A friend of mine works for Dandelion under the person who handles sourcing their chocolate - we've talked once or twice about this in particular. I can't assure you it's the real deal, but I would buy their chocolate with a very high confidence that it's what it proclaims to be.
I was told by an REI employee that a large motivator for the change in return policy was the 2008 financial crisis. She mentioned a lot of people were returning decades old equipment. I personally feel a year is more than fair, and I have absolutely no reason to demand more from them in that regard.
The industry is trending upwards, but inside of companies pay doesn't tend to match industry increases. If I know that jumping ship would increase my salary because my raises have been barely matching inflation, you can bet that's contributing to chances I burn out.