The main ones would be added cost, added hassle of installation, possible corrosion points between screws/rivets and the mast, possible fouling chafe points for any external halyards, and — depending on the type used, possible chafe on mainsail (although this is generally rare). I might add the temptation to climb without a harness in an emergency, something that I ran into with my ratlines (when I was still young and foolish).

We looked at mast steps a while back, and will be looking at some new ones soon, but the principles are effectively the same and all have one or more of the above drawbacks.

Here’s our mast step test.

Oh, and they do break.

Darrell