Um, excuse me, but no. You're here to do an estimate on something in a completely different area of the house, not to start talking about chopping out bits I never asked about in the first place. I happen to like that rail, it's nice looking, matches the railings outside, and gives a place to lean when taking off boots, I have no plans to remove it, and the fact that you immediately started talking about doing so offended me.
The fact that you were arrogant and pushy the rest of the visit was just icing on the cake, I knew the moment you spouted off about the rail that you were not the right contractor to hire for the job.