Hmmmm some interesting comments on here.
Tell me, if you get a timing belt fitted to your car at £50 an hour do you complain at 2hrs work and a bill of £100 plus parts?
So knowing how long things take to prep and how much can go wrong does 50 man hours at £50 an hour sound unreasonable for the work?
Unlikely.
I've owned my own bodyshop and you get folk like the lad who painted his car in a tent in all the time, I'll put money on it your job is crap compared to getting it done in any sort of booth, let alone a full on top quality one with its own extraction and heating, the finish is night and day.

Certainly a REASONABLE finish can be achieved at home, I've seen some ok jobs but when that same work done professionally its non comparable.

Amazing how people seem to think their bodywork experts as well and tell YOU how much it costs and how long it takes.

Until you've been there and done it, you don't know, its a horrible trade dealing with utter cockends who want stuff done for nothing as they see it as a non essential expense rather than retaining the value of their car, very rare someone comes in actually wanting a nice job done for what it costs rather than too a particular price they've fabricated in their head.

There's so much to go wrong with bodywork that its untrue and often you spend a lot of time correcting things that had you been firm to the customer and spent time getting it right in the first place you wouldn't end up rushing at the end trying to meet unrealistic guidelines.

Bodywork is without doubt a case of you get what you pay for.
After all, would you let a 17yr old apprentice build up your £400 cossie engine build in a tent at the side of his house and expect it to be perfect and last forever rather than paying Harvey Gibbs 10 to 15 times that amount to guarantee it?