Anything can fail at any time. Plan for it and make sure to keep a close eye on your gear. Modern radio gear is very reliable, but nothing is completely and totally trustworthy.

This anecdotal evidence of Hitec verus JR reliability isn't useful to determine which is more reliable. There are too many factors such as number of units in service and length of service to tell anything at all. Buy what makes you happy and let the others argue Ford versus Chev versus Dodge while you're out flying.