The jacket should not likely have started to leak quite that soon. But being you found it at an outlet it's possible that you bought something that may have been a factory second or a discontinued product due to problems with the material.

I'm not certain why you would bother a customer service department for an under $5 plastic buckle, but to each their own.

The coating on nylon peels over time, it's just the way it is. It doesn't matter what brand you have, eventually the coating will peel off.

You got lousy phone service, but most of your complaints about the products themselves are overblown. TNF in today's world is just another brand name, they no longer resemble the company they were in the 1960's and 1970's when they created their reputation.