his procedure to adjust timing was incorrect, you have to short the diagnosis connector for the ECU to show base timing because the ECU moves the timing beyond the timing marks upto 50 degrees advance in some conditions. No amount of fiddling will align the marks if you did not short the connector.
I can bet that you will see the timing marks dead spot on with the timing light when you short the diagnosis connector - he is just not trusting that you could have adjusted the timing belt correctly. And if he worked in a Honda dealership he should not even take off any belts or lower covers but just align the crank pulley TDC mark and timing belt pulley marks, there is nothing else extra that can be achieved by opening the timing belt covers. Seems that he needs some money.
btw you should point the gun straight down and see the pulley marks align between the 3 triangular projections on the cover, its actually a cross hair like you see in a gun., and looking at it from different angles can change the angle, so make sure you see it like an arrow from the top, the line should be aligning to the top single mark and also be between the 2 marks near the pulley.
Once correctly set, you would literally feel the engine rev faster and sound "rorty" like a Honda 4 cylinder should.