A few years ago I went to a quilt show in Phoenix AZ and they had an Accuquilt Booth and the lady there was telling me that Accuquilt wants us to buy from the local dealers - which was very odd to me since I would buy from Accuquilt when there was a sale, free shipping over $35.00, and they never charged me sales tax. I thought she was just drumming up business for her local Accuquilt dealer quilt shop. But as I was listening to one of the Webinars, Pam Heller, an employee of Accuquilt was saying to buy from the local dealers. Main reason if you are having a problem with a die to take it to the local dealer, they are taught how to test it and if there is a problem they will give you a new die on the spot.
More and more places are sticking hard to those warranty periods. But it would be obvious if a die had been misused vs factory defect. I hate to admit that I am not one to get a die home and test it immediately. I guess I should reconsider.