Amazon has been testing a lot of changes lately, and the return process is being revamped as well. It doesn't affect every customer, or to the same degree, but they are occurring whether one sees them or not.
The review system, which has never been great, is being put behind login walls, and worse, can even be limited even when a customer is logged in.
Customer service is now like everyone else; you're connecting to "Joe" from a center in South Asia, reading a script, and doing what they can to quickly end the chat, and move onto the next issue. Don't be surprised if Joe's promises don't hold. And that's if you can even get to Joe, because contact with him is buried below a lot of useless AI-driven crap.
Because their return privileges have been abused so much, they're taking action and being more strict about returns, and refund periods have gotten longer. But they still haven't taken the step that would do the most good -- actually vetting what gets returned -- and the self-perpetuating cycle of used/damaged returns being recycled, and sent out as new items persists. The odds of getting something opened, used, broken, or even disgustingly unhygienic have risen over the past couple years. Sometimes, it's glaringly obvious, sometimes, it's harder to notice, but the LPN sticker betrays all.
Accounts are being banned for no logical reason, out of the blue.
A lot of it reeks of using AI to set some opaque criteria, and having it execute without any thought or context. Welcome to 2026.
These large companies no longer have to pretend to care about their customers. They, and their peers have amassed enough market share to not have to, and with nobody in authority to keep them honest, it's their game, that you have to play.