They got back to me a few minutes ago and told me that now I can now claim without the BOX. Power to FACEBOOK. I put my issue on a few Yihi pages, now is different. Will keep you guys updated. Now I want to see when the ITEM will come back. I just registered a fb account just because of this. I never use fb cos I always thought it is gossip thingy. I am 1950s child.
There's no way you should have suffered that runaround, but I think there is a legitimate reason for Yihi to ask about the box. For both of my minis, the box has an ID code which is used on their site to verify a genuine product. The application is pretty rudimentary, but it appears that it returns the production date and also the "last date" which I'm thinking may be the final scan before shipping.
Again Yihi didn't handle this properly in the beginning but I have no qualms about them asking for a code that would specifically identify your unit.
Luckily I haven't had even a minor problem with either of them since I vehemently disagree with the prevalent opinions that Yihi will not honor the warranty if the item was sold below their prescribed price. I don't know for sure that is true, but have seen it repeated many times. I like the performance so much that I am willing to take a chance.
For future reference, I believe that Varitube is the US warranty repair center.