I was a Prime in Houston for Time Warner before it became Comcast and the cost of the materials is built into the pricing structure of whatever the Tech does. Each Prime has to account to the Warehouse for the parts used in the field and if anything gets "lost" its an uphill battle as they will hold your money till you have the paperwork to show where it was given to the Warehouse. Time Warner had quit doing this for awhile but with leaner times they are back to their old tricks to conserve money.
This is CABL.com posting #279246. Tiny Link: cabl.co/mbkN8