I understood (different source; not sure what the true picture is) that the problem was with storing each record in a column. There is a limit of 16,000-odd col

I understood (different source; not sure what the true picture is) that the problem was with storing each record in a column. There is a limit of 16,000-odd columns. This would, as you say, not be a problem with Excel as such, but with the user(s) not being aware of the limitations (which is still the case in your scenario). I wonder how much the general problem has to do with mistrust of 'experts' so, hey, I can do this myself in a spreadsheet. (Or maybe it was just a decision on-the-fly in a fast moving situation)