Vendors Question, unanswered

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It's difficult to put out an RFP that will be fully understood by every single person reading it, so it is expected there will be questions. Many times the questions are items that are process-related, so we can easily direct the enquiry to the "how to respond" instructions, helpdesk, etc. Other questions can be related to the background of the project, which is important to understand in order to write a decent solution to the problem. Being the RFP writing team is so closely connected to the project, we can very easily make assumptions that people would understand a requirement but find later (via questions) we didn't include enough details.

Sometimes, I admit, I've been frustrated by questions that were already written into the RFP itself, so it appears the person asking the question didn't actually READ the RFP. So, in past, I have responded with a requote of the section number and paragraph number. However, now, I do try to add some 'elaboration' to not insult the vendor community in case my RFP words were unclear.

So, I found it EXTREMELY surprising to read this in a Q&A posted recently:

Question: What is driving the 20+ year experience requirement for the consultant? We have a number of consultants who can support the RFP requirements but don’t have the number of years of experience requested.

Answer: Not a valid question. The experience required to fill any business role/position, either as a consultant or a staff member, is at the discretion of the employer.

Wow, am I the only one reading this as a defensive posture? As a buyer, I don't agree, I do think it is a valid question to ask what the DRIVER is for the requirement. It could be valid, I could see answering with "we require a seasoned professional who has worked their way through numerous levels of X, and have found 20 years is the best indicator of having the depth and breadth of experience we require to mentor our existing staff with 10-15yrs experience" ie they may need someone with greater experience than their existing staff.

Instead, the answer given appears rather 'rude' and dismissive. Would you want to work with this group? What might you think is going on in the background to have this answer posted publicly in response?

As always, I welcome comments: What do buyers think of this response? Would you answer differently? What does the vendor community think of this response? Would this answer alter your go/no-go position on responding whether you had the 20yrs or not?