I think it's a combination of culture and incompetence.

I have a few Asian staff on my team and their very polite and tend not to keep pushing an issue after submitting it the once. This is most definitely a cultural thing. If I had an issue with eBay, for example, then it will definitely be chased constantly until I, the customer, has said issue resolved. From all of his responses I get "the developer has not yet got back to me." I've even said why don't you call them or walk over to their desk? Each time he diverts the point/question.

It's very frustrating as I/we are used to a customer is right when it comes to all things retail.

Rant over lol.

Jason