Putting Down A Deposit On A Purchase

By Amy E. Feldman

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Making big purchase soon? Should you put down the smallest or the largest deposit you can?

A Philadelphia woman paid over $900 in installment payments for a bedroom set at Wrights Furniture that was not delivered when it was promised. When she went back to the store in January to speak with someone about delivery, she found the store had been boarded up, the phone disconnected, and no one there to give her her furniture or her money back.

This situation is a lesson for everyone who makes a big purchase for a product that will be delivered after payment is made.

While it may be your instinct to pay the largest deposit you can afford for a purchase on order because then the final bill will be lower later, ask what the lowest deposit they will accept is and pay only that so you'll have less to lose.

And when you pay, put it on a credit card so you can file a complaint and be reimbursed if you don't get what's promised.

Finally, file a complaint with the state attorney general's office if you are wronged by a store like Wrights.