[Ian Anderson]

I have a feeling that there is something in the credit card UK requirements that will lock the credit card company into the transaction EVEN if the deposit only is paid by credit card. (The deposit has to be more than (I believe) £100)

Take this to the extreme

Get the comapny to agree a contract as
$300 with order - non refundable deposit
$10000 when production starts
Remainder on completion

So the credit card fees will be on $300 not the whole transaction amount.

But the credit card company is locked into the contract the same as a company providing Hire Purchace! This includes that the product is good for the purpose and that refunds will be made for non delivery.

As I say I recall reading this somewhere but cannot vouch for the correctness of it. - I'll try and turn up the facts later - lots of reading again

Ian