No, he only insisted that fully unbinding is a perm mechanic. A fact to which I am still disinclined to believe, though it's not like I'm going to convince my keeper to pull my shackles off to test the theory. I'm not THAT dumb, and I would like to survive as long as possible. But if they intentionally cost nothing, I don't see the point in not taking it. That way it's on my sheet for when I eventually need it, if at all.
Unless I've got something wrong again...