If they don't want you to ship it back, it's pretty common for them to ask for some kind of proof of destruction. Back in the days of non-removable cords, they would have you cut the cord off your device or appliance before sending you a replacement.

The best part IMO was the new TV ended up crapping out as well hell but it was under the Best Buy warranty not the manufacturer warranty.

And the TV I had was no longer being made (the exact model number that is) so they asked if I wanted a check or an equivalent model.

I took the check and fixed the TV that time using parts from the first TV.

10/10 would pay $200 for a 75inch 4k OLED TV again (how much the warranty cost because Best Buy cut me a $1500 check)

Company I worked for was the only importer of Corsair chairs into Australia, we were told by Corsair (on a chair by chair basis) to have end users destroy faulty chairs if no replacement parts were available.

Same thing with Lian Li, we had a batch of white cases with a paint defect, they were never sold onto end-users but our warehouse teams destroyed every case, sent images to Lian Li of the destruction and we were sent another shipment.

Cooler-master had some bad mITX PSUs, same deal, sent the boys out with a hammer and safety squints.

At the end of the day it's cheaper for everyone involved to not have a faulty product that is too costly to repair shipped across the ocean or to a local disty. Sucks for the environment, sucks for the end user having to dispose of a faulty product but it makes for some interesting emails sent out to customers :D