I agree with Luke basically except its not just people that dont look after them that they f**k up on.
It also only seems to be hope brakes also.
Fit a set of shimanos or formula and you can pretty much forget them, not true with hopes, they leak and thats the end of it.
Some hope callipers also spread rather readily making the 'feel' mushy feel after a while.
Bleeding is a pain in the arse, I don't care what anyone says, I can do it very quickly and efficiently but still find it a a pain in the arse.
The only hopes I have found to be really good are hopetech levers and v2's. The levers are worth it for the adjustment and the callipers seem to be better, I'm not sure If I just got a good set but they seem cool.
Avid cable brakes on the other hand are amazing, the bite and hold is far superior to hope, they don't leak, mine don't feel mushy and they are getting on for a year old with the same cables.
You can get a full avid bb7 set up for less than one hope brake.