I'm saying its not usually a suggested service item.

Clearly you got a "we don't want to do it" price, because on a non-rusty car it's a cake job.

I'm an engineer at a company that makes a lot of OEM brakes, though I work on stability control and not calipers, even our garage techs bleed by either pushing through or by using a pressure bleeder that hooks up to the cap. If a dealer had one of those, they should be done in under 45 minutes including taking the wheels off.

Even the fluid I suggested should only cost you like $15 for a liter which is enough to do anything smaller than a full size truck.