Once you have narrowed your search for an affordable web hosting service down to the ones who offer the features you want, and to the ones who offer the price you like, you can do a little further research by checking their terms of service and see exactly what support types they provide for their customers.
Go to the page on their web site that lists their support forums, and their FAQ’s. Read what is there to see what issues other customers deal with most frequently, and how the hosting company has dealt with the different issues. This can give you a good idea of how you are going to be treated as a customer with a problem.
Research the company with the BBB and see what kind of complaints, if any have been lodged against them in the past, and how those complaints were addressed. Go to review sites and see what others are saying about their experience at that company, both good and bad. It will not take you very long to see which hosts had red flag warning signs that you could not ignore, and which companies appear to practice good business with their customers. Your choice will then be easy to make.