I would look at some of the threads here from people trying to either sell their place in the queue or trying to get a refund and see if you can get a brand new device for the cost of a refurb that way.
If you’re in Australia there’s one for sale for $450 last I saw.
As far as whether or not there’s an official refurb process/checklist, not one I’ve seen publicized nor has there been any marketing around it. Being as support response times have been abysmal for me and others I’ve seen complain about response times as well, my guess is that there’s unlikely to be enough time for support to do a thorough review of refurb devices. But that’s purely anecdotal based on a small sample size. Draw your own conclusions.
FWIW support does seem very knowledgeable when they do respond, it’s just getting responses in a timely manner that can be challenging.