since i always complain, ill say kudos to amazon. im sure because of their buying power they can lean dictate terms with their suppliers but they took back my item (within the allotted return time) without question and the drones made an effort to match my sale price for an exchange. they even sent out the new item prior to receiving the return. and for whatever reason they withheld the sales price difference, they made good with little effort on my part, and after dealing with the ups guy i was girding myself for disappointment. 

so, all hail our retail overlords. jeff bezos, forevah, or at least, until they screw up my next order.