Don't make me do the work... on several occasions, I've had to do the follow up.
I'll see people here on the boards receiving an item I ordered from the same vendor I ordered from, but no sign of mine. Wait a week or two, send a note, and "oh, yeah, it's on the way" and I get a shipping notice. Heck, an Excel spreadsheet can do basic order tracking for you.
Other than that, no deposits, EVER... I have been burned three times in the last five years with vendors that went under while holding my pre-order dollars, and I was only able to recover my money on one of them. No significant amounts, thankfully, but I've learned my lesson.
