Payton Designs I had a very VERY bad experience with just 2 months ago, but hopefully I'm not the normal case. They did have nice looking work, which is why I wanted them to do a small site for me, but the project which should have only taken a few hours was almost 40 days past due with almost NO contact (contact only being issued after I pressured a number of times). They did give me MOST of my money back as they didn't deliver a product.
I've been in the design industry for almost 20 years, and in web design for 15 of those. I no longer do design myself, but I consult on projects and outsource for the best fits. If you want some contact names, drop me a PM here and I'll give you a few places to check out.
As for money up front etc - depending on the size of the job you can go ZERO out of pocket. Many companies will do that for small jobs ($100-200). Those that are small jobs, under $700 I usually pay up front for everything, and up to $2000 jobs I usually pay 50% up front and go from there. On larger projects ($10,000+) there's usually milestones in place for the payments and the delivery of product.
Always get a contract! Know what you're getting, when you're getting it!