receive the appropriate written authorization from the original purchaser authorizing Carolina Shoe Company to discuss the matter with the representative and to deal with the representative in resolving the matter.
Carolina Shoe Company requires that a consumer have the original sales receipt within one year of purchase and can identify the retailer that the footwear was purchased from. We may use reasonable efforts to contact that retailer on the consumer’s behalf to ensure full satisfaction. In the event that this is not possible the consumer may choose to return the footwear to us for inspection. If a determination is made that there is in fact a defect Carolina Shoe Company has, at its option, the right to either repair, prorate the value of the original purchase, as appropriate or replace the footwear with the same or comparably valued footwear. If no defect is apparent the inspected footwear will be returned to the consumer.