Is the mk4 auto transmission really that bad?

I’ve never driven or owned an auto trans from vw, but I have never once heard a good thing about them. My buddy has owned several mk4 golf’s and the first thing he did when he picked them up was manual swap them.

I’ve heard horror stories of people buying reman ones or new old stock ones and the auto not even lasting a year.

What are your guys opinions on autos from VW? I personally really like my o2j and eventually I’d love to swap an o2m 6 speed into my Jetta.