There's another thread in altcoin discussion about this. It's back online and someone with an account on it says in the other thread that his wallet is working again, but very sluggishly.

https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=1277987.0

Someone told me the best time to buy is after a crash, not while a coin is shooting up in price.

http://forum.bitparticle.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=178

PaLs4qMundH95m7mCT8qEX61zcHQ6uYuXW

thx

It sounds dodgy but you could create a wallet just for use with this service then send bitcoins to it just before you buy something. Most of the time it would have nothing in and would be less likely to get scammed. If it has been on the TV I suppose it is probably OK but you never know.