When these shoes first arrived (30 days ago!), I loved them; they looked comfy, fit my son well, and seemed well-designed.  Plus, they fit his uniform specs.  Sold--or so I thought.
Well, here I am ONE MONTH LATER and they have separated where the toe meets the body of the shoe on one foot (there is a large hole-about 2 in) and are almost worn through (an actual small hole, about 1/2 in and getting bigger) on the rubber part of the toe on the other foot.  The treads still look brand new, and the shoes don't even show dirt (a plus), but because of the holes in the toe areas of both feet, he can't wear these to school anymore (and really, anywhere.)  I was shocked.  From looking at them, you would think he'd picked up an old, worn-out pair from the trash and put them on by mistake.
These were bought as school shoes for a 4 1/2 year old, and he's worn them pretty much every day (on the weekends, too) since I bought them a month ago.  I don't think that my son is atypically active for his age or particularly hard on his shoes; I've never had this problem with his other shoes that he's worn to the same extent.  But those have lasted much longer than a month! So I'm extremely disappointed--particularly given the price.  If I'd paid $10 for them, I would have expected as much, but given that these are Merrells and not cheap, I'm very, very disappointed.  I will not be purchasing another pair for my son and will think very hard before purchasing this brand for any family member, after this experience.