Here's a comparison of before, during and after the repair. This didn't emerge as a problem until they painted over the glob of Bondo. Then, when I asked them to fix it. They did, but they must have just sanded the Bondo down flush, because it has cracked since the last picture was taken. I don't understand the underlying problem, there's no rust under there. There's a thick plate for attaching the hood that's welded to the sheet metal from behind, maybe it's that they didn't feel like doing what it took to remove this?

Since I also need hood alignment and hinge work, I'm planning to just take the car somewhere that I can trust after it's all done to re-do this repair.