The cost of rigorous consumer protections is sometimes monetary.
I have this discussion with European friends regularly: No, I don't automatically get a three-year warranty on everything I buy. I don't even want such a thing, sometimes. And in return I pay much less for everyday items.
The parent comment and the one it's relying to are about keeping a credit card to build credit history. I don't see what your comment has to do with that. Am I missing something?
Did you think they were still talking about paying a fee for credit cards? Typically in the UK there's no fees for credit cards, the cost is just in the interest if you don't pay it off in time. In fact there are usually less fees for financial services in European countries e.g. checking accounts and ATMs usually don't have fees. (I mean there isn't usually a fee just for having a checking account, but there are of course fees for doing certain things with it such as a CHAPS transfer.)
I have this discussion with European friends regularly: No, I don't automatically get a three-year warranty on everything I buy. I don't even want such a thing, sometimes. And in return I pay much less for everyday items.