Despite being in an airline cyclic program, recently I needed a BFR for my bugsmasher (recreation) certificate renewal. In the past the RA Aus people accepted that a pilot in some other regular checking system automatically qualified for RA. However, and rightly in my view, they now require some proof of competence in more representative aircraft.
Phoning around and making a few enquiries, I got varying responses from "we will just do a few circuits to see if you are OK" to needing a two hour question-and-answer review and "probably about two hours in the air". I don't do OTT, even at work, so scrub that guy. And I really could not see what benefit I would get from doing 'a few circuits' so scrub the el-cheapo guy as well.
I settled for the school that quoted a standard hour, but more if I needed it. Sounded professional and practical, and proved to be so. Their aircraft was immaculate and the instructor, although fairly new to the game, was enthusiastic and thorough. We did a couple of stalls, a couple of forced landing exercises, a steep turn and a simulated EFATO. The boxes were all ticked in 40 minutes, so I was then given the opportunity to practice what I saw as best for me. Because I don't like doing full glide approaches in my own aircraft, I took advantage of theirs to sharpen up this rarely-practiced skill.
This particular school had a minimum charge of an hour, which is fair on two counts: 1. Because there is no pilot on the planet who would not benefit from an hour's dual every two years, and
2. They have a substantial investment in new-ish aircraft and obviously need to run it as a business.
But, if a pilot needs more than an hour and a bit of coaching, there is no doubt that this school would insist on it. If the pilot did not accept those terms prior to the BFR, I would like to think that they would turn away that business.
Of course a pilot unable to accept those terms would probably go to el cheapo in the first place. Which is OK too, because in the fullness of time Charles Darwin will yet again be proven right.