Speaking from the limited experience of an American, I'm just a little perplexed by your terminology.
What are 'fixed cords?' Are you describing appliances that have power brought to them by directly connecting a length of some sort of flexible cord, without bothering to have a plug / receptacle anywhere. An arrangement where the cord is screwed to both the appliance and the building?
Are 'bundled cords' the same thing?
If so, that practice is largely unknown here. The only appliances you're likely to see directly hooked up to a cable coming out of the wall are the water heater, the dishwasher, and the garbage disposal under the kitchen sink.
Some appliances - notably clothes dryers and kitchen ranges - come without cords, but you are expected to buy a 'pigtail.' a cord with the appropriate plug at one end. I expect this practice persists, as there are multiple plug patterns used.
Oddly enough, this board has had extensive discussions regarding the use of 'pigtails' in place of the fixed cord on dishwashers and water heaters. In both of those discussions - and they are very different discussions! - the bias appears to be that these appliances are supposed to be hooked up using some form of metal-jacketed flexible wiring method. Our rating organization (UL) considers the use of a pigtail to almost always be a violation of the listing of the product.
Hot water circulating pumps are specifically allowed to use corded plug 'pigtails.' There's still plenty of debate concerning the 'igniters' on some gas appliances.
I am inclined to agree that 'fixed cords' are a bad idea. Yes, sometimes you want there to be flexibility between the appliance and the structure. Having a plug / receptacle certainly allows for easy disconnection of the appliance. ("Hard wire" an appliance, and the only place to disconnect it is often at the panel).
I also do not like it when I find a length of the building wire ("Romex") simply poking through a hole in the wall. Sometimes this cable simply has a length of flexible metal conduit slipped over it, and plenty of folks here approve of that- while objecting to the use of a corded plug!
There is a view, often shared by UL, that if an appliance is supposed to use a cord & plug, it would have come that way from the factory. I don't agree with that view .... but I'm in the minority.
