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@polybikeuser
Worst case scenario I'd have thought you had a pretty good case to take to the small claims court, you've handed a bike over to them so that they could remove a set of cranks with a crank puller, a job that should've taken ten minutes max and instead they've taken a whole lot longer angle grinding them off, in the process destroying the cranks and as a result overcharged you for the labour. So you have a demonstrable loss, the excess cost of the labour and the material value of the cranks, that you have sustained as a direct result of their professional negligence/incompetence.
Obviously pursuing a small claims action is both hassle and will cost you money, the costs are recoverble, unfortunately you just have to live with the hassle. An alternative way forward is to complain to trading standards who may well pursue the case on your behalf.
There's no need to feel bad about feeling awkward complaining, you can almost bet that BLB and the like rely on this. Do you go to Polo on Sundays, if so maybe you could hold off going back till Sunday and have a couple of people go in with you for moral support. A key part of BLB's marketing story seems to be that they're "hip", "street credible" and "keeping it real", having a mini-delegation from bike polo in the store complaining that they done a hatchet job on one of our bikes is going to make them look shite, you'd have thought even BLB would recognise what a (mini) PR disaster this could be and so might be more inclined to be reasonable. Not guaranteeing success, but it's worth a thought.