Same. I really feel like this is one of those things where 99+% of people have zero issues and don't comment on stuff like this. Myself and just about everyone I know order from amazon all the time and have very very few issues. And when we do, the return/replace/refund/whatever process is smooth as butter.

Confirmation bias combined with the fact that unhappy people are more likely to leave “reviews”[a] (like here). I’ve never had an issue with Amazon that they haven’t resolved, and it may seem like I’m a minority, but Amazon is the size they are today because, for ever 1 fsck-up, there’s 99 others who didn’t have problems.[b]

[a]: Complaints. Reviews. Etc.

[b]: Not excusing their bad behavior. Just stating the reality.

Maybe this is a longer game by Amazon. Let bogus reviews and bad experiences pile up for third party sellers, slowly driving people to only trust "Amazon Basics." They have nearly perfect knowledge of the profitability of any item, so they know what items they should have under the "Amazon Basics" umbrella. Over time they could expand this into other Amazon "Brands" at varying quality/price points.

I’m surprised there aren’t counterfeit AmazonBasics products by now. Or are those the only listings that disallow third-party / commingled-inventory sellers?

They do already have other Amazon brands. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Amazon_brands

For instance, Goodthreads is one step above Amazon Essentials for clothing.