I did my PPL and then IMC with Kingair at Biggin (now part of Biggin Hill School of Flying) and also flew from Cabair as a PPL hirer for a couple of years.
The first thing you need to do is differentiate training from hiring. I do agree that the hiring charges are excessive and it does appear that the Cabair business plan is focussed solely on PPL and CPL training. At the time I moved from the Biggin area BHSF were moving into the Kingair building and the old BHSF was to be turned into a centre for hours building and CPL training (did that ever happen?). It's unlikely that I'll go back to Cabair as a hirer.
The quality of training was worth the money. All the instructors were well qualified, had excellent trainer (people) skills and were well motivated - even though the Cabair pay and rations and hierachy meant they often motivated themselves. I wasn't charged for spending time with an instructor or attending the weekly presentations (though that's certainly factored into the overall cost). The overall quality of the instruction was excellent and I'd have no reservation in going back for more training or recommending them to anybody else as a training organisation.
The issue about gold bars is bull. Yes, instructors were made to wear them, but acknowledged that they were a vehicle to a professional presentation and many of the QFI's were less than a year away from the airline that was sponsoring them. Having said that the bars were often missing by the time yoiu got off the ramp at a non-Cabair field!
Don't be distracted by the hyperbole as you make your choice, but in summary I'd definitely be trained by Cabair again, but probably won't be hiring any aircraft from them in the UK again.