Seems this could be the case. Also it's early days and maybe there's not a consistent policy yet.
I first e-mailed
dsp@pieps.com about my <2yo beacon, got a reply, but when I followed up they told me to file a claim with BD because I was in North America. So I filed a claim via BD's website, politely stated my reservations about the switch and inquired about the trade-up policy, and I haven't heard sh!t back. Seems some people are already getting return labels. Maybe it's worth it to go in guns blazing?? Shouldn't be necessary since Pieps unequivocally stated that upgrades would be offered.