I'm not going to lie to someone and tell them they have a good shot unless they really have a good shot when the statistics don't show it. I'd really like to say he has a shot, but the facts on econphd.net just don't show it. Unlike you, I did read his profile and carefully compared it to over 1/2 of the rejected and accepted profiles to make sure I wasn't making stuff up.
His profile was exactly like those in the rejected pile for the schools he was applying to. Same GPA, math background, GRE scores etc etc. That's not a very good chance of acceptance, and I'm not going to lie to him and say it is when the facts are right in the open.
This isn't attitude; it is just me telling people the worst case scenario. I like to have people prepared for the worst, and this includes myself. I don't discriminate, I even have this kind of "attitude" with myself. If you can't handle it, then too bad. Grow up, because you're only going to see more of it as you get older.
And by the way, I have perfectly fine research background, and I know no has a perfect background. If you'd notice, I have told several people they have a good shot at getting into the places they want to get into. You just seem to neglect those, and get angry at the few I give realistic answers too.
On a final note, if you're really stressed out I can teach you some relaxation techniques.