>>I was imprecise about the details because I don't remember them. But they had a couple of doctors who gave them a list of symptoms and buzzwords, telling them exactly what to say, because it was a diagnosis requiring one of the standard and common procedures that any clinic knows and does. So they were asking the prace of a standard light surgery, pretty much like you describing trouble when starting a car and the battery terminals look dirty - anyone would say "charge the battery and clean the terminals or put new ones" - and would know the cost to you. Except there's no standard among clinics in the US.
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>Still thinking that a better experiment would have been to ask for the price of that operation in clear medical terms claiming a doctor had previosly diagnosed it.

That would be a different experiment. This time I think they were trying to see how much work would each hospital try to include (and charge for). Don't remember how that part went, i.e. how many hospitals went by the book and how many tried to sell add-ons.

>You will get price quotes on standard repairs from car mechanics.

You may even get prices directly, from the guy himself, not necessarily his subordinates quoting him (g,d & r).