Like many things, IMHO they are a good idea that a) is not needed for every team and b) should not be overloaded. But like every agile software idea they often become a big-A "Agile" thing that's done, often with little consideration if it's done in a useful way, but just because it's the thing that's to be done and gets overloaded with stuff someone wants to do. So I'd say it's both yes, you've had "bad luck" in a way, but at the same time that's kinda the norm in many places.