Sheppy, I don't believe the 3000 ft. height recommendation is just a money spinner, it is there to provide a buffer for serious mishandling of a recovery resulting in a spin.
I am aware of Two events that resulted in spins, one inverted, caused by mishandling during endorsements where the aircraft lost a lot more than 1000 ft.
I am also aware of an endorsement in a Sportstar that went slightly pear shaped. It started with the instructor saying: " This little aircraft won't really stall, it just mushes down, watch this......." which turned out to be reasoably exciting, for when a dropped wing was picked up, it immediately dropped the other one, and so on.......and we weren't at 3000 ft either!