@d90 That is super rough, really sad to hear about the essentially DoA unit.
In lieu of official support, here’s a suggestion based on some random issues I’ve seen in the forums. Using this as a basis: https://support.snapmaker.com/hc/en-us/articles/360017733294-Cleaning-the-Linear-Module, look inside the linear module. Maybe, just maybe, there’s a loose screw or something easy that would explain everything.
As far as the audio you posted, sounds like the stepper motor is skipping steps. Something might be jamming the motion internally. Check out this as well: Excessive play in x-axis linear module bracket, might help in disassembling it.