Protecting a deposit?

[Donwill]

In a few months time I shall be ordering a made to measure Conservatory to fit on the back of the house. Anticipating that the manufacturers will require a deposit to safeguard their manufacturing costs, how do I save my deposit if the company goes into liquidation, I feel that the likelihood is high in the present financial climate. I've heard of bonded contracts, has anyone any experience of this type of protection. Could I do it through my bank? would a bog standard bank manager be aware of this procedure. Any (relevant) suggestions gratefully received. Regards Don

[A.Lee]

You pay the deposit with a credit card, then it is automatically covered for at least 6 months (possibly a year) if they go bust. (presuming the deposit is over £100). Alan.

[Steve]

The deposit need not be over £100, only the full price needs to be, you can put £1 on the card, and £29998 in cash and get the same protection!

Steve

[Mark]

Slightly wrong actually. The Consumer Credit Act does give you a degree of protection if the value of the contract is between £100 and £30,000. Therefore you can pay any amount on credit card as deposit and get the same protection. i.e. it does not depend on the amount you actually pay with credit on the total amount of the purchase.

See

and many other sites for details.

M.

[Tim Decker]

OT....I don't expect Mark will respond to this, as he blocks postings from Google groups:) I have just taken a look at

I have to say I thought this was rather unrealistic and insulting to users like myself who work in a Corporate environment and cannot install software such as a newsgroup reader. I also access the internet from several different locations and devices, such as at home on a pc, or on my mobile. I have been using usenet for several years (even before the widespread avalability of browsers) so I do understand the issues.

Has anyone any tips on resolving this quandry? Is there a different website (not google ) that can be used to access usenet groups. I think that UK DIY is one of the best groups available and I find it a vital way of keeping sane and I will often have a little browse at work as a break from routine.

[geoff]

The problems tend to revolve around the fact that most gmail posters seem to be top posting fuckwits who don't even understand what newsgroups are

[Rod]

You could try some of the services mentioned here (I have not checked any of them):

And of course, there are the utterly execrable myreader and diybanter...

Is there any possibility of using a remote control mechanism and connecting to your own machine at home running whatever it runs? (E.g. remote desktop, logmein, VNC, etc.)

[Mark]

I did see your post. I can whitelist known good posters who use google and there is no insult intended. I have used google on occasion. However there is no doubt that google take a tolerant attitude to usenet spammers and some groups are make completely unusable as a result.

It is particularly annoying since there are many easy & simple ways that google could use to reduce the spam, but they don't.