CLARIFICATION: On the day of service, we were able to talk Jeff down to $400 for the work, though he maintains that $450 is his routine charge. BUT he called our house a month later and threatened to sue us for the above review! He shouted at me on the phone for a few minutes before I finally hung up. There are so many plumbers in this area, there's no reason to return to someone who is so patently unprofessional.
Here are some previous complaints about Bernard: http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/specific_search/jeff%20bernard%20plumbing. Clearly we're not the only ones who have run into problems.