From a customer point of view that responce is frustrating. You have clear problems with the knife and you can not get a firm statement on if what you are seeing is the expected behavior or not. Of course if they stated firmly that this isn't what is to be expected you would not hesitate to return the knife, but obviously when they won't commit it doesn't give you much incentive to do so.
From the manufacturers point of view - while you know you are telling the truth and clearly see all the details, they can't be sure of either. On the Busse forum awhile back an individual complained about repeating one of the rope cutting demos that Busse has done live and getting very different performance. It turns out that the person was cutting used and dirty rope, fairly different from the new rope used in demos.
That incident was quickly and efficiently resolved because Busse knew his knife should not perform like that on new hemp and this was clearly stated on the forum. Busse then called the individual as discussed the details trying to find out exactly where the problem could be coming from. How was the cutting being performed, how was the initial sharpness, details on the rope etc. .
Unfortunately you didn't get the same level of customer service from Randall and are now left wondering if you will be wasting time and money on sending back a return which could just end with "We tested the knife and it was fine.". Which to you reads as "You either don't know how to sharpen / use a knife or are a liar or our knives really are that bad." Neither arguement is likely to make you consider the process as worthwhile. In the end all you determined nothing beyond what you already knew.
If it was me, I would make a post in the Randall forum clearly stating the behavior which is problematic and asking to see if it is expected. If I didn't get a clear answer that the performance wasn't standard I would have little incentive to return the knife. You chalk it up to a bad knife purchase and in the future buy from people that will clearly and openly discuss the performance of their knives and stand behind what they have said.
Note that the knife could RC test fine in one or even several spots and still be soft in others. It could also have grain structure defects which won't show up on hardness tests. Of course if the tests shows a too low hardness there is a problem, but just because the hardness is right doesn't mean the knife is ok. In additional, soft blades (~45 HRC) can easily chop pine and harder woods, including through knots, without problems, user skill and power are critical as are the edge specifics - in any case it takes an extended wood chopping session to reach a decent conclusion unless there are really gross flaws.
-Cliff
After 13 months it broke, I sent it back per Dad's instructions and they replied it was 30 days out of warranty, tough titties, and it would cost $40 to repair. Never again I vowed. In the 30 years since I have bought at least 75 watches, and nary a one Citizen untill I ran across an Aqualand Eco-Drive for <300, and my son said "Dad, how long can you carry a grudge? You know you gotta have it". Well, I hate having bought that watch when it's not on my wrist. I like it fine, but that was a long, hot summer, and a week's pay. I should NOT have bought the second watch.