Well, shame on VW for that ridiculous advice. As we know, most car manufacturers are attempting to portray their vehicles as needing very little maintenance. This strategy may sell more cars, but in the long run, this may wind up alienating those who followed the “shortcut maintenance” advice.
A timing belt can appear perfectly normal when checked visually, and can fail shortly thereafter. The VW owners who follow this advice and then suffer a timing belt failure will likely never buy a VW again.
You are correct to question this information in the VW maintenance schedule. Hopefully, you will heed the advice of the forum members who advised you to change the belt a.s.a.p. No car ever suffered from being maintained better than the manufacturer specified.