At the very end of THIS thread, @Rita says the tube is “rated by the manufacturer for 2 years”… Its also mentioned in the FAQ. Its unclear if any accommodations are made for tubes that have issues before this 2 year rating. Why even talk about the 2 year rating if nothing is going to be done for them outside of the standard Glowforge warranty???
And I hear you on the whole testing thing, and the repair code situation is a decent metaphor. It would be nice though, if they could be more open and transparent about the information they DO have.