Sorry for the late reply, I’m not on the forums that regularly and only saw your reply now. Around 18-24 months ago Reynolds changed their warranty to simply if you break your wheels while riding your bike, they would repair or replace it for free. No doubt done to match the crash damage warranties of other brands such as Enve. This was done with much fanfare and they even sent a video to Singletrack World in order to clarify the new warranty and bump themselves up the list on an article on the 10 best wheel warranties. Then, for some reason it was quietly withdrawn (the video is still on YouTube). The fact they made a big fanfare about their fantastic new warranty, whilst subsequently downgrading it very quietly less than 2 years later says a lot about them as a company. It would seem there was never any intention of maintaining this new warranty and it was purely done for marketing purposes. Or they don’t believe in the quality of their wheels like they did 2 years ago.
I accept i should have checked the Hayes website to confirm for myself, but all the news articles I read touted this new warranty and it never occurred to me that it would only be in place for 2 years at most. Reynolds US said they had referred the claim to Reynolds EU whom I never heard from direct at all. Upgrade Bikes who are a UK distributor told me the warranty did not cover the damage. When I asked Canyon to assist, they came back with the same response from Reynolds. In fairness to Canyon, they did try twice to get Reynolds to cover it without success. Canyon offered to replace the rim and spokes at cost and arrange free collection and delivery. My original post was from a place of frustration and I am happy with Canyon trying on my behalf to push the claim through and their repair offer, and it will not deter me from buying a Canyon bike again.
Rather than give Reynolds more money for a repair, I bought a carbon wheelset from Sixth Element who do offer a lifetime warranty covering crash replacement with no strings attached. Every time I have called them I have been able to speak to the owner and within 5 days they had built and sent a custom wheelset. Only time will tell how a claim will be handled, but they certainly inspire more confidence from the outset than Reynolds.