I believe the poster on how his checkride went 100%. I believe him because I have had JP for a lot of CQ/checkride events and he's done some of the same things to me (although I took drastically different courses of action in the sim). The original pirep of the checkride has been moderated so if I get a detail wrong or misrepresent anything that happened I am sorry, that is not my intention. I am just trying to offer the OP some insight into what JP wanted to see done (right or wrong). FULL DISCLAIMER: I am not in the training department, I am not an instructor or check airman at Piedmont. Anything I say below is simply to give some context to someone who is obviously lost on where things went downhill on his checkride. It is in no way advice on future CQ rides for PDT people nor a truth... just my GUESS on what the instructor probably was looking for.
First off, almost every time I have had a ride with JP, he has the wrong fuel on the plane when you get in the sim. This is intentional because we continually have people push off the gate with the wrong fuel. The OP caught the wrong fuel which is good, but when the fuel is wrong you don't call dispatch. All you do is call the ops frequency and request a fuel truck to come back. So maybe JP wasn't answering/hearing your calls to "dispatch" because you should have just asked for a fuel truck. Then after you caught the error and he said "ok it's fixed" it wasn't him trying to trip you up again. He's done this with me before and its his way of saving time and moving the lesson along. IE. You caught the error great job, let's keep moving. Whether he changed the fuel on the airplane or not it is ok to assume that the fuel is correct at this point.
Ok so now the OP takes off and is using the KNS to go to the first fix. Great job no problems there, I would have just blown off John if he said you were "dead reckoning" to the fix. I don't know what he is getting at with that but you could always ask for a vector if the KNS/UNS isn't functioning. JP then gave you a vector and you noticed the roll jam. Again great job catching it there. I've had the same thing happen to me... I get the sim trimmed up and then the instructor has to turn me to notice a control jam. If I remember right you completed the non normal checklist and then wanted to return for a straight in to some runway in PHL. Now, I don't remember if you declared an emergency or not, but control malfunctions should be declared an emergency (IMO). HERE is where I think your big mistake came in. JP is HUGE on "good solid CRM" and Capt/Pilot authority. When you declare an emergency the airport is yours. Period. Almost EVERY time with JP, when you declare an emergency and return to the field he will either give you something other than you requested or try to give you delay vectors or try to put you behind another plane etc. All these scenarios will be directed by "ATC" and would prevent you from getting to the airport ASAP. DON'T ACCEPT THOSE. That is the key, that's what he wanted to see. You mention how challenging the approach entry was that you had to walk your partner through how to set it up and fly some complex entry. Kudos on getting the job done, but this is what you should have said: "Negative Philly approach, PDT XYZ has declared an emergency we need vectors DIRECTLY to (the final, the numbers, the ILS etc). Get everyone else out of our way." And then flown your straight in approach. He wants to see the command authority, that you won't be talked into doing something stupid by ATC or a weak Capt. when things hit the fan.
I don't remember the rest of the checkride except the part about ppl walking into props. Again this is another classic JP thing he does (I know because he has done it with me). When the Captain sets the parking he wants you to IMMEDIATELY start your flow and flip off the seatbelt sign. If you take your time and do the flow slowly, then when you turn off the seatbelt sign he will pop the passenger door (as if the flight attendant thought it was the double chime). Again this has happened to me so I've been slow on the flow too. BUT when I did it, I saw the warning light flash, noticed the passenger door and slammed the condition lever to fuel off. Then when JP started yelling at me for shutting down the engine incorrectly I defended myself by saying the door opened and I didn't want to kill people. Big cheesy grin on his face when I said that.
Again, I don't know if any of these things is enough to fail you out of training. I have seen these things pulled in the sim but I never had an unsat because of them and they were hardly mentioned in the debrief. I heard a story on the line once that back in the day JP was flying through some turbulence. He told the flight attendant to sit down and she did. However later in the flight she got up again and then injured herself. JP blames himself for this because he didn't tell her to sit and STAY down. That is why he harps on good solid crm and pilot authority. When I heard that story it sort of makes sense/puts into context why he is the way he is. As a new hire the instructors at PDT are very intimidating. They love to run you down, make you feel worthless, make you feel like you don't deserve to be there and aren't professional. I felt the same way going through indoc as you did (never been treated like less of a professional). However, I had a thick skin and let it roll off my shoulders because I knew that I was a good instrument pilot and never let them make me second guess my decisions.
Everyone on here is absolutely right. Our "AQP" is a joke compared to the other programs out there. This old school mentality does not foster a positive learning environment nor does it make any pilots safer or smarter. Honest to God I was talking to one of our instructors and he said and I quote "Our job isn't to teach." I wish I was joking. PDT doesn't have a training department they have a testing department. If you can get in the sim and fly the approaches and maneuvers to standards you pass. If you can't they don't give you advice on how to do better. This thread is already full of posts describing the difficulty and training environment at PDT. Note to potential new hires. We aren't joking and we aren't exaggerating. It is TOUGH training, the manuals are a mess (say two different things in two different places on the same topic), and the instructors won't cut you any slack.