As a UK TRTO (ATO) (Bristol Flying Centre) on the B200 & C525 and as a TRI/TRE on both I receive quite a few inquiries of this nature. The problem is that companies such as Flight Safety who provide excellent training are all sim based and don't seem to let their JAA/EASA students know that they still need to complete 6 landings in the aeroplane then a base check (OPC). This can cost as much as £3k
A TRE through an ATO can deal with this however if for example I am examining for a Spanish license holder we usually have to give 5 days notification to the license holders aviation authority.
You will find that most sim based courses are not conducted by type rated pilots and they rarely have them on their books. I wouldn't say TRE's are expensive just good value but hiring the aircraft is expensive.
Hope this helps