Fortunately or unfortunately, one way of looking at getting quotes for these items, and more expensive ones like electricity etc., is that although you may have thought you've wasted a couple of hours, if you make a saving of - say - £100.00, your time has been worth £50.00 an hour, which is a much better rate than I ever got when I was working!
I know I bang on about getting quotes etc., but if you have just a little spare time, you can save anything up to £700.00 a year on everything where you can take control of where you buy - I know, because I did exactly that one year!
But it is a pain, I agree...