When you purchase gifts for companions that some gifts will have 1000 influence and needs to stay 1000 when you give that gift every time. About half way giving the gift to companions and changes figures on the 1000 down to 300. We keep spending long days after hours that we cant do it under our schedule to influence our companions to max 50. Just a game and shouldn't take that long to accomplish the game. You guys are not accomplish on slow grinding.

It has always been the case. Every 10 ranks gifts drop in effectiveness. What I do is get to rank 30 with green/blue and then use only blue/purple.

If you buy the "faster gift giving" Legacy perks, it doesn't take that long to level up a companion, even when buying a few hundred gifts from the vendor on the fleet.

 

There is also, a very expensive CM/GTN item that can boost a companion to level 50 instantly.