I think they probably judged your bike suspension for what bike suspensions are mainly used for, Mountain biking. So it may be crap for mountain biking but for commuting on smooth streets I think it will be fine.

My bike is a 2002 Trek 7500, it came with a crappy suspension fork as well, I have had no problems. I tighten mine all the way to make them more rigid. Chances are you'll wind up replacing the bike before the fork goes bad.