My tyre valves have perished

[Headers]

My suggestions for the bill - was it a tubeless tyre (i.e. just a valve) or tubed in which case the entire tube has to be replaced.

As others have said, maybe the wheel was balanced after - though I wonder why as not necessary on a trailer.

Also, did I read about cross-threaded nuts/bolts? That may have involved more labour.

And then there's TVA

No balancing, no x threading, no inner tubes. Broken écroué de sécurité but I know they have gadgets for getting them off.

[Nomoss]

No balancing, no x threading, no inner tubes. Broken écroué de sécurité but I know they have gadgets for getting them off.

Did the dépanneur by any chance charge you instead of your insurance company for the recovery?
Is the bill you paid for time, or material?
Removing a damaged nut would not take any significant time with the right tool(s), and a set of four new security nuts should not cost more than €30 - €40.

[Headers]

Didn’t get security nuts. Just not very good standard ones which I will most likely change. I’ve been well and truly fleeced.

[Nomoss]

Didn’t get security nuts. Just not very good standard ones which I will most likely change. I’ve been well and truly fleeced.

It's probably no consolation, but it's no better in the UK.

Last time I was there in our camper van, in 2000, I had a driveshaft problem, and after confirming that the nearest VW main agent, in Croydon, had the necessary exchange driveshaft in stock, which would cost £39 plus an hour to fit, I had the AA recovery, provided by my French insurance, take the camper to them on a flatbed, as it could not be towed.

I went with the recovery vehicle, and gave the agent instructions to replace the CV joint or the complete driveshaft.
They put a teenager without a clue to work on it, who, without opening the gaiter to look, decided that the CV joint was not the problem, so he removed the rear brake drums, played around with the wheel bearings and changed the gearbox oil.

I paid the bill, £189.65, which included 4 hours labour, and set off, but a couple of miles later the driveshaft seized completely.

I crawled underneath in the pouring rain, unbolted the CV joint, tied up the shaft, and drove back to Croydon (fortunately it's 4WD), where, on my insistence, they opened the gaiter to find water and grit inside the joint.
They then said they didn't have the spare, so cleaned, regreased, and replaced the old one, and told me they wouldn't charge for this "remedial work"

I bought a new CV joint from another company and changed it after we got back to France.

Fortunately I had paid by cheque, so stopped it, and sent them a cheque for the oil plus 2 hours work, which was still too much.

This resulted in plaintive responses about how nice they had been to me in not charging for the second, "remedial" job (which was what they were asked to do in the first place) and how sad they were at my actions.

Afraid I was not in the least bit touched.