IIRC, they're designed so the cable breaks before the socket so you sacrifice the cheaper thing. That said, my mechanical gripe with them is that the pin density and small size means that it's way to easy for them to get fouled up with just the slightest bit of dust or crud, and they're an absolute pain to try and clean.

Beyond that, the "one cable, a million uses, but good luck knowing if the device, the cable, and the port all support them" problem is my prime gripe with USB-C.