For what it's worth, I had some major work done at my house, and I had a local contractor do the work. Part of the job was taking down some trees, and doing some excavating.
Once I accepted the estimate which included a payment schedule, I was asked to pay 1/3 down (helped to pay the tree guy and get some of the materials, 1/3 at the time of inspection, and 1/3 when the total job was done.
I had no problem with this arrangement. I had faith in my contractor, he kept me informed as to the steps involved and when things would be progressing, and finished the job to my satisfaction, both in quality of work and in the time required to finish the job. He is a small town business man, and I doubt that he knows a Saturday or Sunday from a Monday or a Wednesday.
Bottom line, he was highly referred from friends when they found out what I was having done, and lived up to those expectations. Perhaps in my case, it was a little easier being a full time resident up here, and dealing with someone from my town. The references were also from local friends.
It's been an interesting thread!!!!!
