I had a similar experience albeit of a far lower value.
Had a broken pipe in the front yard from a tree root... I dug out the pipe and removed the root, plumber came round cut out a bit of the pipe and attached some sort of joinmatron device... 5 mins work... $300
pipe broke again on the weekend (different spot, same reason) so I went to bunnings and bought the part... did it myself in apprx 5 mins
$7
fuckin tradies