The very reason that i am asked to oversee maintenance is to avoid the cowboys but they are few and far between , how ever the people who get ripped of are by and large those who are trying to get the work done on the cheap.
I have also seen one large outfit make work by investigating a problem that was trivia and had i not been engaged by the owner to give a second opinion a few lose 3/32 rivets would have turned into a major structure job running into thousands of pounds.
I dont think that in this case it was a rip off was intended as the inspector had nothing to gain but pulling him up short will have improved his standards of inspection no end.
What i have not seen in a long time is the down right dishonesty discribed above perhaps it is because after 20 years in GA i know the places not to go.