12-22-2010, 03:13 PM
Most reputable companies use "pre-order" as a gauge of the size of the potential market. Intermountain is an example. They will announce something and even do some pre-production "test shots" to gauge interest. If they don't get enough pre-orders, they cancel production, but to my knowledge they don't ever ask for an up front deposit. I would not deal with any company that asked for a non refundable deposit. I know that the airlines do it, but then I don't consider any airline to be a "reputable company." rant over.