Hi Chaz,
I fully agree with your comments. In the commercial world (I too have worked for Hi tech global manufacturing businesses) you will of course use a 'serious' electro-plater to do the work for all the reasons you mentioned. But, for the same level for our classics, then we can fully expect to pay serious money as their overheads will be far higher than a small electro-plater who would be doing anything from domestic appliance embellishments to decorative chrome bits.
I also concur that as a professional bike restorer, you cannot afford for a customer to be unhappy with the finish and longevity of a chrome plated part as the damage to your reputation would be long lasting and very bad for business.
However, as we are doing this for our own use and most of us maybe want something to look 'tidy' rather than concours then the smaller guy may be just the ticket.
Also, consider how much the bike will be used. It's not many of us that use our classics to get to work every day, all year round and as we get older, we then try to avoid winter riding (too cold), or rainy weather (not much fun) so the majority of the time out there is in dry warm conditions and not detrimental to the chrome finish.
So, to recap, yes, you get what you pay for, just pay for what will suit your needs.
Chris