VJW - I'm not suggesting for a minute that toff has done anything wrong - but it would have saved a great deal of his money, time and effort if he'd had an opportunity to check the examiners credentials beforehand. A couple of attributes required for examining are integrity and good moral character - neither seem much in evidence in this story...
If the known and trusted acquaintance who has just ripped you off for a little under $1000 including his fee and created no small inconvenience for you in the process is prepared to do that, what else might be amiss? The FAA have been informed, they will look at who rented the aircraft and who was PIC and I will bet money on who that was. I wish toff luck in his claim against Thompson and renewing his IR - I've encountered a number of Florida based examiners in my time, trust me - caveat emptor.