Whatever happened to the customer is always right?

On first glance the huge amount of backlash pouring out against Stephenie Meyer for her latest book "Breaking Dawn" seems a little extreme and as Sara Nelson's Publishers Weekly blog puts it, Meyer's readership, composed mostly of teenagers is "not a group known for its measured, unemotional responses." Talk of returning already read books due to disappointment may seem excessive, but I think it begs an important question of the quality standards of the entertainment marketplace. While the best things in life may still be free, the cost of entertainment from books to films to cable television are soaring along with everything else in today's economy and if the price rises should the product not maintain or even exceed the previous standard of quality? If a $40 dollar NY strip is not cooked to your liking is it not considered acceptable to send it back to the kitchen? Why shouldn't the same hold true for a $12 movie that turns out to be subpar or a highly anticipated novel that disappoints not one, but many. Obviously the argument could be made that it is simply buyer beware and the consumer ought to do the research prior to purchase, not to mention that disliking a book or film is more a subjective matter of taste than an issue of low-quality craftsmanship, but in the grey area of entertainment, where the lines are often blurred between art and product, how do we really determine the difference? Authors and filmmakers certainly shouldn't have to cater their art to every individual's whim, but why shouldn't they at the very least hold their work to a certain standard of quality so that their audience/buyer doesn't end up feeling ripped off.