The 200 hundred hours and no PPL is a lesser issue here than the ethics of an FTO that would keep taking his money. Either he does not have what it takes, or their instructors can't get the job done. If the latter is true, then they should refund his money (I doubt the problem is poor instruction). If the former is the case, they should have had the cahones to tell him long ago and since they haven't, I question their ethics. I also have to question his common sense though, and lack of any of that is probably a far worse problem for a wannabe than difficulty with spatial orientation! Clearly he hasn't much sense if he's still plugging away at a PLL after 200 hours.