I’ve literally spent 100s of hours with it. I’m mystified why so many people use the “you’re holding it wrong” explanation when somebody points out real limitations.
I'm not saying that your observations aren't correct, but this is not a binary. It is entirely possible that the tasks you observe the models on are exactly the kind where they tend to regurgitate. But that doesn't mean that it is all they can do.
Ultimately, the question is whether there is a "there" there at all. Even if 9 times out of 10, the model regurgitates, but that one other time it can actually reason, that means that it is capable of reasoning in principle.