That makes it look that the bugs slipped through the net, I don't believe that. In most cases I believe the bugs are known about, but some how publishers have managed to cultivate an environment where bug ridden games are acceptable. There are people (and Ive seen it even on b3d) that will actively defend buggy games and will even criticize someone for complaining.
You have similar brain washing inside the game "industry" too, with people saying that you shouldn't complain about unpaid overtime and that you're lucky to work in the business anyway, that's just insane, but representative IMO.
I agree customers are way too forgiving, and with proper engineering + testing we'd get a lot less bugs, but that'd mean hiring more experienced people that will likely refuse to get paid little and work long hours, so not a good option for maximum profits... (and as long as people pay for less why bother ?)