What's different about yours compared to mine? Mine works perfectly. It doesn't work unless the door is open. Your mechanic didn't force it, did they?
Do you remember if it was broken when you looked at it?
Because it came home with a broken pull! LOL And the mechanic out your way would have had to get into the hood area to do the shocks...
On mine, you literally have to pull it..MAYBE 1/4"..if that to pop the hood....whereas a regular hood release you pull it more..and I think people are used to pulling hood releases for real..and not just 1/4" So SNAP!
I don't think it's unique to our car...have read lots of people on the forums complaining about the same thing.