I’ve been using glass carboys for years. Love the brew haulers and I’ve never had a problem. I’m always thinking about ways to make it easier and would be open to trying plastic or stainless in the future.
Separate question about fermenting in corney’s. Every have problems with the yeast cake/trub clogging up the post?
A guy I know is in his 80s and brews exclusively down in his basement. He designed a pulley/track system. He puts the brew hauler on the carboy, lifts (cranks) the carboy with the pulley and pulls the carboy along the track to spot he ferments, then cranks it down. No lifting, no problem. I’m in the situation most brewers are in where most of my fermentations happen in a different location (basement down rickety stairs) then my brew day (garage).
I have use the pet plastic better bottles for more than five years. It is the ones that are NOT ported. I had no problems and love them. If I need to store a lager for an extended time, I will put it in my corny keg.
Stainless is the best option for me. It can be thoroughly cleaned without fear of scratching, can handle boiling liquids, is hard to break\crack\shatter, and should last a very long time.
I once froze and shattered a carboy full of beer (my only one), so I switched over to plastic buckets. I recently bought a replacement glass carboy (6 gal) which I have only been using for beers using odd ingredients, peppers, smoke, brett, etc… things I am scared of impregnating my buckets. For lagering or extended aging of beers I will use corny kegs.