I think this is a pro-Amazon piece disguised as an anti-Amazon piece. Like, the author comes across as so inept and unlikable, and Amazon so reasonable, that I strongly suspect that this is an Amazon-sponsored piece? If that makes sense?
Is that a concept that exists, where you write a shitty criticism of something in order to make people go "That actually sounds pretty good" and it ends up working as an endorsement or advertisement? Sort of an on-purpose Streisand effect?
I don't know anything about this particular case, but I believe the term "black propaganda" (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_propaganda) is often used for the kind of situation you have in mind.
I've often wondered about that with some online interactions. Sometimes, a "defense" of P is so poorly argued that it seems almost intentional, as if designed to provoke the well-sourced, well-argued rebuttals that almost
invariably follow immediately.
Logically speaking, these rebuttals should not discredit the proposition P itself, only a particular argument for P (e.g. refuting the ontological proof of the existence of God does not thereby refute theism). But when such exchanges happen frequently enough they can give rise to the widespread impression that P has no smart, thoughful defenders, so the overall effect is similar.
I'd just go with Occam/Hanlon's razor, the author is somewhat inept (at least when it comes to Amazon returns) and wrote a piece on it because being anti-Amazon gets clicks like being anti-Walmart in the early 2010s (2000s?).
Returns are hard because in practice, 11" (or 10.5") baskets are one such item that are just sold and returned on Amazon for appearances, as the dimensions probably makes shipping cost-prohibitive, but Amazon knows that they can't just say "keep it" because then people would fake-return stuff all the time.
I don't know if I'd go quite this far, but I definitely had the same overall impression. The person set up two returns and got two QR codes, but just used the same QR code twice. That is just an inability to follow basic instructions, not an Amazon problem.
To counter the author’s experience, just last week I brought an Amazon return to the UPS store, they scanned the QR code from the email Amazon sent and I was on my way in less than a minute.
That's because you did most of the work of setting up the return at home, including putting the item back in its original packaging, packaging it for shipping, and initiating the return through the app or online. Not sure how it works where you are, but there's also an additional step of printing a shipping label where I am.
For my last several Amazon returns I did not have to use the original (or any) packaging, nor did I have to print a label. I did have to initiate the return through the app and take it to a UPS Store, where they took the unpackaged item, scanned the provided QR code on my phone, and gave me a receipt.
I'm not the person you are replying to, but I happened to do an Amazon return at the UPS store in the last month and it didn't require a shipping label.
It was actually a super clean process on my end, couple of clicks on Amazon, they emailed me a QR code, I walked into the UPS store, flashed the QR code to them on my phone which they scanned, put the item on the desk and walked out.
Literally was in and out of the UPS store in less than a minute.
I have a lot of qualms about modern Amazon, mostly related to how value from Prime is continually diminishing in the form of things like ads in Prime Video, etc, but I have no convenience-related complaints about the return process I recently experienced.
Returned many items through my UPS Store without needed to put it in a box or apply a label. Just walk in with the item, they scan the QR code and give me a receipt. Usually done in 30 seconds or less.
Meanwhile returns through Whole Foods are a shit show. They can't give me a receipt for the return. "Just wait here and make sure you get an email confirming the return." Amazon claimed they never got one of my returns despite me having that email receipt. Had to fight it three damn times before they stopped pulling back my refund.
Unfortunately they force me to use Whole Foods (or maybe some other worse options) for any return with a lithium battery in it.
I very rarely return items, but received some DOA batteries from Amazon recently (for an Eve contact sensor - 1/2 AA batteries are a real pain to source).
I found the return process to be wildly low friction. I didn't have to print or package anything. I initiated the return, and the next day an Amazon delivery driver came to my door and I handed them the unlabelled pack of batteries.
I have specifically asked Amazon customer support if they could do this (pick up the return) for my elderly parents who have Prime. They never agree and insist on printing a label. They don't have a printer. I have asked them about this at least five times.
I have no idea how the author was unable to figure out that particular return process. It’s dead simple.
But also, we’ve gotta take our pick: either we want easy returns or more waste and new products hitting up the landfill.
My wasteful Amazon purchases have plummeted since I canceled Prime. Turns out that the little $9 widget you need isn’t so important when shipping visibly costs extra.
There is a whole industry around handling returns. They often go to the landfills anyway. Sometimes you can get a refund without having to send something back, because they can’t use it anyway.
Most clothing donations go to Africa or get dumped. Recycling can end up in landfills.
I still think it makes sense to try to reuse and recycle, but with low expectations about how much good it will do.
A few years ago, I needed to return a fragile set of items (ceramic bowls). I didn't want to worry about trying to pack them so they wouldn't break, so I chose the option to bring them to a UPS store, which clearly said that UPS would pack them for me. I then proceeded to have the following conversation with the UPS staff:
UPS guy: Are you sure they didn't come with a box or something?
Me: I mean, I don't have it.
UPS guy: Well, they might break... you might want to do something so they don't break...
Me: Uh... if you're packing them, isn't that your responsibility?
UPS guy: We don't pack them. We just put them in a box.
Me: Amazon said you would pack them.
UPS guy: Well, if they break it's not your fault.
Me: Cool.
Other UPS guy to first UPS guy, as I'm walking out the door: I think Amazon just destroys that stuff anyway.
It was all fine from my perspective -- I got my refund, and Amazon didn't complain about anything breaking -- but it definitely felt weird. UPS's own page for their returns program[0] claims that "Certified Packing Experts ensure proper packaging".
Not if you want to keep vinyl LPs in them. Didn't they change the size of milk crates, way back then, for exactly that reason? To make LPs no longer fit so people wouldn't steal the crates?
The Atlantic was never a newspaper - it was always a magazine.
I'm not sure when the colloquial definition of magazine and newspaper/journalism began merging, but The Atlantic, New Yorker, and Harper's were always magazines that were critique and op-ed driven.
Here's a good article explaining the difference between newspapers, magazines, journals, and other forms of nonfiction [0]
Is that a concept that exists, where you write a shitty criticism of something in order to make people go "That actually sounds pretty good" and it ends up working as an endorsement or advertisement? Sort of an on-purpose Streisand effect?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect