I don't think software support is getting rich on repairing files but rather offering it as a service to help their customers try to correct a problem with a card or yield files.  It is a time consuming and painstaking process to try and recover data. 

I would venture to say most folks don't have the skills or background to complete this task on their own.  If you can write your own program and recover the data without paying them more power to you.  Their fee is reasonable if you look at what other service charges are to trouble shoot electrical equipment such as computers, boards, alternators, etc.