I still have my SKB hard shell case I bought in 2005. A little heavy and a little cumbersome but still going..........
Yes! Hard cases are cumbersome at times, and annoying at others, but they protect your stuff!! I don't considering using my socks/underwear, taking clubheads off, using iron covers...because I don't need to! I've had my SKB hard case since about 2000, and I've replaced maybe 4 handles and one buckle, and it's still great.
I've used a soft case exactly one time since 2000, and part of the club glove was caught in one of the belts, and it tore a two-foot hole through the glove and an 18-inch hole in my golf bag. Something even chewed an inch-deep hole in one of my golf balls. Never again.
The worst horror story I've ever witnessed actually involved Alaska Airlines at Sea-Tac. After a great 5-day trip with Sean Leary and Bob Jenkins, Ryan Simper and I went back to the airport to fly back east. Simper had a brand new hard SKB case purchased on my recommendation, with his full setup inside. I watched him check in, we both watched the clubs go on the conveyor belt with a tag on it...and poof, vanished. Ryan pursued this to the hilt, and got full value back (about $3500), but something like that would send me for a full loop, especially after dropping $5K at Club Champion this offseason!
To this day I will not leave my bag on the "oversize cart" at check-in, as it's often 20 feet from the door. I will wait there until an employee brings it to a non-public area. Not that it would have saved Simper above, but it makes me feel a touch better.