My pair never self destructed or had any quality issues, but they had a huge comfort issue. These are very sturdy and durable and were definitely designed to be used hard, the problem with that was that they were very low on the ankle and gave no support to it. These were strong enough to be hiking shoes, but didn't have the support to go with it. There used to be a low boot version of this shoe that would make more sense - don't know if it still available or not.

On the comfort scale, they were very bad. I wore them for months to loosen them up...it didn't help. They never got loose and they never got comfortable. The fact is they were one of the least comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned.

I like Ecco shoes, but do not recommend this one.