Returns — Blog — Healy Chen

Grand opening, grand closing

And… I have to return the AirPods Max. The weight penalty of the aluminum and stainless steel construction is just too much, however nice the materials feel to the hand. Headphones should not be this heavy! After an hour of wear, I had pressure pain at the parts above my ears, and top of the head where the headband rested. The AirPods Max is useless to me if I cannot wear it for an extended period without discomfort. Granted, I have an idiosyncratically big head, so your mileage may indeed vary. I’m sure there’s plenty of happy AirPods Max customers out there, with regular sized noggins.

What I will not be returning however is the iPhone 14 Pro. Not that there is any danger of a new iPhone being such a disappointment that I would exchange it for an older unit. The new 2,000 nit peak brightness display is super handy: the full gamut of colors and detail remains highly visible even in direct sunlight. I appreciated this feature the first time I stepped outside with the new phone. No doubt it’s murderous on the battery to boost the screen to this brightness level, but it’s nice to have when you need it.

Also nice to have is the now always-on display. It’s a bit disconcerting at first, after nearly a decade of using iPhones without it. Unlike competing android phones, the iPhone 14 Pro’s entire display remains on. Brightness goes way down, obviously, but in certain situations it is still rather bright. I kept mistaking the always-on lock screen for someone calling me. Other times I would, out of habit, press the power button to turn off the display entirely. Because I thought the phone was still on.

The stars of the show of any “pro” iPhone is naturally the camera system. The camera bumps on the iPhone 14 Pro have once again increased in size. Necessitating yet another new case to go along with the new phone. (Otherwise, the iPhone 13 Pro case would have fit!) Rest in Peace forever to smartphones that sit completely level on a flat surface - once you’ve put a case on. I’ve not yet done enough shooting to really see and feel the latest improvements. The 13 Pro is already so damn good. But, the larger sensors in the 14 Pro can only be a good thing.

Amazon makes it so easy

Amazon keeps making it easier to continue to do business with them.

Just last month, my annual Prime membership with Amazon got renewed, and every year like clockwork I would agonize at how much it costs (nearly $130 now with tax), come to a realization that I wouldn’t want to live without “free” two-day shipping (you pansy), and resign to continue the subscription. I don’t even watch Prime videos that much; it’s purely for the shipping convenience, which is difficult luxury to break away from.

Recently I’ve come to recognize the human toll it takes to ship an item to me so quickly from Amazon: from the overworked pickers at the distribution warehouse, to the freelance delivery person driving their own personal car to carry the package on its final miles. Ignorance is indeed bliss because it all works wonderfully from the customer’s perspective, but once you understand how the sausage is made, it’s very hard to turn the other cheek. This is why as much as possible, I choose the slow shipping option.

Though sometimes I really need an item in haste, so retaining the two-day option is nice. Perhaps one day I can forsake the Prime membership entirely, but as it stands, I am re-upped for yet another year.

This past week I had to return something I bought from Amazon, the first time in a long time. I was all ready to pay for return shipping cost when I was pleasantly surprised with a new option that Amazon now offers: one can simply drop off items to be returned at a local Kohl’s, whereby they will package and ship it back to Amazon for absolutely free. I’m sure there’s further labor exploitation going on here as well to facilitate this, but for me as a customer, this method to return merchandise cannot be more convenient. Plus, it’s far more pleasant to visit a Kohl’s store than the local post office.

Surely the next innovation is flying drones to pick up our return packages, right?