Daytona Roadstar Boots - Lever Pad Stitching

Has anyone had the edge of the rubber pad break away in the way that mine are? The gear lever on my bike is in good order, rubber sleeve is in place and no damage to any metalwork.
These boots are exactly 1 year old and lightly used. This seems like unreasonable wear to me, especially so since the cost was significant at £350. Daytona have rejected this as wear and tear.

 

Apparently (after making a bit of a fuss) my case is being discussed by a number of people more senior, hoping to hear something today. TCX manage to wrap the pad around the radius without any issue so I really don't know what the issue is here. Poor design like you say.

The repair costs around £40 and you can ask for a larger pad to be bonded on. They can't stitch it so it's glued on.