You know, this could start another rant for me. You take your perfectly good car (except for the problem) to the shop to fix it and you get it back fixed but also damaged. It happens every time and it pisses me off!
You have to make a conscious choice if you really need to have something fixed because you know, there will be a price to pay and it's not the $$ I'm talking about. There, I feel a little better
Now, as far as your steering wheel, I have no idea how to make it better.
You could always wrap it .. or have it covered with one of the interior design kits.