I'm pretty sure companions are going to start refusing to come adventuring with me soon... Tonight (in 3 hours) I went through four of them. FOUR!

Ormond (sp?) from the mages college? Killed by one of those dwarven centurion things.
Ria from the companions? Fell to her death in Labyrinthium (granted that was my fault - damn shouts!).
Random stray dog? Eaten by sabre cats seconds after joining me.
Aela from the companions? MIA, presumed dead - hasn't been seen since I fled a dragon attack.

I heard that dead companions bodies sometimes appear at your wedding in Riften. Adding these four to the others, that's gonna be a busy Temple of Mara...

Any one else have no luck with companions?

I killed Lydia like two dungeons after getting her. After that I ran around with Aela for a little while, but got sick of her lagging so far behind me on the open road, so I told her to go home. I'm much happier spelunking & adventuring on my own.

I've only had lydia... And she disappeared, I'm assuming she was killed at some point but I don't know... I keep hoping she'll turn up

I had Lydia but she died in the first dungeon I took her to. The next follower is MIA. She's the warrior lady from the tavern In whiterun. We were in blackreach when suddenly she stopped following me and just stood there, so I took my stuff back from her and told her to go home. She just stood there. I gave up and left, I imagine either she's back at the tavern somehow or most likely dead.

I stopped taking companions many moons ago for the simple fact that I always end up hitting them with my two handed warhammer.

Mine I found locked up in the jail in some random fort I had cleared. I lost her for a while and went back to the last place I saw her and there she was locked in a jail cell by the Imperials who had taken over the fort after I cleared it of bandits. Gee, thanks for locking up my pack mule guys. I'm honestly not sure how she is still alive, she really shouldn't be if she's that easy to catch.

Companions are pretty terrible IMO, that's why I have Dremora Lords.

Lydia lasted quite a long time for me. I reloaded her once, and it was ages before she died again and I left her like it. Although that Faedlin (?) guy in Riverwood didn't even make it through one dungeon. I'm making sure that whenever I next get a companion I'm taking them straight home to equip them in the best gear I've got stashed and not detouring at all - might even take a carriage.

So far...haven't been reluctant to use companions as I have one who is glitched on my Orcs playthrough..I might on my new Imperial playthrough though. Lydia will hopefully be used more often...but waiting till after patch/I download it.

Atronachs and Dremora are the only reliable companions. Anything permanent just gets lost, or is left behind due to horrible pathing issues and bad AI.

I play as a Rouge so I never have to deal with companions by my own choosing but for a Daedra quest I hired a Mercenary from Riften I believed and then immediately sacrificed him. End of my companion stories.

Lydia was my companion for quite a while but she was hopeless. I don't even know why I carried on with her for so long. I did it as a challenge for a while, it's like adding an extra difficulty setting, clear dungeon AND come out with Lydia alive. Eventually she met a grizzly end and I can't help but think it might have slightly been my fault. She is currently lying dead on the floor outside breezehome.

First time I turned into a werewolf I didn't have a clue what was going on and was just randomly swinging my arms around. I didn't even notice she wasn't following me around because she used to wander off so much anyway. About a game day later I saw her in a heap outside Jorrvaskr where i'd gone on my werewolf rampage.

It would be good if there was somewhere you could bury dead people and make a shrine for them to pay your respects (not Lydia though, god knows why anyone would want a shrine for that moron). I did the next best thing and dragged her limp body through the streets of Whiterun without anyone batting an eyelid and dumped her outside my house. Hopefully she will act as a warning to any other prospective companions not to get in my way. Ideally i'd mount her head on the wall outside the house like hunters do with animals they kill.