…and if they want Ikea furniture they should not be surprised when it turns out to have that certain Ikea “charm” - meaning that a lot of times it isn’t perfect. I have a very cute Ikea table in my kitchen (one of those round, retro ones with the fluted base). It’s lovely and adds a lot to the decor. However, it is wobbly. It has been taken apart and put back together about 10 times. This is just the way they made these tables. I have had a few complaints about the table, which is to be expected, but the last one took the cake. They called my table “unacceptable” and send me a video of it being wobbly. Lol. I just think it’s funny that the decor that leads people to book my place confounds them when they actually stay there. (by the way yes there are plenty of other places to sit and eat and the table is meant to be decorative or somewhere to sit while other people are working in the kitchen)
That’s my point even if the American wants Ikea furniture, he complains about it.
If we go to a restaurant and the table is wobbly, the waiter sticks a slice of bread under a leg and we don’t complain to management.
If my table were to become wobbly, the American would complain to all of us about it. The European would stick bread or cardboard under the wobbly leg and not say a word about it or if he did, he would be private about it.
Some Americans do tend to complain a lot. We tend to have a ‘the customer is always right’ attitude and people think they because they’ve paid for something they should be able to make any demands they want.
If more Americans would complain maybe we could be number one. In fairness this survey was before our current regime took over. Now that we are MAGA, the results might be different.