My F-150's transmission is slipping

[coleturner]

My F-150's transmission is slipping and I'm worried about the bill

My F-150 has started slipping between gears under acceleration, the revs climb but the speed doesn't follow, and it's been getting more noticeable over the past couple of weeks. I've read enough about transmission problems to know this can go from annoying to catastrophic fast, so I don't want to sit on it. The dealer quoted something that made me sit down, so I'm looking at independents instead. I'm in Musaffah Industrial Area so I've been searching for trusted Ford repair in Musaffah Industrial Area, but I want to know if a slipping transmission is something an independent can handle properly or if it's dealer territory. Has anyone had transmission work done on an F-150 locally and been happy with the result? Also, does a fluid and filter change ever actually fix slipping, or is that just wishful thinking?