Absolutely Robin, I couldn't agree more. Having learnt a lot about my wheels over the past 6 months on here, I have come to the same conclusion. They have been designed because they look amazing in the showroom and help to sell the car, and little thought has gone into the longevity of the wheel. As such I'd say they're not fit for purpose, and VW should take some responsibility for this. Has the forum ever put any pressure on VW in the past over this?
....Yep, and not just this forum. The problem is common to all marques of cars which have this finish.
Volkswagen (I don't know about others) have in some cases replaced FOC Monza's but only if they haven't been able to claim that the owner hadn't kerb'd or damaged them first - They have wriggled and there have been a significant number of claims. You would have thought that they would have dropped the finish for the Mk6, but oh no they haven't
However, there are folks, some on here, who religiously clean their wheels more often than might be described as 'normal' and they haven't had the problem. Greeners is one, for example.
Like you say, it's a very attractive feature which can sell the car.