99 Jetta spongy brakes after front pad/rotor replacement

[erlloyd]

Hi all,
This story might be a little involved, but basically it comes down to me having spongy brakes.

I just had the front brake pads & rotors replaced, and since then, I've had to apply more force than I'm used to to get the same response from my brakes. (ie, when I apply the brakes like I'm used to, the car takes longer to come to a complete stop than I am used to) I called the mechanic and I said I thought it was air in the line, but he said they didn't open the brake line at all. Now, my first question is: Could there still be any air in the brake line that got introduced somehow?

Also, when I dropped the car off, it was a wet day, and it got really cold that night. The mechanic said the next day when he drove the car into the shop, he felt some resistance, so he checked the rear brakes and had to "unstick the calipers".

So now the mechanic thinks the calipers are shot and stuck "open". Is this possible? Is it likely that the calipers would need to be replaced? I'm a little frustrated that the car came out of the shop needing more repairs than when it went in. Could the mechanic have damaged the calipers when he 'unstuck' them?

One other thing, the brake fluid is about due for flushing anyway. Could dirty brake fluid be causing this?

Anyway, any additional diagnosis would be helpful. I'll try to list all the other things I've tried:

-Brakes spongy
-Parking brake still stops the car.
-Pumping brakes while car is on doesn't seem to have much effect (but I'm not 100% sure)
-Pedal depresses far - but not all the way to the floor.
-No weird smells or noises.
-Still need to check brake fluid levels.