two mavic data points

the good:
i've been using a pair of mavic cosmos wheels on my commuter lately and
have been very pleased with their handling in cross winds. they have a
lower spoke count than i've been used to and the last few months,
there's always been a big cross wind on my route home across the golden
gate bridge. the bike's been significantly easier to control in the
strong gusts.

the bad:
a friend's been using a similar pair of mavic cosmos wheels and they
brought them to me for truing. i'm alarmed to discover that the eyelets
are pulling out of the rims, front & rear. the socket is still there &
the rim alloy is not distorted, but the eyelets seem to be fracturing
apart, and in one case, have disappeared completely leaving only the
socket. i've not experienced this issue with mavic rims before. has
anyone else? mavic's response is to return them to the vendor for
repair as they do not sell parts direct. but according to local
enquiries, the cost exceeds buying a new wheel. anyone know the real
list price of these new rims? mavic assure me they sell them for
repairs like this. hopefully they've addressed this eyelet problem by
now as these wheels are a few years old.