Standard is a loose term. Standard for me on a leaky repack is to first run the car with the bad seals still in place checking for damaged pistons and repairing them as needed. Sanding is a normal way to do this, and when done correctly has absolutely no problem with the new seal. Using a power tool to do this task can cause flat spots that may carry oil.

Alignment typically is a rather simple process, where was the piston for the first 10 years? Brilliant idea is to put it right back where you found it. I usually mark the platen hat, take measurements, etc. to ensure I have replaced the darn thing where it has lived very happily for a decade.

Again this issue may not have been with the provider, or the packing, or may have been one of them, or both. The spot on the seal looks very suspicious to me in that the slight arc visible looks like a very small radius in comparison to the over all seal radius. Seems to me that if the alignment of the piston was bad, that you would have had an elongated seal (oval) and not a roughly 1 1/2" spot. This could have been done by foreign debri, piss poor install of packing that caused damage, or a bad spot on the piston or joint if the piston is sectional (not sure they even have sectional twin posts, just a thought).

If I had to guess, I would say the piston has damage, horizontal, that is "eating" that section of the packing. The repair contractor should have addressed this issue at the time of the repack. It's like changing brake pads on a car, and not making sure the calipers are in working order, all you do is burn though another set of pads....