I don't think anyone is refuting that cold approach does work and is effective.
I myself have responded well to
some cold approaches; ended up dating a man for a few months who cold approached at the market although I was giving him IOIs which no doubt made it easier for him to approach.
But it doesn't
always work and for some women, like my co-worker for example, for whatever reasons as
@Gamisch posted earlier, will feel threatened and/or imposed upon and in extreme cases, call the police.
I posted the title of an article on Quora.com stating just that - some women
will call police.
There is no sense refuting that reality just as there is no sense refuting that cold approach works.
It depends on the woman, her mood, the circumstance.
There is no one size fits all.