Blimey! I didn't expect this to become so acrimonious. Nobrot isn't the crook here, he's the realist. I don't see anywhere his 'approval of shafting'.

We have come here from a country that puts a price tag on everything and mollycoddles the consumer. It is your own responsibility to ensure you don't get screwed. I never buy anything without getting at least one other price. For example, I had two central heating quotes - the first from a highly recommended plumber was 14000 euros. The second from the yellow pages was 6000 euros (and he eventually reduced it to 5500 euros). Which do you go for? At the end of the day a plumber is a plumber,  a brick is a brick and a cabbage is a cabbage.

Shop around. If you expect good value to be handed to you on a plate then you're a fool and you'll always see the rest of the world as thieves. Value is relative and without a comparison you cannot know whether it's good or bad.

More to the point, where is Paulo to support his comments?