Deposit back from a broker after a no-show? In my experience that money is pretty much gone, and $150 is on the small side for what people lose. You could file a complaint with the AZ DOT or your card company, but honestly for that amount its usually not worth the hassle. Take the L and move on, your stuff got there and thats what counts.

Going every 6 weeks is way more often than most people need unless your shears are getting beat up or you're cutting a ton of heads. Good sharpening should hold up for months, so if it's wearing off that fast the shop might be taking too much metal off each time.

Thought I had it all figured out with my 1.5 inch cuts too, swore by them for years. Then a regular grabbed me at the counter and said his wife wanted smaller portions, said the thick ones looked nice but half of it ended up in the trash. That stung because he was right, I was just stuck in my ways. Tried the 1 inch cut the next week and watched my shrink go down while my sales went up, same as you. Sometimes you need somebody outside your own kitchen to point out what you stopped seeing.