Hardened valve seats - do they really matter?

Well that was around the start of covid if I remember correctly.
Jobs we had to farm out at work back then that were $3k, are now $7k for the same job at the same vendor. Prices have gotten stupid.

When I had my /6 done, about 3 years ago now, they bored it, polished the crank, shaved the block 30-thou, hot tanked it, put the cam bearings and freeze plugs in (I didn't ask them, I was gonna do that myself) and pressed the new pistons on the rods. (I'd found a set of NOS rods so no rebuild of them was needed) and shot peened/x rayed the block. Block work was $400.
Then they got the head. I had already done some port work on it, as deep as I dared. They touched it up and finished my work.
Shaved 70-thou. Cut in for oversized valves which I furnished. Put in new exhaust seats which they furnished. Plus a crack check.
Head was $400 labor, just like the block.
They'd had my block 9 mo before they got it done, and the head another 3 months. I picked up the block and dropped the head. So a year to get done.

Fast forward a year to year and a half I took them a single cylinder cast iron Kohler off of a Cub cadet.
They did the valves, bored it 10-over, cut the crank 10-thou, deck d the block just enough to make sure it wasn't warped and the same for the head. THAT was $300. Not including any parts.
800 for an inline 6, $300 for a single cylinder air cooled small engine. Doesn't seem right.
They'd done another Kohler for me before the /6.
It was about half of the money they got from me for the most recent one.
Took them a month for each Kohler.