It's not the only way to get a warranty; however a new device in the US means it's one of the better ways to get a device with a warranty. Personally I have no issue with refurbished for myself; however in the US we have no laws that benefit the customer in regards to getting our devices fixed. In simpler terms, if used, we tend to pay.

That's one thing the EU has that I really do miss. The second though would be that until very recently, there was no benefit to having an unlocked phone due to the structure of our networks (read: proprietary as all get out). But even that is starting to not be the issue with phone brands and chipsets being somewhat normalized.

It's still an issue; but the used devices having little to no warranty just plain sucks in the US. I've always assumed that's why our crap cost so much less. We don't have an EU-like warranty guarantee in place.