Yeah afaik there was no program for replacing, nor an apology...
I have the impression it was a deliberate choice instead of a mistake.
If I'm not wrong it was the same on the PS3, as with a broken/non-working BD reader upgrade to newer FWs was impossible (if we exclude CFWs).
What I don't understand is why it's not from the beginning of the console life cycle, on PS3 it also started with a later FW if memory serves me well.
In a cynical way it makes somewhat sense (royalties for physical disc releases)... Bah!