My home furnace motor needed replacement on 1-6-2009, a very cold day. Plumbline Services tech told me cost would be $1153, and included a $ 294 motor mount. Tech agreed he could repair in an hour, and his labor costs was about $700/hour, but stated his company has much overhead, and also need to pay for his continued education.
Tech pitched fact it was cold, late in the day, and he had parts on his truck to have furnace running in an hour.
I sent him away and called another company. Other company tech changed out the motor on 1-7-2009 for total cost, parts and labor, was $ 363. Also, other tech noted the motor mount Plumbline Service said would cost $ 294, was NOT needed, as it came with the replacement motor, BUT if needed, a more realistic cost was $ 5 to $ 10.
Possibly charging senior citizens, such as myself, inflated prices, while unethical, may not be illegal, BUT charging for parts not needed and inflating price many times over might be seen by some people, as fraud.