Expecting you to learn the basics about the tools you're using is not expecting too much. And if you are too lazy to spend a few seconds specifying data types then you get what you deserve.
The original comment I responded to said they regularly imported large data sets and the in the case of the genetists they also are regularly importing data into Excel. In other words Excel is a regularly used and fundamental tool to their work. In this case I would expect someone to learn the basics of using it. Just as I would expect a developer to learn their editor, build system, version control system, etc.
