Where were you looking at reviews that made CL sound so bad?
There are always complaints, but overall I enjoy it. I wouldn't pay full price for it, but they way they do the sales, I'm pretty sure that they price the EPs with the expectation that people will wait for sales. It's a common enough strategy. I also wait for sales to buy sewing patterns from the major companies, soda, oreos, magazine subscriptions...
I'd say it's definitely worth snagging when there's an Origin sale.