because as an industry we are crap at telling the punters exactly what an IFR helicopter/pilot combination is really capable of.
Too true. The aircraft salesman will prefer to let the potential customer believe that the aircraft is "all weather", rather than "IFR equipped".
On two occasions I've had people who don't know any better tell me that helicopters are fitted with radar so the pilot can land in fields in cloud. One was an army captain, one an aircraft owner/employer. Both became angry at me for telling them that unfortunately wasn't the case and I couldn't do what they asked.