I freelanced in a service industry for 25 years.
I could have taken retainers, but chose not to for 3 main reasons:
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I didn't like the idea of being contractually "tied" to anyone - If either side fell out for whatever reason, we were both free to walk away without the awkward scenario of working working together whilst hating each others guts... Or breaking any terms covered by the retainer (period of notice, etc.)
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If 2 or more of my "retainer" clients got in touch at the same time - Could I fulfil my duties within any contractually agreed timeframe? My service was time sensitive (think firefighting, but not that). With a retainer, I'd be expected to mobilise ASAP and certainly within 4 hours - That's a standard retainer response time in my sector.
Despite not doing retainers, I always strived to fulfil my obligations ASAP, and the majority of my clients were understanding that, as a one-man-band, sometimes they'd have to wait a bit longer. But I didn't want to contractually commit myself to a guaranteed 4 hour response time as I couldn't guarantee that if 3 fires broke out on the same day.
For me, that worked out nicely - Those who got pissy if I couldn't react to them immediately were usually arseholes in other ways, too - So, going back to point 1 - I was able to tell them to poke it and walk away with no contractual ties!
- Personal opinion, but I felt that with a retainer - Either the customer would feel entitled to discounts or free stuff if they haven't needed me for a while which then becomes a personal mental battle of "how much goodwill to give away as they've been paying me to do nothing for 3 months"... Or, if they haven't needed me for a while - why would they want to keep paying a retainer?
Too many "What if's", so I preferred to keep it "Pay As You Go"
Depending on your sector, your mileage may vary, of course.