We had a shower that wasn't working and were told by a semi-knowledgable neighbor that it was likely a cartridge. Was told that Bumble Bee was expensive but does great work. The tech confirmed the cartridge needed to be replaced, said there was only one available in the Valley and quoted $700+ to do the work. When we gasped he said the cartridge is $100, the rest was their time to pick it up and do the work. When we gasped again he dropped the price to $650-ish and another gasp got the price down to the mid-$500 range. He said they quote based on the job, not on an hourly rate. We paid the service call fee and passed on having him do the work.
I drove the 15 minutes each way to Central Arizona Supply, who had 4 cartridges in stock, picked one up for $80 and called another plumber who works by the hour. It took him one hour to do the install and all works just like it did before the problem started. For less than an hour of my time, $80 for the part and $85 for the labor I saved at least $350.
More than happy to pay for travel time to pick up the part and good quality work but hard to believe Bumble Bee is worth that kind of premium!!!