I think most of us would be happy if there was a DOA warranty that protected against initial plug in defects and the occasional software lockup.
Beyond that it is very hard to protect especially with boaters in mind. A black box or flight recorder could help warranty claims although it's generally obvious with boaters there was too much load, improper settings or not enough cooling. Castle were offering "at cost" replacements for a while although I am sure there were habitual users who returned frequently, myself included.

After being part of an ESC development and launch for automotive use I know there are huge R&D costs to cover in the sales price. However I also know the bill of materials cost for something like the ICE 200 is under $35. I have visited Kontronik in Germany and got to see the SMD process and assembly first hand. Quite a bit more engineering goes into the Kontronik controllers and this is reflected in their piece price. YGE and MGM likely have similar production lines and hopefully I will visit them in the future as well.

YGE plans on releasing a new 200A HV navy controller in the near future after the beta testers provide feedback. The design is quite nice and features datalogging including current measurement. It will likely limit power to protect itself much like the MGM's and Castle's do today. Here is an image of the Heli version:
yge-200-hvt.jpg

Fingers crossed we get more options.