Heart Wrenching Flat Black - Advice Please

Hi All,

I just had a heart wrenching conversation with the owner of my local bike shop. I dropped my bike off for new tires, and clarified with him that the rims would not be marked at all when I picked the bike up....
Guess what? I picked the bike up, and both rims were marked, the rear rim being the worst.
I kinda lost it! Especially since I had specifically mentioned that I had been through this before with a previous motorcycle at the other local shop in town. He promised to make good, and paint the rims for me, and I'm hoping that everything works out. I was actually pretty cool about it, considering what they just did to my bike, and told him that if the rims were put back to the way they were, I'd be happy.
But before I left, he made a point of telling me that my rims had been painted once before, and that no new motorcycle comes with painted rims. He said all new bikes have powder coated rims from the factory.
I'm the second owner of my 2004 flat black VFR 800 with 17,000 km. I can't imagine that the first owner would have painted the rims! They were pristine before I dropped the bike off, and now they are messed up. I'm by no means an expert, but my rims looked factory mint.
I've always wondered why Honda put gloss black rims on a flat black motorcycle, but I was fairly certain that all the Flat Black VFR's have gloss black rims?
Do all VFR's come with powder coated rims?
How can I tell if it is powder coat or if it's paint?
What if these guys paint over my powder coated rims?
Is this guy full of crap?

Thanks for your help guys?

Chris