In the Czech Republic there is a similar common belief – that the goods that foreign compainies sell here are lower quality than what they sell in richer countries.
Often this just a matter of brand labels being slapped on whatever goods are available or manufacturable locally. The brand gets to enter a new market for cheap and the manufacturer gets to sell for a higher price without changing the product. The consumer gets...disappointed.
Same in Romania. It might be linked with our communist past. Back then some goods were not available to the public, they were only produced for export, but you could still get stuff that was 'refused for export' if you knew the right people.
