Tires are discussed so often in part because of the confusion over the "your mileage may vary" principle. I've used Maxxis Refuse tires and had no issues whatsoever. This may be a placebo effect of sorts, but it seems to me that the ride is actually even a bit better than Gatorskins, but again I can't really verify that. But I can tell you than I never flatted on them when I used them, so unless everyone else is and/or they're exploding all over the place but we're not hearing about it, I'm not sure there's a specific reason to avoid them. For all we know, that shop may have been saying that because they get a better deal on other lines.