Mini Plumbing rant.

They must take you for a fool.  There seems to be a lot of shady blue collar workers in that area of yours.  Talk about a ripoff.

Good on ya for doing that and gettin' 'r dun!

I've fixed my outdoor faucets this year with no issues, too.  It's amazing what things you find on the innerwebz for assistance.

I would rant if I were a guy and I had mini plumbing too ... oh wait, you meant an actual hose and faucet.

Well done on the work. Maybe you suffered a bit on the $900, but not as much as if you'd done it yourself and wound up having to pay more to fix the problem and the attempted solution as well.

It sounds really crazy, though. I've dated two plumbers (and both are still good friends) and I know they don't charge up the wazoo ... and plumbing service overall is probably comparably priced between LV and LA. (Possibly the whole country, what do I know).

WIN!  Similar story...

I'm visiting my best friend and I'm looking forward to a soak in his hot tub.  "Sorry man.  The hot tub's been broken for a while.  It won't maintain temperature.  I've had two guys come out and look at it and both of them said the controller board needs to be replaced.  One quoted me $1,300 and the other $1,500.  I haven't decided what to do yet."  So I told him if it's broke and "dead", let's pull it and take a look ourselves.  "We can't kill it any more than it already is."  So we pulled the board, put it on th bench with some power, grabbed some beers and a multi-tester and I started running through the circuits.

We were only about 10 minutes into it when we found a dead connection.  An hour later and we found that just one tiny transistor was the only one not working.  I grabbed the soldering iron, pulled it and said, "let's head to Radio Shack."  You couldn't buy a single one and the clerk couldn't be bothered.  He reached into a draw, found a matching one and said, "just take it.  It would cost like 5 cents or something and I can't be bothered."

Soldered it back in, reinstalled the board, plugged it up and voila!  Fixed and functioning hot tub again!  $1,500 vs... FREE!

That was 4 years ago and the hot tub is still working today.

Don't be afraid to DIY.  You'll be shocked at what you can accomplish and save!

Buyer beware for sure.  Like a lot of other trades out there find one thats honest, and keep his contact info if you need him in the future.  I'm thinking also of Electricians, Auto Mechanics, roofers, etc.

I'm a contractor.....and not sure how a hose bib (faucet at the rear yard) would ever cost $280 unless the plumber was coming from 2 hours away or something!    Good call, and common sense prevails!

You were lucky the pipe the hose bib didn't twist and break inside the wall.  It happened to me last year.  Had to call out a plumber on a Sunday.  Luckily the guy didn't like where he was working and did it for $100 cash to fix the pipe inside the wall when his company would have charged $300.  Yes I had to fix the hole inside the wall but that was pretty easy.

Alot of their charge is just an appearance fee. 

This is true, my father in law is an electrician with a great reputation in the community - owns his own small business etc. When I have needed someone (other than an electrician) I always call him for recomendations. Heck I would even if he was not an inlaw and I know he would not screw me over.