I'm not sure if there are established procedures, but if I was returning a new item that was either faulty from new or developed a fault within the first few months, I would absolutely expect a brand new replacement. However, if it developed a fault within the last month of the warranty period (and you indicate your warranty is close to expiring), a refurbished model with a 90-day warranty wouldn't be an issue.
There are usually different grades of refurbished items, and as long as they are using Grade A returns that have either been returned because someone just changed their mind and there is nothing wrong with it, or there was a simple software fault that has been rectified, then there should be no problem. And these are likely the exact kind of items they are likely to use for warranty returns.
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