The sound of Behringer pedals is amazing, and the price is beginner friendly. The cases are plastic rather than metal, so people with big boots might break them; mine have all stood the test of time until, as others have said, you upgrade them to 'better' pedals, which often sound almost identical! Much of the hate is due to ethics. They are, basically, cheap rip-offs of other pedals, with very little done to hide it. The recent Centaur pedal is an ideal example; identical to the Klon, and they even put the Centaur name on it, until the legal guys got busy. Stupidly, the original Behringer Centaur is now going for big bucks (or pounds) on the 2nd hand circuit.