Good questions Iceman90.
Unfortunately there's tons of designers out there that don't have a good process setup with their customers, so either the customer ends up feeling ripped off because they didn't get what they wanted, or the designer gets ripped off because the customer wants a billion changes and ends up being too involved in the process.
There's a balance.
As for the site being $6000, that sure doesn't look like a $6000 website. $6k for what amounts to a pamphlet website may be reasonable IF the site is kickass, but this one is very generic.
But if you're someone who knows nothing of design or internet sites, how do you know what's reasonable?
Heh, there's another business, a website design broker that chooses good designers for you.
