Hi all Hope someone can offer some advice as I'm at my wits end. Bit of background, first... I moved into this property in August 2012 under an assured shorthold tenancy - private landlord, managed by an agency. I renewed this tenancy for another year in August 2013. When I viewed the property, I was told that for my use would be a private garden, to share only with the occupant of the downstairs flat. However, on the day I moved in, I was told that at the bottom of the garden was a recording studio which was used by my landlord's son and access was gained by walking through my 2 gates and through my "private" garden. I was not very pleased about this, however I was assured that he didn't use it much and that it was soundproofed. Turned out they used it quite a lot and it was not soundproofed. I never use my "private" garden now as these people can turn up any time. They waltz through leaving both gates open and slamming in the wind so they keep breaking and disturbing me..... About a month ago I got round to sorting out my electricity account as I've been being billed on estimated readings. I came across the circuit breakers in my bedroom and the final circuit breaker was labelled "recording studio"!! So not only did they fail to mention this recording studio to me before I signed the tenancy agreement, to add insult to injury I have been PAYING FOR ITS POWER SUPPLY! I have spoken to the agent about this who assures me my landlord is very sorry and it was a total oversight blah blah. I have agreed to send him copies electricity bills so he can suggest a figure to reimburse me (this is proving difficult as npower have ballsed up my account). Tonight I have had to go outside 3 times as both gates were slamming loudly non stop. The catch on the garden gate has been damaged again as a result and whilst I was trying to shut it, I saw a pair of beady eyes watching me and it's some random stranger in my garden standing by the recording studio! Had a rant to him about shutting the gates but then had to go back down again after that as he'd left one open again! He seems to have left now. I have also now tripped the circuit breaker as I am fed up playing Mr Nice Guy (well, I'm a young woman actually living here alone so that's another reason why I don't like being confronted by strangers in my garden at night in the dark ) I suppose I am looking for some general advice on where I stand from a legal point of view as I am fed up with this situation. I feel like a mug and I am very cross and upset. I am already house hunting to move out when contract ends in August but I would also like to know if it would be possible to be released from contract early, given the circumstances? Thanks in advance and apologies for rambling - I am really rather cross! Gemma

Hi all, Have been having a read through and hope someone is able to offer some advice in my case, as well as the great advice I have already got here which has calmed me down a little! I was away until late Thursday evening (2/12) and when I got back I found a "Notice of Bailiffs Attendance" regarding unpaid Council Tax of £258.74 plus costs, dated 1/12. It said I could make an initial payment of £60 and still pay by instalments. I was at work all day yesterday and had planned to sort it out over the weekend however today, Saturday morning (4/12) they have called again! I was still in bed so didn't answer, but they have put some stuff through my door, which says they can seize my goods, etc. as stated in Liability Order dated 11th June 2010, along with "request to pay by instalments", "payment methods" and some giros! The total stated is: CLIENT DEBT AND COSTS OUTSTANDING...£258.74 FIRST VISIT FEE........................................£24.50 SECOND VISIT FEE.....................................£18.00 TOTAL.....................................................£301.24 Can't read the signature on this but think it matches the name on the notice dated 1/12, and the guy is certified. Don't know what to do now! I was going to offer to pay them the initial £60, before the visit today, but didn't realise they would come back again so soon and I haven't really had any time to deal with it! Don't want to seem like I am "playing a card" but I do also suffer from depression & anxiety and my beloved dog died this week, so it is a lot to deal with at the mo. I wouldn't have been able to actually pay anything until at least 14/12 as my rent is due next week and I also have to go away on a business trip (mystery shopping so will be reimbursed) and I barely have enough for this as it is. A bit more about my circumstances - I live alone in a rented home and have no assets to speak of - no car. I am self-employed and as such my income is variable, but fairly low at the moment. I receive Working Tax Credit and a small amount of Housing Benefit because of my low profits. I am now unsure of what should be my next step. I feel very worried about this person calling at my property, especially if he is going to do so every few days! as it is just me here and it is quite intimidating. I know what these people are like! As I said, I can't afford to pay a penny until 14/12, but if at all possible I would like to avoid dealing with the bailiffs at all as I don't think they are reasonable people!! I can't really afford to be paying their fees, especially the second visit as they didn't give me adequate time to respond! Any comments gratefully received and I shall continue reading

Thanks for the freephone numbers. Would prefer to have everything in writing though, if at all possible! The tariff I signed up to - fortunately - has no minimum contract term or cancellation charges. I was planning on switching to another tariff that would have these, but I think it is wise to hold fire for the time being and see if things improve with npower. If not, I will be off!

