My LHBS has a Better Bottle on display with a crack at the bottom where the wall meets the bottom. The crack apparently was due to chemical stress or some other environmental stress fracture. It has a sign on it reminding you not to store chemicals (PBW, StarSan, etc.) for extended amounts of time; just clean and sanitize and get the chemicals out and let it dry. Always put water in first, then the chemicals, etc. I know I get lazy and let my carboy sit for days with PBW until I get around to cleaning it. I guess if I ever replace them with Better Bottles I will have to make sure I am careful about that.
I've let mine sit and soak for days on end with no ill effects. I am not using PBW, so maybe that's the difference. I dunno. I've had nothing but good with my BBs.
Ya know, I've heard that bacteria thing or years and I think it's hooey. Not only have I never had a problem, but I have a hard time imagining bacteria could hide somewhere that PBW and StarSan couldn't get to.
I agree with this. I've got one BB where I did not treat it quite right at first and I know it has scratches from a carboy brush. With good sanititation, I've had no issues fermenting in it.
I did have one infected batch a couple of years ago, but I'm not certain it was this fermenter and one bad batch out of many is not enough for me to toss the fermenter.