Joefriday - you are, of course, 100% correct in your comment that it's unfair for the schools to price based on minimum - but "you" (the student populous) have generated this yourselves, as the VAST majority of you are only concerned with promised price and time to complete.
You (the student populous) have zero interest in quality - you may say so in your posts, but you always default to the quickest/cheapest in the end.
The schools have to compete with each other for your business, so they all have to advertise in the same way. It is, of course, very possible to complete in the time - it used to be 35 hours if you completed in less than six months, and people made it easily. Attending a residential course and going over 45 hours really does highlight some problem - with either the school or the student.
You (the student populous) all assume that you WILL finish in minimum hours, will finish by a given date (and already have your cheapest cost, non adjustable return flight tickets booked for the day after). Most of you have your next course booked to start three days after that.
If a school TELLS you that you will go over on the hours, then you post on here saying that they are ripping you off.
Same as "hour building" - to the pilots, it's a hurdle that has to be overcome and some/many of you will (rather stupidly) fly an extra 100 hours of worthless local trips down the coast (or well known routes, to well known airfields, to meet your buddies that have just flown in loose formation with you) immediately after gaining the PPL, and before the ATPL groundschool.....and even that groundschool you choose based on the best question bank to learn so you can tick boxes in the exams, rather than LEARNING the material.
It's done that way because it's viewed as cheapest, quickest, most fun. It's of zero value other than entries in a log book.
It's supposed to be "experience building", and should involve increasingly tasking your self to ever tightening limits - so that, by the time, you turn up for the CPL course, it's a 'walk in the park'.
I've often thought of offering a service of riding with you during your experience building (whioch you log as P1, of course) and progressing from an advisory passenger to "beating the
out of you" towards the end.
30 hours maybe, of your 100, at...say $50 an hour....but I bet none of you would consider paying the extra $1,500 in order to "get it right".
You are only interested in advertised price and advertised time - hence your post (come to think of it).