I've had these shoes for nearly a y

I've had these shoes for nearly a year now and I've worn them maybe six times, walking about 3 miles every time because I live in the city. They are still super stiff and going up and down stairs in particular is very difficult. At this point I'm not sure if they will ever be broken in! My bigger concern, however, is the amount of times I've almost fallen down both the subway steps and the stone steps in my apartment building because of the lack of grip on the bottom of these. I don't have that issue with a single other pair of shoes I own and considering the amount of money I paid for these I would expect not to have that problem. I love to go hiking but I don't think I'd ever wear these for that because walking in them is exhausting.