When I was growing up in the Sunshine State and the golden beaches were still being cleared of congregations of alligators and basks of crocs, dealing with the various trades was quite simple. If your home required some type of equipment, you simply contacted the local store that specialized in that product and arranged for its installation. Thereafter, if some problem developed with the new addition the store, usually the owner, would schedule a visit and correct the problem. Simple!
The gators and crocs may have disappeared but so too have most of the local trades. Because they were mainly successful and their owners were approaching the age of retirement, many were sold to large state-wide or even national conglomerates. You could still find the equipment desired and even find tradesmen taught to install it, but that’s as far as it goes.When there is a problem, good luck in convincing the new business to offer assistance. They mainly encourage you to discuss the problem with them over the telephone and then hope you can absorb enough information to correct the problem yourself. Other than that, you’re on your own.
In some circles, that change is regarded as an improvement in the way business is done. To me, that is a disaster especially as one ages and no longer possesses the patience to deal with such matters.
My advice is that, notwithstanding the great ads for a product on national TV underwritten by a multi-state business with local affiliates, stick with the local trade store run by your neighbor who will be at your front door when an issue arises with a purchase. Why pay for something that may not work and that you may not be sufficiently knowledgeable to fix?
Sometimes “progress” is only a term to define enlarging something that was better when smaller!