A fencing contractor that has a lot of word-of-mouth advertising is 110% better than one with a $1200 ad in the Yellow Pages. You have no way of knowing if he paid for that ad by ripping someone off or if he produces a quantity of cookie cutter jobs without customer input and customization.;
, You want to find out how long this company or contractor has been around, what's his history of complaints (if any), if they are active in the community... etc.. This can help you form a more accurate picture of the contractor's business dealings and how the company has handled complaint resolution.
 Portfolios are a source of pride to reputable businesses, the contractor should be more than willing to show you his portfolio along with give you the addresses of a few places with jobs similar to yours'. If the contractor is not forthcoming with the requested information, look harder.
 Get the contractor web address (if he has one) so you can review his site. Often times, they have placed additional tools on the site along with their portfolios and references. A little tool I use to check a website for original images in their portfolio is that I right on the background of the page, a drop down menu appears and towards the bottom you will see "View Page Source" or "Get Source Code" If you select view page source it will show you the originating website for any images that may have been copied. Site builder borrow images all the time; nothing really wrong with it if you advise the person you are borrowing from. That changes when you are a contractor trying to pass borrowed images off as your very own work.
Do not always rely on the Yellow Pages... You have to ask around the community firstly because these are people with first hand experience.
Call your local Chamber and Better Business Bureaus.
When you find a contractor that you are comfortable with, ask to see their portfolio.
Almost all reputable businesses have a web presence now.
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