I've been a Prime member for over a decade (although I've recently cancelled my Prime membership), and I've made very few complaints over the years. But one of the many things that has soured me on Amazon is that the last three times I needed to do a return (in every case because the item was damaged), it's been a huge pain in the butt. And once, Amazon even claimed they never received the return at all, and recharged my account for the ($20) item.
I know that others have a very different experience than I, and I don't know what the difference is -- but Prime vs non-Prime doesn't seem to be it.
Funny enough last time I needed to do an Amazon return it was the easiest thing ever: they take returns now at Whole Foods locations so all I had to do was go to the cashier at the grocer around the corner. The Whole Foods acquisition is still an odd choice in my opinion for Amazon, but this was a great move.
That's fine if you happen to be near a Whole Foods. That said, Amazon also uses UPS Stores in a similar way as Whole Foods for this, and that's what I've used.
I'm wondering if there isn't a significant difference between the shopping experience of Prime and non-Prime users.