My hot water heater broke immediately before I had to leave town on business. They arrived at my house after I left and my girlfriend was home by herself (and I think they tried to start taking advantage the second they saw it was just a single woman in the house). When my flight landed, she sent a text saying that one guy was there for 3 hours and they charged total $2200 for the hot water heater (the bill was just a lump-sum; they didn't break out labor and material costs). I looked up the unit they installed on Amazon, and it was a $700 unit (It was just a standard Bradford White atmospheric 50 gallon natural gas water heater). The math worked out to be $500/hour for labor!!!
I immediately called the company and told them that $500/hour is a higher billing-rate than most high-powered lawyers. After threatening to uninstall the unit myself and returning it, they immediately knocked almost $1000 off the bill, making it at least close to something reasonable, but it still shouldn't have to be that way. I honestly think that they tried price-gouging as soon as my girlfriend answered the door.
As far as workmanship goes, they did a good job. But next time, I'm going to give my business to somebody I can actually trust. Having a hot-water heater break is already a hassle; why make it even more of a hassle by dealing with people who are openly trying to take advantage of you?
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