On the other hand, they say they will reimburse/replace the device if it is dead on arrival, and they will actually try to support it anyway, in a best effort kind of way. That is what I read between the lines of the various statements I have read.
Jolla C users are guaranteed to receive all the latest Sailfish OS updates, and selected users will be invited to test also beta OS releases. Jolla C is the official Sailfish OS reference device and used by Jolla developers.