Heres my 2 cents if any1 cares.
Firstly ive got my cars worked only at cypher, xspeed, genie and some unnamed tuner and found them in general to be bloody great. Cypher I found to be a bit expensive on most things but good workmanship and knowledge never the less. Xspeed are great, also a bit pricey but never had a problem with them (top notch). Genie for exhausts are fantastic, always willing to help and prices for labour can't be beat (if you just need something welded or flanged etc..)
The unnamed one, basically I first went to him because he was cheaper than the rest and I knew a few other guys that had been there. He couldnt even diagnose wrong sized spark plug gaps, I thought it was something terminal wrong with my turbo after he finished with it after a service + plugs. I took it to Xspeed and they told me what it was before even looking at the car. So in that respect.. you get what you pay for.
In conclusion.. you get what you pay for.. the only reason Im not getting my stuff done @ xspeed now is that ive only heard good things about hyperdrive (+ hyperdrive sell xforce exhausts) and was more than helpful with my stupid questions on the phone. It may be practically the other side of the world from where I live, but id prefer to do that than trust my car with some jerk mechanic around the corner