I think the surprise or even incredulity people over here in the EU have is not to do with "You don't pay for your stuff, we take the stuff back" (I think we're all familiar with the concept of paying for things), it's to do with how the seller remotely took actions on the item.

It's a bit like not keeping up your mortgage repayments, and the bank remotely locking you out (or in?) your house — except it's a bit worse, because the mortgage provider wouldn't have to use GPS to track where you and your house are. Perhaps that's not a shocking idea in the USA, but I think it is in the EU. I'm not for or against, just explaining where the shock factor is coming from here.

Now for my own opinion: The header here shouldn't be "Make sure you keep up your repayments", it should be "Don't buy stupid shit you don't need, can't afford, and is controlled by someone else".

Nope, it won't. Ask anyone who ever lent money and they'll tell you that lending is actually the easiest part, now getting repaid is where most of the work goes into. Heck, you probably yourself can remember an acquaintance of yours who once borrowed figurative $20 from you and never returned them.