I'm guessing you're just bad at chaining then, because it was definitely the opposite for me.
It takes forever to find the Pokemon you want and then out of that you have to find the hidden ability you want on top of that? I vastly prefer just getting direct and to the point with the DexNav rather than waddling around through so many pointless fights hoping to just chance it.
Actually, you're right in that it is partly my fault as I forgot you can't run from battles if you want to chain so a few times I wasn't chaining successfully. Though for the Xatu I got recently I killed every single one and it took 27 pokemon before I got the HA. But I just find DexNav to be one of the biggest boring slogs in the pokemon game, second only to hatching eggs prior to Gen VI infinite paths. I also hated PokeRadar too though, so it isn't just DexNav.
Not sure how you're saying it takes forever to find a pokemon you want in friend safari though, each one has a 33% chance. There's only a 3.6% chance to go 8 battles without finding the one you want. And there is always the chance with friend safari that the first thing you find is what you need with the HA. In the 25 or so pokemon I've caught from friend safari with HAs it never took me more than 10 minutes to get what I came for.
I think that's why I don't like DexNav. There's no special or lucky feeling. You need to encounter the pokemon X times before you are even eligible for HAs, so there's no "oh man I got exactly what I wanted first try" feeling of luck, just grinding it out doing your duty and getting what you want. Encountering the same pokemon 15-20 times in a row guaranteed, seeing on the screen exactly what ability/moves it will have
But to each their own. I am sure for people more into the competitive scene having more of a guarantee is better, because relying on luck for any PvP competitive thing is shitty. I just personally found friend safari a better compromise.
