I vote with @noromance on this, one shouldn't have to bribe a vendor to do their job. Having to return an item on warranty is annoying enough....
It almost sounds like '...if we ignore it long enough, the warranty will lapse and we can charge more...', which smacks of a cheap stall.
Tascam used to be a 'name' in its' field, or so I thought. Wtf happened? 😒