I contacted Merrell recently about a pair of shoes that are 3 or 4 years old. As the picture shows the soles are not that worn but the sides have the shoes have failed in the same place. I consider this a manufacturing default I have to say. Contrast this with an old pair of Scarpa's that have seen a lot more trail time.
Merrell side wall failure on 2005/06 shoes
Merrell UK got back to say "We would always firstly recommend that you try to handle your complaint through the retail store where your product was purchased. We offer a 1 year manufacturers warranty on all of our footwear and it is their responsibility to check for any evidence of a manufacturing fault."
Scarpa 2000 shoe with a lot more wear
A shoes one pays a decent amount of money for, should not fail like this with so little wear. I don't plan to buy Merrell again.
Update: 3 Dec 09: I sent a letter to Jim Zwiers, President outdoor group, Wolverine World Wide, the company which owns Merrell, but have got no response.
