..chick - I think I have a pretty good handle on the merc. agreements and that one cannont surcharge for the cc transaction. But, how does my having 3 different prices (non published) and quoting you only the one that covers my O&P AFTER I ask you how you'd like to ring up the deal? Thats how my car dealer wrote up my invoice. I understand this is brealking the spirit, intent, and may even be strictly against the agreement but I also feel it falls into the grey area too. Since alot of people don't pay for larege appliance orders, autos, heavy equipment, with CC's, I think it's just easier to leave the xtra markup for cc transactions out of the price unless that's where it's headed. Otherwise it gets to be used car world with hot dogs and ballons and the price today is: tomorrow it goes up, next week more, if you pay cash it's this, finance that bla, bla, bla. I know you want to protect the home team (cc companies) because you're close to that industry. They are not stellar role models of fairness in the business world either, hidden fees, cryptic disclosures, privacy policies that state one thing then sell your name to a "marketing partner" anyway, and that's after you have to positively opt out of the share program anyway - can't just call em you have to write, and it better go certified or there'll be no record. I think this thread is great in that there is pushback from the cc co.s, consumers, and the appliance folks. Seems like no one is a winner and that usually means it's a good compromise. (appologies to the deciples of the WIN/WIN philosophy) I agree with you on the contract/ethical issue in principle but in reality I don't see this as any different than any other human nature issue when it comes to disagreement. The party that feels wronged or cheated or has the short end of the stick avails himself to any remedy he can find to even the odds. Sometimes it's cheating under the radar, sometimes it's hiring lobbiests to further your interests in D.C. at the expense of customers mind you, sometimes it's appealing through official channels, sometimes it's pick up the phone and start a dialoge, sometimes folks get desperate and get a gun. Civil societies have laws AND courts when they aren't folowed or working well. A current example is the relationship btw. the steel producers and the auto makers. There is a current contract to supply steel and a given price but does not call for price escalation to cover the current state of transport costs and unseen demand for raw ore. The steel co. want more $$$ Detroit doesn't have it, doesn't want to pay if it did. Steel execs have a duty to their sharholders and are not going to sell themselves into bankruptcy so they can be good standup guys and "honor" the contract. Options are to break the contract not good for Detroit, (no steel no cars) re negoiate, stop delivering would be breaking the contract like charging more for AMEX, but it's business and human nature. It will settle itself sooner or later and no one will be 100% happy. Not exactly a model for good christian living but it's how the world goes round at it's core. You conduct yourself as you see fit and I do it another way , and the guy across the river a third. As long as there is a bit of common ground anarchy won't ensue.

I just replaced the dead cd-burner drive on one of my computers, I got a lite-on DVD burner drive that does pretty much everything from newegg for like $39. There are good prices out there. I also have an external usb cd-burner that I can connect to any of my computers by usb to have an added cd-burner, I found it on a clearance rack at an electronics store for around $15. If you do not want to dig into the machine to take the old one out and install the new one you may want to get one of the external usb ones. Replacing the internal one is not difficult but does take a bit of knowledge, it is more difficult than say adding memory. Some times the doors can get off the tracks and on occasion they can be taken out and worked on and fixed but that is a big maybe! It is a good idea to never force things! Also if you use the paperclip in the little hole in the front of the drive it is usually advised to have the pc turned off and unplugged to do that, I know not everyone does that but on the directions that come with them it does say that. Guess the risk of something electrical happening is the reason.

Since I have no idea about Scottish law, I'm not going to offer any legal advice; however, I will say one thing -- Why would you want HIM to have a relationship or contact with your daughters??? You said he has had NOTHING to do with them since 2004, and he has been "quite cruel" when they have attempted to contact him. He is a cold, abusive father and your daughters deserve far better than that! If you need his financial assistance (child support), then yes, you should seek legal advice so he is forced to fulfill his parental responsibilities (financially). However, if you can manage without his financial assistance, you should keep a person like him away from your daughters. Your children are your top priority, and you must protect them! Do not allow their father to mentally and emotionally abuse them. If you'd like to discuss more about this, let me know. I hope you have a support (emotional) system in place, such as family and friends who have a great deal of common sense, which is something many people seem to lack. Best wishes to you and your daughters!

Why I ask... A__ (my BF's son) just turned 9 and he's terrible at taking care of himself and his belongings. We're trying to encourage him to take better care of himself and his things... Examples: He wanted to bring a book to soccer practice last night (Why? I have no idea.) but then he left it in my car and now we won't have him for a couple more days and he has no book. I would have said "No, leave that at Grandma's house because you can't read at practice anyhow" but BF let him bring it and said "OK, but you have to remember to take it back inside when we drop you off". We were eating breakfast and he got egg on his face (no, I'm being literal, this isn't some euphemism for being embarrassed). We asked him to wash his face. He went to the bathroom, came back out and said "there's no facecloth". We told him where to find one, he wiped a little egg off with the dry washcloth and came back out without even running any water. We said "You have to use warm water on the cloth and the mirror to see when your face is clean. He came back out again with the egg not washed off, but spread in a more dilute way all the way up to his hairline (a slight improvement). At this point, BF accompanied him into the bathroom to coach him on washing egg off his face, but when BF offered help and advice, A__ pitched a fit that he's 9, knows how to wash his own face, and began to cry. BF said "You may be 9, but you're acting 3, and clearly don't know how to wash your own face" and washed it for A__ while A__ screamed and cried. How could this have been avoided or better dealt with? (Remember, we only have him one or two nights a week and has three other houses... So "establish a facewashing routine each night before bed" type things are simply out of the question) My BF's ex has started up the "it's not my fault" game again... She was better about it for awhile, but now she's taking 16 hour shifts all the time and not really making time for A__ (ditching him onto her mom all the time) and says "it's not my fault because my coworkers keep calling in sick" or "my boss said I had to"... Grandma has very few expectations of A__ (to quote BM "She'd let him run around with a hatchet if he was leaving her alone") and doesn't even make him do his homework, so rather than find childcare that A__ would have to behave himself at, she says "It's not my fault that my mom has no rules for him and he's running wild" BF and I just moved in together (about 6 months earlier than planned) because his home flooded and he wound up moving in with me. At this point, he's pulling his weight around the house, but I'm having to tell him every little thing. This could be because I moved him into my place while he was out of the country, doesn't know where things are yet, and also knows I'm pedant about my home and doesn't want to step on my toes. But if it continues like that, I'll go nuts and "hit him with the lamp" (I still love that quote from a poster a few months ago). I'd like to hear what other people do or have done, in case it becomes a problem.