Oh yes? I never asked to be reminded 10 times a day to become a "Prime Member", every single time I purchase something via Amazon using evil dark patterns (make the "skip" option appear as a text link and not a button).

This and the whole concept of selling certains items to Prime members ONLY, and the fact that their prices are far from being as good as they were just 2-3 years ago, I can tell you the obsession now is clearly with profit margins than anything else.

Amazon has arm-twisted competitors like Zappos into sub-optimal acquisitions by selling goods at a loss, and it's a fair question to ask if less or no competition really benefits consumers in the long-run.

I'm starting to wonder if all large successful corporations are just a type of legal sociopath, driven to crazy extremes via corporate zealotry.

This seems like one of those "warm and fuzzy" things to frame and put on a wall somewhere, but I don't believe (based on my experience) that Amazon is far superior in this respect compared to others (though there are many companies with absolutely pathetic customer service). As an external observer, I see Amazon's primary and foremost principle as one to grow market share at almost any cost (to anyone) and crush competition through that route.

With the problem of counterfeit merchandise that they have, there's virtually no reason for me to continue being a customer there, other than the convenience factor--and for that, eBay provides the same service.

This is nonsense. Whole Foods made a killing by convincing consumers that what they are buying is somehow magically "better" than regular grocery store items with clever marketing and presentation creating a false dichotomy between "natural" food and the rest. I've yet to see a single shred of evidence to back this up. I'd expect Amazon to do nothing less.