So much for my 565EX and 540EZ bargain flashes..

Sounds like you got a great deal in the end. I had 6 540ez flashes that I sold off for a good amount last year. They all worked perfectly, too. I upgraded to 550ex flashes since they're pretty much the same thing but with ETTL.

There's absolutely no way I would ever send 550ex flashes to replace broken 540ez. I would have just refunded your money, especially if it was only 35 GBP. Consider yourself extremely lucky.