Just adding my experience:
My big box bike handle suddenly slipped in the stem. I wasn't carrying tools, so I kept pulling the handle up on my way to work. When I got to office, I borrowed a colleague's toolset to tighten the handle. Also discovered that the nut holding the front wheel to the frame was about to fall off. The chain kept slipping too, the first few days. After that I learned how to do basic maintenance and security checks, and tightened up a lot of things. It's mch better now.

Of course, this doesn't happen to everyone I guess. But I saved up and bought a more expensive one from an LBW, and I'm having way more fun riding it