Anne, if you are in our area of Lancs, contact me, I will polish a new one for you with labour for under a £100, they are taking the IZZ as said, I would not trust them to boil a kettle let alone an exhaust.
Call at a Family run Garage Anne or ring around for a quote, regards the Company you have stated, they used to ride Black horses with a black cloak & a mask & OH, a gun robbing Basds x.
The entire system is £200 or so and most places have free fitting
http://www.onlineauto...Exhaust%20System.aspx
You are not likedly to need the entire system so under £200 , £500 is a MAJOR rip off .
Is your friend female and went alone ? I know it is wrong but so many places still try to rip off females , get a man to go and ask for a quote.
I recomend that you try a Ford Fast Fit garage, these are usually attached to a Ford main dealership but have completely different pricing. I used to get things like exhausts at those at good prices for my Escort, and properly done not like many other fast fit types. If you need a new catalytic converter the price would be steeper, but usually these last the life of the car -unless it has been damaged by accident or by improper use.