Sounds to me like you blokes are being reamed mercilessly - and without lube as well.
We have a local company (Perth, Western Australia) that repairs seatbelts for every type of vehicle and aircraft ever made.
Their Vehicle seatbelt reconditioning meets all road and vehicle safety requirements and laws - and their aircraft seatbelt reconditioning arrangement is an approved CASA facility, that meets all Australian aviation laws and standards, and each repair or reconditioning comes with full traceability.
The reconditioning cost is nothing like the figures bandied around above. I have not had any aircraft seatbelts reconditioned, but I have had a truck seatbelt reconditioned by them recently. It took less than two hours, it cost AU$110, it came back looking like new, and it came complete with paperwork and certification for road vehicle use.
What's to stop you U.K. or European aircraft owners from sending your aircraft seatbelts to Western Australia to be reconditioned? Surely airworthiness certification for Cessna in Australia would meet airworthiness requirements in the U.K. and Europe??
What happens if I take an Australian VH-registered aircraft with locally-reconditioned seatbelts to the U.K. or Europe?
I'm sure it wouldn't immediately be declared un-airworthy, simply because the seatbelts were reconditioned overseas.
The cost of getting aircraft seatbelts reconditioned in Australia, even including allowing for freighting to Australia, would appear to be a fraction of the prices quoted above. Someone is having a very large rort in the above U.K. and European pricing.
We live in a global world today, and airlines regularly recondition and maintain their aircraft in far-flung locations, to keep their costs down. These arrangements seem to be able to be organised without any drama.
http://www.aircraftinteriors.com.au/...estraints.html