As usual , never let the truth get in the way of a good story!!!. 170A fees are charged within some companys because the examiner rather than the school pay out for the priviledge to test for Class rating,IR renewal, 170a etc etc. There is a requirement that candidates are flown with on IR and flight is optional on CPL. Within our school we pride ourselves on the high pass rates & we achieve that but by VERY carefully checking standard of candidate prior to test which is why we check both CPL & IR. As somebody has already mentioned in this thread the cost of sitting with a CAA examiner is £729.00p, what you are paying for is a very experienced examiner who has not been involved with your training to put you under test conditions and see how you perform. It is better to fail at this point rather than have to log a CAA flight test fail in your logbook.
With regards to 'cash' payments, the requirement is for cheque or cash & not credit cards purely because as individuals we do not have machines to take cards. The comments that we refuse receipts are totally unfounded although I dont think that particular remark was aimed at this establishment.
These and all other examiner & test fees are clearly stated in our schools literature and I'm sure most other reputable organisations are the same.