For my financing activities (origination and refis), I didn’t get to pick my appraiser; the lender did. (I can’t imagine how an applicant choosing an appraiser could even work. I think you’d find a lot of cash payments being made on-site.)
I'm curious who the lender is then. Go up the chain to find the real dirt.
Lenders don't get to pick appraisers anymore. They submit into a system and the system spits out the next appraiser. This was done to prevent gaming the system that happened in 2008.