That does indeed change the situation. Not having the password and requiring it to be brute forced is indeed more of a specialist task


Not necessarily. While it isn't impossible to setup and run something like hashcast or btcrecover etc... the problem comes from the performance of "typical" hardware that most users have, or, more correctly, the lack thereof. The equipment necessary to bruteforce anything but relatively simple wallet passwords can be quite expensive to buy or even rent. Given the sorts of passwords I use, even my gaming rig with a relatively powerful GPU isn't going to cut it if I needed to bruteforce one of my passwords. So, don't feel like you're being judged for seeking professional assistance. Very happy you managed to find a reputable firm that didn't scam you.

I still think that the fee charged was excessive tho


Truly a "good news"™ story all around.