THAT is a complete lie. The dealership just didn't give a crap and wanted the self pay labor hours from YOU as opposed the warranty labor hours that are substantially lower. The dealership could have easily gone to bat for you and gotten it approved through Mazda but chose not to. That is an a$$hole dealership. You did not have 60k miles on your odo and were barely out of warranty, time wise. It should have been taken care of WITHOUT hesitation from Mazda if the dealer cooperated, especially for this well known documented issue. Problem is, they only see short term, not long term and because they chose to screw you, that dealership should lose you as a customer forever and your potential of purchasing more new vehicles over your lifetime or your kids lifetimes as well as family and friends lifetimes which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars. They have their head up their a$$ and that comes from the top down at that dealership unfortunately. They have to earn your dollars and trust by doing the right thing, not the other way around. It's disgusting just hearing how someone was taken advantage of. It really damages the brand and should be put in the spotlight as a wake up call to manufacturers on how their dealers who represent them are handling business because in the end it boils down to customer satisfaction and repeat purchases.
The OP stated he appealed his case to the "Mazda Customer Experience Center" and they too denied him. More than just the dealer is being an a$$hole in this situation, Mazda itself is guilty. I hope this isn't a sign of things to come, but more than 1/3 of the responses to the poll attached to this thread are "I had my 2.5T replaced" at this point. I wonder how widespread this issue truly is and if it is starting to cost Mazda more money than they bargained for.