For the buyback program that you can use when you buy a pixel, Google requires that you factory reset the phone before sending it in, and threatens to not give

For the buyback program that you can use when you buy a pixel, Google requires that you factory reset the phone before sending it in, and threatens to not give you any money if you don't. Presumably to avoid exactly this (especially since it seems like it goes direct to a third party, that Google probably doesn't trust all that much).