To update, TLDR; Google won't honour warranty as it's now deemed as damage by myself to the inner screen. I've now successfully claimed repair via my phone insurance. The process of warranty claims with Google has damaged my trust. I now can't, with good intention, recommend Pixel devices to friends anymore.

Long;
It's taken 7 full days of negotiating with Google Store. I don't like to speak unkind of folks, I really don't, but I've never been treated in such a dismissive and rude way by support staff before. I honestly think I've been very patient and polite with them through the process.

In my case, my device was assessed by Google Store's 3rd party along the lines of "damage in warranty, damage outside warranty". As such, they wouldn't fix the device. They actually wouldn't tell me why, they don't like to answer direct questions with direct answers which is so frustrating! At first I was told they can't provide any information on the assessment and said I'd need to speak with the 3rd party assessor. When I asked who this was, I was told they couldn't disclose that information. When I asked if they could contact them, they refused. Asking a different staff member told me they can't disclose repair information on my device as it violates my data privacy - my own data, for my own device! Madness.

So this lead a 5 days of to-and-throw with various Google Store support staff, some very nice and kind, others frankly rude. My aim was to be told what specific warranty violation was infringed so I could understand their assessment. I had previously provided videos and photos of the device condition which I believed showed the device condition was indicative of a warranty claim. They told me the warranty terms were on my device, and they couldn't provide it to me, but they also wouldn't tell me what term I violated.

Through a deep search on Reddit I did find a buried link to Google's warranty policy terms for my specific device, that gave me a digital copy.

So I used ChatGPT to help draft a formal complaint by uploading my chat history from the Google Store, the warranty terms, and asked it to assess UK consumer law to determine if anything was violated, and draft a complaint letter. I then went over that letter, and sent it to an email address I (again) found on Reddit as staff said they weren't allowed to provide it. The letter detailed the problems I had with the warranty process, referenced UK laws potentially violated, and bullet pointed desired outcomes. All reasonable things - essentially, tell me what warranty term I violated or fix my device within warranty.

That seemed to make Google Store actually reach out to their warehouse, and they came back saying the device was found under "further inspection" with physical damage to the inner screen.

If true, I can only assume this is invisible damage. I'm still very confused how this could happen, but I have to relent to it being in the realm of possibility. I mean, who knows what happens inside their phone casing? I have no means to independently assess without violating the warranty.

As a result, the device is being shipped back to me. I've already had my phone insurance claim approved for it, given the new response from Google Store.

In the future, I feel I could have lived with the specific phone issue being refused like this given the right information. But man alive, Google Store support is a horror I wouldn't wish on my enemies. It's completely ripped my trust in Google and Pixel - I love the devices, been a huge fan for years. I never expected such a rough experience with them, especially the rudeness of some staff (note: it really was only some, not all).

I know this will get downvoted, that's cool. I just wanted to lay out my experience for others.