Originally Posted by Owboduz
While I admit that I didn't check over the service job done by the "professional," the point of taking it to a professional in the first place was not to need to do that. When I got it back, the brakes were so tight that they rubbed, but only on part of the rotation--which brings up that the wheels weren't trued correctly. At that level of tightness, it was impossible to decouple the brakes to release the (quick release) wheels. I had to go and loosen my brakes. It seems that they'd adjusted one brake pad a bit low, which put it at only half-engagement with the rim. That lead to the uneven wear.
So no, I didn't completely inspect my bike after the "tuneup" it received. That said, I won't take it back to the same place again. In future, I'm doing my own maintenance.
Back to the topic at hand, I have aluminium rims, so the more common wet weather MTB pads should work, I expect.