Question for British people on here...

I might be wrong because I am an American, but I think your co-worker is full of crap. There is no way he can generalize like that. I know quite a few people who don't like British accents. They say they can't understand what they're saying. If I were to tell a British person that Americans don't like British accents, I'd be full of crap. Also, both the US and the UK have more than one accent. I don't particularly like certain American accents myself. And, there are people from some regions of the US that I have a harder time understanding than someone from a foreign country to whom English is a second language.

Maybe they just didn't like "his" accent?

When I was in London a long time ago, my friends were very taken with Southern accents. I don't have one, so no admiration for my vanilla east coast way of speaking.

But wait ... we (Americans) could have had their accent except for a little skirmish back in the eighteenth century.

Really though, I don't think many people go ga-ga over the American accent or lack thereof.

Usually, the closer you live/have lived to somewhere, the easier it is for you to discern subtle (or not so subtle) differences in accents.  I'm in Florida atm, and regularly get asked if I'm Irish. I'm Scottish, but I can see how someone unfamiliar with both accents would confuse them. Someone who lived in England would never make that mistake!

Getting back to the OP, I love NY accents, and southern ones. I was in the hot tub last night with a woman from Kentucky, and I could have listened to her all night! 

ETA - still getting to grips with how to do quotes, and still not getting it right!

Absolutely!

I can also add that not only are some accents over here not as 'attractive' as others, but some are down right impossible to understand!

Your co worker is making a massive generalisation. But I would agree that you would be less likely to hear a Brit gush "I love your accent". I think it's more of a reflection of our culture to not comment - one does not gush. Rather than to say we that we hate American accents.

Personly I've not heard a regional accent that I like enough to comment on it - liking, loving or otherwise.

I think we probably have stereotypes coming into play too. I would guess that a lot of Americans think that the English accent is 'posh' but I can promise you we're definitely not all posh at all in the same way that not all French men are romantic despite their accent

Another UK pea here (oh wait, I'm not a pea anymore!)and that sounds like a massive generalisation to me. Some American accents sound amazing, and others...not so much. But I could say the same about accents in the UK; there are one or two that really grate on me.

When I went to America, everyone thought I was Australian. And I am the most-poshest-speaking British person I know. So goodness knows what's going on!

I wouldn't waste time worrying about what one guy said. There are many American accents, just as there are various British accents. Some are very difficult to understand, on both sides of the ocean.
When I was in Scotland I did find it funny the number of people that politely tried to figure out if we were American vs Canadian, because they didn't want to offend any Canadians by assuming they were US. Apparently they get touchy about that, lol! A couple Scots asked me if we hate Canadians, since they apparently like to hate us while traveling overseas. I answered that we never think about them at all.
How's that for a typically American answer? Haha
Actually it didn't bother us at all, we found it amusing. I figured only Canadians with an axe to grind would bother to say anything at all, certainly not all Canadians feel that way. Eh?

My ex is British so I might be a bit jaded but.... in my experience, a lot of british only like the british. They tend to be a very pompous society, and think that Americans wanted out( from the monarchy) so be gone with them!! My ex was a very unattractive man, even more so as you got to know him. but women would gush over his accent. yuck! the accent does NOTHING for me now, other than test my abiltiy to see if I can still determine the geography of their accent. I recently had a date with a VERY nice looking british-american man, but told him his accent was a killer for me, so he said he would step up his game in other ways. :-)
My ex explained to me once that American accents aren't enviable as they are everywhere,, tv, commercials, etc.So they aren't a novelty.

I'm currently living abroad and it isn't our accent that the locals complain about. It's that we're (general/stereotyped "we") too loud and American. Lol!

Wow. Just. Wow.

i've always wanted a reason to say this  on the forum. Now I have got one.  Good grief.

Me too.  That's why I like coming here.  There is so much positivity and warmth and patriotism instead of the negativity we Brits can be guilty of.