Do you think I got screwed, or is it just part of the hobby?
Having been in business many years, I can tell you my past experience with machine shops. All is great as long as a shop is doing work for you and your paying money to them. Now the true measure of a good machine shop is what they do when a job goes wrong! or how how they handle warranty work. I have found that a lot of machine shops talk trash when you come back to them with a problem. For years this usually meant that the warranty work came out of my pocket! After 30 years I found a machine shop and much more a machinist, that STANDS BEHIND HIS WORK! He has made mistakes, (like we all do) but he has always made it good. I think this is rare today. As far as you not using a MOPAR man, or not using a roundy round machinist, is Bull ****! A good machinist and a man of integrity is the only important fact here.
You can bet your *** if you take it back to him, (judging by what you have said of him), he is not going to be honest in his evaluation. The best recourse for you is to take it to another shop that is reputable, and get a unbiased written report of what they find. Then confront your guy with this info and go from there. It may come to a law suit. I know it sucks right now to be in your situation, try and do the smart think from here on out.