Is my plumber screwing me over?

[Samantha Miller]

(Re-posting here - used the wrong forum before).

Hey BP! Looking for some input on an inspection report.

I am under contract to purchase a 4 bed 1.5 bath row home in Philadelphia. This is my first home purchase, and I have little to no experience with real estate, construction, etc. The general inspector recommended, due to the age of the home (built 1925), that I have a plumber inspect the main sewer drain line with a camera. I was quoted at $350 for the service (discounted from $500) plus $10 for the disc of the camera recording. When the plumber arrived, he said would have to pull the basement toilet bowl in order to access the main sewer, and would have to charge an extra $200 to do this. He proceeded, but ultimately after 1-2 hours of trying he said he was unable to get the camera to bend around one area of the pipes to get to the outside trap. He was able to go left, but not right (again, I do not know really what this means, just reiterating the report). It says the camera showed "heavy scale going back toward stack", and that he "ran water - no back up at this time". He recommended "cleaning the main sewer, chiseling out cement, to remove vent plate for access into main". The company owner later clarified that bending any further would've risked breaking the $4,000 camera. I have not yet seen the camera footage, will receive the disc next week. However, with everything else he was able to inspect, no major concerns were raised that he felt would be reason to reconsider moving forward on the house.

My question is simply - does that sound right? Is it typical that I would still need to pay the full price even though he couldn't access part of the line? Would another plumber have been able to get down there? This might be totally fair and normal I just wanted to throw it out there for some feedback to make sure I am not getting screwed over due to my own lack of knowledge! I am trying to make sure I learn throughout this process.

Thank you!