Did it look ok when you'd just skimmed it?
I've seen a wall that looked like that after it was painted. Turns out they'd not given it a mist coat and just slapped thick emulsion on it. The paint then peeled away in places, so they layered some more on, and it left the wall looking exactly the same as that.
I'd ask them if they gave it a mist coat?
ive always been 100% pva but after working with someone who uses wba all the time, i decided to get some the other day for a living room over skim i'm on. its brilliant, i find i can put bigger sets on because theres not too much suction. its a little expensive compared to pva and i'd only use it on jobs that were at least a couple of days. if ive got the odd wall to do then ill still use pva for speed. but im definately converted