[BetterThings2]

Just my two cents here.  It could possibly be because you instructed them to leave it at your doorstep.  So Apple may have declined it since they figure it's on you if you told them where to place it.  Still no excuse for them to be so damn vague with their response.  Best of luck getting them to re evaluate the claim in your favor.

Yeah it was suppose to be delivered to my hands but I had texted the driver to leave it at my door. Yeah I might get return it normally and take the L. Really don't want to do a police report.

But I heard there's was a one time expectation rule, though not sure how it works, might be only for repairs or returns.

I have heard the same thing about the one time replacement policy as well. Not sure how it works with the DNA method, but there's no harm in hinting at that with the reps on the phone and see if they budge.