Time to "fire" my mechanic?

Maintenance/Repairs
1

Found my mechanic in the Mechanic Files. Seemed good. He recently replaced both CV axles on my 2003 Honda Pilot. Seemed fine for a few weeks with no highway driving. Then we drove from Florida to Ohio and the original front-end vibrations returned. Luckily, my brother-in-law has a lift, tools, and skills to take apart front-end. We discovered that the inner boot of the driver’s side CV axle was rubbing against the aluminum wall of the transmission(?), had split open, and was losing it’s grease all over the place. Went to parts store and purchased a replacement CV axle by Duralast. Replacement’s inner boot had a SIGNIFICANTLY smaller diameter when compared with one installed by my mechanic and, therefore, does not rub aluminum wall at all.

What happened here? Is this a good indication that mechanic is clueless / careless? Or an honest mistake?

2

He should have caught it, and he may have noticed it but though that it would clear. If the latter, then he may have made his decision based on how long it would take to get the correct one, and if that would have been days or so, then you would have been out a car for that period. Customers are usually not happy when they find out that a scheduled repair will take days instead of hours.

3

Tell the mechanic. Give him a chance to refund your money for that axle (stifle laughter).