[Kohaku]

WOW! The scary part is that he's still employed. He's gonna pull the crap on other poor souls. I've seen and done many vinyl jobs. That one is by far the biggest abomination.
You were definitely NOT being too picky, but very well tempered. I would have applied vinyl to him and trimmed out a couple stripes.

 

[Kohaku]

I've done vinyl graphics on cars, trucks, boats, planes, guitars, snowboards...
If a premium grade vinyl is used, and applied correctly, vinyl graphics should last a very long time. The life of the vehicle if cared for. They might fade and dull depending on the environment but paint does that too. I can see eventually removing stripes off an old-ish Mustang and having a cool set of ghost stripes, lol. Removing old vinyl, although time consuming, isn't that difficult.

The problem areas on most cars are the hood and bumpers due to heat and parking abrasions respectively. White vinyl can yellow and UV rays from sun exposure is bad in general. Again, same for paint.

So as long as you don't mind feeling the edge of the vinyl, it is a good alternative for those who can't afford or just don't want to paint.