Amazon is being less generous with customers because they’re an aging company built around a technology solution (automated listing, searching, and service) that couldn’t actually satisfy global scale in the face of automated listing spam; because they’ve largely won as many customers as they ever will and have few radical growth avenues; and because now they’re facing these challenges in a world where money is much more expensive and needs to be more carefully allocated.
Amazon’s giving you grief with your refunds because their whole 2000’s-era style of online retail is past it’s peak and is starting to crumble beneath its titans, just like search is for Google and graph-centered social media did Facebook.
While we can hope exciting new retail approaches take hold, the experience with Amazon is only going to get worse, regardless of little scams like this.
So what is the modern style of online retail that is/has taken its place?
Source?
I also received an item that was shattered in transit and had to send it back. I felt bad for the UPS store employee dealing with the broken glass.
Then they claimed to my credit card company I never requested a return.
Then they told the state AG that they had accepted my return when I filed a complaint (perjury!)
In the end, I lost 2500$ USD.
YMMV