I'm sick of throwing away money on SEO. Need Recommendations

I'm not sure if this is the correct area to post this in, but here is my dilemma. Short and sweet. Or should I say, half post/half rant.

Over the past year I have gone through 2 different people. Both from here and both who promised front page placing. Both failed.

I have great site names. They're active and the concepts that drive them seem like solid ideas, however it's impossible to know for sure because I'm unable to find someone who is able to rank these sites well. If they reach front page, with a solid stream of traffic and they flop, so be it. It's on me and I can live with that. I will go back to the drawing board. But until someone is actually able to raise to the challenge, I will never know.

So here is what I am hoping for. If anyone is able to recommend someone who knows what the hell they are doing and is able to deliver. I will gladly pay for their service time and time again.

The issue I am finding with SEO is because it takes time to show results when it's done correctly. You lose out on an enormous amount of time when it's not and at this point, good luck getting your money back. I am over the 3 month lapses that are met with little to no results and a response that says..."well I am creating backlinks"

If you provide off-site SEO services I would rather you not post here about your service because it will only fall on deaf ears. Unless you are willing to provide your service up front. And to that I say, impress me. Because I have a pocket full of cash for someone who can.

Hopefully the post doesn't seem to forward. My frustration did most the typing.