So my mini-14 is on its way back to Ruger because it's a jamm-o-matic, but only after spending 10 minutes arguing over the fact that I don't have to go through a dealer to ship it back . The lady insisted that it had to come back through my dealer. Only after I asked to talk with someone up the food chain did she change her attitude. UPS picked it up the next day. I forgot to ask and see if i could buy a spare bolt and have it fitted as well while the rifle was there, so I called back the next day and talked to a gentleman that insisted only 1 bolt at a time could be fitted, and a spare was not possible. So, no go there. Who are you guys  talking to at CS and getting a good experience with? Both times neither of the two people I talked to seemed to have a clue. Annoying as all hell. 

I just sent mine back for the same reason.  They recommended using a FFL, but I didn't.  I asked for a complete spare factory fitted bolt in my letter explaining the issue, and they sent one back at no charge.  And they turned it around to me in 4 days, changed a whole bunch of stuff at no charge and it works fine now.

I must say, I was pretty unhappy going into the warranty process, but they really went above and beyond.

ETA: I don't think the people you talk to at CS really determine anything, and if you asked for a spare part in your letter you may well get one.  I'd hold off being angry until you get the rifle back and see how it actually went.

Off the top of my head, I have sent back three.

Called them because I was informed by my dealer that the American Rimfire I bought was under recall.  That was quick and painless.

The other was a 10/22 that was shooting several inches from center with maxed out windage.  Also quick and painless.

The third was the SR762.  This was also quick and painless but the rep originally wanted to band aid the problem instead of them making the rifle right.  I told him the gun would not run with the latest generation of PMAGs but was fine with DPMS metal mags and the earlier generation of PMAGs.  He originally wanted me to send in my new PMAGs and they would send me the old style mags.  I told him that was not acceptable and I wanted them to fix the rifle itself.  

Each time, they e-mailed me a shipping label, and I dropped the gun off at the local shipping hub.  Came back straight to my house.  They asked if I wanted to perform the transaction direct or go through the dealer where I purchased.  But they never insisted it go through an FFL and they even asked if I wanted to use UPS or Fedex.  They may be getting confused employees because some states will require an FFL even if the same firearm is returned.

I sent a rifle back to Ruger years ago.

Painless and it was fixed within a week.

good luck OP

I feel your pain, OP.

just bought a tactical mini 14 in stainless.

right out of the box the bolt would not return into battery without smacking the op rod handle.

figured this was from a lack of lubrication. disassembly proved this to be true. the riflle was bone dry, no lube whatsoever.

then I noticed that there was excess metal that hadn't been removed from all the castings.

trimmed as best I could and lubed properly.

reassembled, figuring that this would fix the problem - WRONG!

talked to ruger about this hoping to get some tips or advice about what might correct this problem.

the rep I talked to (bored, snotty attitude) acted like he couldn't care less and just said "send it in".

screw you ruger, you just lost a lifelong customer.

as an aside, my 22lr. MKIV has gone in for the third time to get it to work.

QC dept. should be ashamed, if they even have one...

I have had 3 issues over the years, first one was painless.

The last 2 not so much.

One of them involved my RPR's optic rail being junk. They were insistent that I or they installed it backwards and that all I needed to flip it around.

It's drilled so it only goes on correctly, when I explained this for the third time they finally agreed to send me a new part/rail.

I sent in one of the cobalt "lite" 22/45s because the trigger was absolutely horrible.  They sent me a label, and I had the gun back to me within 10 days.  The note said that the trigger was in spec, but upon firing it, it was obvious that they had smoothed it out.  They also sent it back absolutely dry, along with a note stating as such.  I applied some lube and now it shoots like a champ.  I was very impressed with the whole interaction.