M2 MBA 13 - worth returning or not

So I did the stupid thing of purchasing a refurbished 13 inch MBA right before WWDC. I needed a replacement laptop urgently but not so urgently I couldn't have just dug in and waited for WWDC. Figured even if price changes it would not be so significant - but now not only has the price they discount the refurbished unit against gone down, but the amount discounted has increased and the AppleCare price has decreased.

I'm ever so slightly outside my return window but as the laptop would be back to Apple before the 14 + 14 days anyways, it seems much of a muchness to them and they are willing to do a "one-time exception" refund process. What they won't do is any sort of price adjustment without having to return in full (which I presume they would never have done even if it was in the return window since it's a refurbished unit so it depends on stock status?).

I can't decide if it's worth the hassle. If I managed to get another refurb in the end, it's a pretty big difference, but obviously that depends on luck in timing and what comes into stock so this is what makes it so debatable. The as new price of a replacement is now pretty close to the refurb price I paid and if I drop it to 8/8 rather than 8/10 for CPU/GPU, it's almost identical so if it doesn't happen soon, a new one could always be bought and still save on the AppleCare amount. (I've heard that the 10 GPU is useless and even sometimes a negative - not sure if this is still true or if it was only true when they initially came out)

Also, does this "one-time exception" situation matter at all or is it something they regularly do anyways when it is so close of a call in terms of window? EG - am I truly ruining my account for any issues in the future?

And all of this coming after the do I or don't I debate of 14" MBP vs 13" MBA 😅 and what colour finishes, etc etc. Too much to think about!