Originally Posted by
operator
If the rim is damaged and the hub is shyte, there's no point relacing it on a new rim and incurring the labour cost. Having said that, the mechanic should not have been evasive about the damage. Either he didn't know what the F is going on or he doesn't know how to tell you that it's not worth repairing.
Maybe the OP just didn't understand his explaination.
Suppose, for example that the rim was warped. Some folks might pull the rim back into line by using a lot of differential spoke tension. A real bike mechanic will try to explain why that doesn't really fix the wheel. There are plenty of yahoos running around who will say such a machanic is trying to pull a fast one, while he's really simply telling the unappealing truth.
Without seeing the wheel I can't say which is right.