Thank you Martin - you are probably right The ombudsman contact I have keeps changing due to "reorganisation" as does the customer service person at the bank dealing with it thus it is hard for them to get up to speed having to go thru 6 months emails and letters each time they change I wish my solicitors were still around

I am using the ombudsman at the moment - considering the workload they must have they do keep me updated

Thanks for your advice Bank begins with L ;-)

Offered 150 pounds [originally 50] I have lost c. 5000 pounds on exchange rates and lost interest in the 4 months it took them to transfer some funds to Australia wher I live now - anyone able to advise how good the ombudsman is or should I go to court? One of the worst examples of customer service I have experienced. Their final of many excuses was that my signature on record - over 30 years old [they took my a/c from another bank they took over] did not match. Even though they said they had never had any correspondence!!! I have all the emails where I just got fobbed off - claiming "lost letters and faxes etc." "unable to contact me" - even though I had been doing online transactions for years and they had posted statements and my address and phone had not changed for 5 years. I had also phoned their service centre to follow up emails - they would not give branch phone numbers. I wish Esther Rantzen was back - she would have loved the form letter correspondence They say this is their "final offer" -help appreciated - and hospitality if you ever visit OZ. I was talking to a friend - banking guy from the Channel islands, the ombudsman has years of work in hand -and said if your money is in a british bank - get it out!!!!! My solicitors over there all retired/dead now;-(