I did the same thing a while ago. Bought them reading only good reviews - came across a bunch of bad reviews and got worried. They were great for me - held together well, I didn't have any buckle issues, the AT mode lever wasn't a problem, the shell and cuff were stiff and worked well. I skied them hard and was happy with them. From everything I read afterwards, the 2010 model year was the serious problem year - the 2011-2012s corrected the problems.