just goes to show, if you ask 10 different honemeisters a question you will get 10 different answers... but they will all say the same thing

getting back to the initial issue and forgetting about feel, smoothness, and what paste to use...
The biggest reason to get a razor honed by an expert is sharpness.
before shaving with a straight, I didn't know what sharp really meant.
Sure I could sharpen my pocket knife to a point where nobody wanted to use it... it really was scary sharp, and would cut to the bone in an instant.
but it was far from shave ready or razor sharp. An inexperienced shaver may believe that sharp in knife terms means shave ready...
It's then that a honemeister is needed to show them how sharp a razor needs to and/or can be.

As for the not quite shave ready Wacker... We're all human, it could have been a mistake in the honing, the test shave, the packing, shipping, even user error can't be ruled out... It's unfortunate, and had you contacted the honemeister, I'm certain he would have done everything in his power to make it right.
I purchased my first honemeister honed razor from the same vendor, a 7/8 Froidur, and it arrived shave ready. His customer service was excellent, and he was even happy to share some honing tips with me.