Is not the minima you set supposed to be the minimum altitude to which you will descend if not visual? The system has alerts to inform you that you are approaching/at minima.
IMHO the checkie was quite correct in his view that you had not set the approach minima and hence were in error. Automation requires, no demands, proper understanding of what you are trying to achieve and how to do it. Wrong minima set = major error = do it again in my mob. That means an IP and try that bit again after a little chat in the sim.