That's pretty common. There usually aren't a ton of these services in any one area. You seem to be forgetting that their people are turning over too.

We've had to have 2 wells dug in the past 30 years and also have a large conditioner in the basement. I think Neil is going on 90. I have no idea what we will do. l'm hoping he's immortal...

When I had the well guy out to parents'house, I knew his father had installed their well, but I didn't know that his grandfather dug my grandfather's well.

The HVAC guy is retiring. He's been training new employees the last couple of years (one had been in my Sunday School classes when he was a kid!). But I am sorry to lose that history of knowledge. I wonder if he will be available on a consultation basis?

I'm neither sentimental about nor blindly loyal to service providers. There are plenty to choose from of most kinds in my area and I prefer to make my own choices.

In buying a new home a few years ago, the seller made sure to give me contact information for the plumber and HVAC contractors he'd been using. I wasn't all that impressed with their work I could see and decided to hire different ones for work I wanted done. It was a good decision.

Getting fresh eyes and hands to work on something can be the same as getting a second opinion. It was for me for these two trades and while both of the new ones were polite, there was no way to disguise their disagreements (in each case) with what work had been done by the others and the (lack of) quality of same.

"You seem to be forgetting that their people are turning over too."

No, I said the same service people, not just the same service company. The same company is no big deal, but the same person is much rarer.

My new home needs a lot of stuff done, and it's hard to find good quality service companies (and people)......I've hired or will be hiring new HVAC, windows, generator, and landscaping companies, so it's kind of nice to have at least someone who knows the history of what's here already. I hope the new-to-me companies provide good service and products, but it's always a bit of a crapshoot, especially when you're in a new location without word-of-mouth recommendations from trustworthy neighbours (whom I'm only just starting to meet).

I'm on my third pool maintenance company in three years, and I think I like the third one best. At first I used the company that the previous owners had and recommended, but the owner was always trying to upsell things I didn't need or want, and then his pool guy would break light bulbs in the patio and not tell me, much less offer to replace them. I didn't mind replacing them because they only cost a dollar each, but I wanted to be informed about it.

The second company I hired raised their prices by 40% last year, and that's when I decided to find the third company. I had other issued with them as well. They raised their prices without a warning, and that was unacceptable to me - one day the bill was 40% higher, and I told them that I had never authorized that and that I no longer needed their services.

There are countless pool maintenance companies in Coachella Valley, since this area has the highest percentage of pools in the country - it is close to 50% in Palm Springs.

I've found an electrician that I like, but only have using one that I did not like. There were quite a few electrical issues that I had to deal with that were not identified by the house inspector.

We have an HVAC guy that we like now also, but not a plumber or landscaper, and I need to find someone to repair the sprinkler system. Two or three palm trees have already died due to incompetent work done by the second pool maintenance company, who told me that they could repair sprinkler systems.