Back in June Amazon started offering free delivery to Kuwait which I’ve obviously been taking advantage of. One incident recently happened to me which I thought was worth sharing.
I was looking for a DAC that would take digital audio from my Mac mini and convert it to analogue to send to my KEF LSX speakers. I was using the Apple USB-C to headphone jack dongle but wanted something better. I previously ordered an optical in analogue out converter but it didn’t allow me to control the volume from my Mac mini, I had to do it from the speaker which I didn’t want to do. Anyway, after a lot of research with ChatGPT, and a limited budget of under $100, ChatGPT recommended I get the iFi UNO. According to ChatGPT I’d be able to control the volume from my Mac which was perfect.
ChatGPT was wrong. Last time I’m using it to help me buy electronics. Once plugged in I had to control the volume either from the speakers or the DAC but the volume control on my Mac wouldn’t do anything. I had bought it for around $80 plus I had ordered some high quality cables with it so I was down over $100. I was just going to dump it in my electronics box but decided to see if I could return it. I had thrown the box and manuals out already so wasn’t hopeful. I checked the return policy for Amazon and it turned out that if I returned the item even though it was without the box I might be entitled for possibly a 50% refund. Figured that was better than nothing.
So I applied to return both items. Returning the items was free of charge, I just had to print the DHL labels Amazon gave me and go to the DHL store to drop them off. Process at DHL took like 5 minutes, I didn’t even have to bring any packaging, they just dumped them into the standard DHL bags and shipped them. I mailed them back July 25, on July 31 I got a full refund back from Amazon!
That’s crazy. Forget the fact that they’re shipping the stuff for free to Kuwait, you can actually return the items for free as well, that’s really insane.
24 replies on “Amazon Free Delivery AND Return is Insane”
I tried it once, it always give me ARAMEX , never DHL, let’s see how it goes.
They ship with Aramex but when you return they return with DHL
I usually use “MyUS.com” when ordering from Amazon, as I don’t want to deal with USPS to Kuwait. I would prefer DHL.
Does Amazon give a choice to use DHL on checkout?
Amazon doesn’t use USPS to ship to Kuwait, free delivery is with Aramex.
Thank you for your response!
Not a huge fan of Aramex. I have been burned by their customer support way too often. I find DHL to be more reliable.
But, things might have changed. Has Aramex been consistent with you lately?
I haven’t had a major issue with Aramex for over a decade now. The only issue I have is when they say they’re out for delivery, and then dont deliver and say customer not reachable even though nobody called me. It triggers me.
https://248am.com/mark/shopping/issues-when-aramex-delivers-amazon-packages/
Wow. I remember reading that.
You would think they would have resolved that by now.
Might stick with MyUS.com just to avoid this XD
In any case, much obliged for your answers!
If you don’t care about free shipping, Amazon have an expedited or I think it’s called express option where you pay and they ship with DHL. But honestly I don’t know why anyone would prefer to pay for delivery when you can just get it delivered to your door for free a few days later. Especially with heavy items. Not only that but the import charges as well, DHL charge more to clear customs than Aramex.
Oh I don’t mind waiting a day or two. I just want to avoid customer problems like you showed from Aramex.
But, I will definitely give it a shot.
As long as it isn’t USPS, I am happy 😛
I just learned to manage my expectations, just because they say it’s out for delivery I might not get it today and instead get it tomorrow.
But, thinking about it now since Amazon started free delivery in June I haven’t had that issue with Aramex. Deliveries being delivered the day they say out for delivery.
Plus, Amazon would say item would be delivered for example on August 20. In reality they get delivered a few days earlier.
Excellent to hear!
I will definitely give it a shot before judging!
Much appreciated!
Hi Mark,
I have two digital to analogue converters:
CAMWAY Digital to Analog Audio Converter,ARC Audio Extractor
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B088JX61XF
Cubetek Bluetooth Transmitter V4.2, 50m Long Range, aptX LL, with DAC, Optical/TOSLINK/SPDIF
https://www.amazon.in/dp/B07HJ9HNC2
Am not using both of them. You can take them and try out if they work for you. Keep it if it works.
Will be back in Kuwait later this month, let me know if you are interested.
thanks I’ll check them out now and let you know if I want to borrow them
Thanks to this post, my wife has taken on the challenge of bankrupting Bezos. She literally said this: “So I can order it in every color and keep the one I want?”
I use a Schiit Magni (https://www.schiit.com/products/magni-unity) and I am able to control the volume of my DAC on Windows.
However, when you have a dac, it’s better to leave your computer’s output to 100% because it’s overriding your mac’s internal DAC and sending the digital bit stream directly to your external DAC and letting you control the volume there. Maybe, macOS forces this to preserve audio quality but I think you have 3rd party software that can change this for you if needed.
I think the quality of the audio isn’t as good when the digital signal is manipulated vs doing it on the analogue side (Dac’s volume control) after the dac has done all of its processing and finally amplifies it for your speakers.
If this DAC doesn’t do it for you, other DAC’s won’t. It’s a macOS behaviour and works as intended imo.
the model you shared has analogue inputs which I would also be able to control on my Mac. The issue occurs when the Mac sends out a digital signal via USB-C or Optical. So right now I’m sending audio out digitally via USB-C and converting to analogue before reaching my speaker. Instead of using the Apple USB-C to Headphone jack dongle which was doing the conversion, I was looking for a better DAC to do it for me.
Woops, I meant to reply here lol
Did you check the Kiwi Ears Allegro mini?
I use it for connecting headphones to the Pixel 7.
You could use a 3.5mm to RCA cable and use it as a replacement for the dongle you were using earlier.
Thats similar to the Apple USB-C to headphone dongle which is what I’m currently using
That model comes in two variants. Amp only or dac+amp. I chose the latter that has usb-c in.
I think apple’s usb-c dac is also designed to accept volume commands sent by the mac which is why volume control works with it. Third party dacs usually have their own volume control and do not accept volume commands from the computer.
If you’re planning to change your DAP in the future, I’d recommend checking out the FiiO brand. The K11 R2R DAC or K3s are excellent options , top quality stuff!
I’ve been using their DAP myself, and I’m a happy customer. You can get them from FiiO’s official store on AliExpress. The shipping is pretty fast, and you’ll just need to pay around 4 KWD as a port charge.
Thought I’d share in case you’re considering an upgrade!
yeah I’m a big fan of FIIO but that DAC is overkill for my needs. I actually still have and use their headphone amp which I bought like 15 years ago! https://248am.com/mark/personal/review-beyerdynamic-dt770-600-ohm/
Their products are also on Amazon for those who don’t want to use AliExpress and they ship free to Kuwait, was going to get their CD player a few days ago but ended up with the SMSL.
I did order from their competitors Wiim last week. I ordered the Wiim Ultra along with the Wiim Vibelink and now just waiting for them to be delivered.
1) always double check chatgpt’s info on the manufacturer’s website
2) there’s a mac app called soundsource that’s amazing. if you use headphones you can load up a custom eq for those headphones to get a more neutral sound. also it lets you control the volume on any audio device, even if it doesnt have audio control. definitely solves what you’re looking for.
It was too specific an info to find on the iFi website, no mention if it would or wouldn’t work with Mac’s volume control.
I tried soundsource along with eqMAC and it didn’t work with either of them. Actually I think it worked with soundsource but was very laggy and unreliable. Sometimes I would increase volume and nothing would happen, and then suddenly increased to max. So couldn’t use it.