That gummy, stick thing happened to a LG I had. It was a framed bag, Paula I think but not certain. As you say, unusable and waste of £200, at least. The same thing also happened to a rather expensive (£300) trunk bag from aspinaI, who were equally as disinterested as over a year old.
I have got lots of beautiful bags from the 50s and 60s. They have the metal Elbief frames and are as good as new and cost me around a tenner each, some less and some even free.
Why can't LG and other premium brands make goods that will last 60 years I wonder? I suppose they want to keep selling us new, expensive bags that we will have to toss after a couple of years. No pride in manufacturing anymore, get it banged out cheap in China and flog it for a serious mark up, repeat as necessary - kerching!