I had an MSP before and they never answered my calls, overcharged me, and never listened. Why would it be different this time?

Your experience is real and more common than the industry likes to admit: providers that oversell and understaff, bill for mystery hours, and treat clients as ticket numbers. Getting burned once produces sensible skepticism. But notice what actually failed: not the concept of having professionals maintain your systems, which is sound, but a specific company that did not deliver it. The same is true of a bad accountant or a bad contractor; the answer is better vetting, not doing your own books forever.

Vet for the exact failures you experienced. Never answered calls: demand written response commitments by severity, and ask for their real average response times from last quarter (providers who track them will show you; providers who do not track them cannot manage them). Overcharged: require itemized invoices and a contract that spells out precisely what the monthly fee includes and what costs extra, then compare against your old bills. Never listened: meet the people who would actually support you, not just the salesperson, and ask for two current clients your size to call. A provider with nothing to hide finds these requests easy; hesitation is your answer.

Local accountability also changes the dynamic. A provider that lives in your business community, whose owner you can meet, and whose reputation travels by word of mouth in the same town has structurally more to lose from treating you badly than a distant branch operation does. Your last provider taught you an expensive lesson in what to screen for; used well, that makes the next choice much better than the first.