legal advise

[Dave48]

The guy is a muppet. There is no legal limit.
The wear markers on pads are for indication only and even then, unless you take the wheels off, you cannot see them.

You wont get anything from the dealer.

As the man says. Essentially its down to you (or whoever you get to SERVICE your car) to advise you on pad thickness etc. Some can be visually checked  without removing wheels. I don't service my car as Im too old to lie on the ground outside & my local friendly(and TRUSTWORTHY) garage has all the tools/ramps etc. Still do my bike though as I can work in the warm! Commiserations but chalk it up to experience-pads are much cheaper than discs as you found out the hard way.