There is no culture of customer service at all in Europe from what I've heard, with apathetic to downright rude waitstaff being the norm. There's a chance it wouldn't be that way if there were tips.
For an American who is used to the standard “Drink? —> Order —> Refill —> How’s everything? —> Refill —> Anything else? Dessert? Just the check?” cadence to dining it is strange and may seem like the service is more rude, though I’ve heard from folks unfamiliar with the American style that it’s overbearing, high pressure, and feels like you’re being hustled through the dining process.
What you describe is fairly common in American restaurants where people tip. Between a third to a half of the times I eat out I cannot rely on them checking up on me and I do have to flag them. And waiting is common in about 100% of them.
(And no, I don't think they're doing it only to me because I'm a nasty brat - I've observed this to be normal with the other customers as well).
This argument always feels weird to me, because most customer-facing jobs in the US aren’t tipped, and most of the people working in them still work hard and try to do a reasonably good job.
Extreme generalisation of 50+ countries, each having own cultural identity and internal/local differences. All from a third party you heard. Are you sure that's information worth spreading / relying on?
(tipping exists in multiple countries in Europe BTW, it's just not that common)
Maybe other factors like culture matter more than tipping?