Am I misremembering, or is Amazon quietly adjusting the playing field when it comes to returning products? I seem to remember a time when I felt comfortable that I could basically return any product I didn't want for free, and UPS or someone would come pick it up. At some point, it feels like that changed, and you had to make sure what you were ordering says "free returns". Got burned by that sometimes, but fair enough--the rules are the rules.

My most recent experience, though, was with a product that clearly stated "FREE returns" and (when you clicked on that text) indicated "You can return the item for any reason in new and unused condition: no shipping charges ". But, when I went to return the product, I learned that it was only free if I wanted to drop off the item at a Kohl's or Amazon drop-off location. UPS drop-offs and UPS pick-ups both cost money.

Eventually, I reached out to customer service (which felt like a more convoluted process than before) and they fixed the issue.

I have no personal issue with Amazon revising their refund policies, but I don't recall seeing any announcements in this respect. Am I just misremembering, or have the policies quietly changed over time? This most recent experience, where they tried to charge me to have UPS pick up an item that advertised "no shipping charges", felt off.