I'll have no problem removing the bridge, but I will always question whether there are other, less visible, errors with the board. SparkFun said "hope you know how to email or solder 
" in IRC.
My main reason for posting here is to let people know about the problem. If it happens to one board, it's undoubtedly happened to others. Losing a $65 piece of hardware because you were so excited to load its first program that you neglected to check for errors is an awfully saddening thing.