I buy almost everything from Amazon.
While I despise some of its business practices, I am enthralled with its logistical superiority, its broad inventory, and its convenience.
When possible, prudent and practical, I prefer to buy from specialty shops that offer great customer service like REI, Marmot and Sweetwater.
In general, though, I hate buying anything.
So I’ve drawn a hard line in the sand. If I buy something and it doesn’t work, I’ll return it 100% of the time.
For most of my life this wasn’t the case. If I bought something and it turned out to be crappy, marginally acceptable or even unsuitable, I’d keep it saying to myself: “I don’t have time to return this. Maybe I’ll use it occasionally. It’s my fault for buying the wrong thing.”
Not anymore.
So Amazon, if it was a person, would hate me. I’m a steady and loyal buyer, but I return something at least once a month because it’s junk.
I doubt they care. It’s probably factored into their algorithms and I’m sure I pay for it with higher prices.
With the specialty shops, returns are less frequent and less convenient. They vet their vendors and have legitimate product expertise. If I make a return to them, it’s often because of incorrect fit vs. poor quality.
I no longer want to own anything that is junk, that doesn’t work well or doesn’t meet my expectations for minimal quality.
Why have this stuff in my house?
Therefore, as a matter of principle, I return the junk – even if it was only a few bucks and returning it is inconvenient.