Hi All Does any kind person have a contactable email address for Npower customer service? I have literally just joined them (accounts already gone through the switching process about 3-4 weeks ago) and I was quoted a direct debit charge of £15 monthly (am a very low user and this would be about right). Now the imbeciles have sent me a letter saying they are going to charge me £72 a month!!! Made up of £12 elec and £60 gas. Any fool can see this is incorrect. I spent a while filling in the contact form on the imbeciles' website with the above info, but upon trying to submit the form, the imbeciles tell me that my account does not match any on their system. Well I have checked the info several times, tried and tried again, added zeros, left out spaces to no avail. Apparently, my account does not exist. So, as I refuse to spend MY money calling their 0845 or 0871 numbers - and I suspect it will prove useful to have written evidence of conversation with imbeciles - has anyone got an email address, pretty please? I am already thinking of switching - AGAIN!

indebtstudent, they just said the exact same thing to me - unsurprisingly It seems to me that Halifax are really trying their luck here. IMO they are basically saying they can change the T&C to WHATEVER THEY LIKE without asking for our approval! I am sorry, but if I had a loan, say at 10% APR, and they then increase it with very little notice to 20% APR, do I have no cause for complaint? Do I roll over and say "OK, then, sir." I think not! HOW can this be legal? Especially given the current economic climate - the fact that many more people will be further into their overdrafts with no hope of repaying in full anytime in the near future! I do not want to lose the facilities my Halifax account provide however I do not feel I can sit back and let them take double the amount of money from me each month for the very same service (at a time when to me literally every penny is precious). We really need to create more publicity on this matter (preferably before my brain explodes).

We have to fight! Just need to work out how... Yesterday got a fob off letter saying they refuse to discuss this matter with me anymore There needs to be more publicity so everyone who is unhappy about this must tell everyone else. We can't stay silent. I know this is just Halifax but surely other banks will follow their example eventually. I did get a reply from my MP last month so it may be worth writing to him and letting him know the recent developments. I am completely stuck because I miss the features of my Halifax account, and was otherwise happy with them but I refuse to pay double what I was paying. And although I wish I could pay my overdraft back in full right now, I can't and am sure very few can, however there is no incentive to pay it back slowly because whether I am overdrawn by £1500 or £100 the cost to me is the same! It is simply ludicrous. Anyway that is my rant for the night, I shall pour myself a large glass of wine and ponder over where to go from here.

Am in the same position. Today have noticed on 31/12 been charged interest only though, presumably that is November interest but expected the £1 a day charges to be added on 31/12 for 6/12 to 31/12 inclusive also, so a bit confused. I have stopped using the account and waiting for a reply to my letter asking to allow me to repay the overdraft under the original terms. I don't intend to send them another penny until then. I have told them in no uncertain terms that I will NOT be paying any such "new" charges, only the £1500 overdraft plus interest. I think my offer is reasonable. They have already received a LOT of interest from my overdraft over the years and I wish I was in a position to repay it immediately but given the economic climate and the one month's notice this is not possible and I am sure many others are in the same position as me - after all, if I had spare cash sitting somewhere I would not be using the overdraft in the first place!

I just checked my account, which I have stopped using since 6th Dec, and have just been charged interest today - no £1 a day charges. Am wondering if this is because I have repeatedly refused to accept the new charges regime and requested that I still be charged interest instead...

Got a 2nd letter back from Halifax re. the new charges. Basically the current position is that I have repeatedly refused to agree to the new terms & conditions and requested that all interest and charges were frozen until such a time that I am able to repay my overdraft (£1500) in full. The key sentence in my reply from Customer Relations says:- "Regrettably, this is not something that can be agreed, therefore overdraft charges will be applied until such a time as the balance of the overdraft is repaid in full." My reply: "I do not agree to the change in conditions of my account. If you insist on charging me until I repay my overdraft then please ensure that such charges are limited to those included in the terms and conditions prior to 6th December 2009 as I have NOT agreed to the new terms and conditions. Once you have agreed this I will then do my utmost to make sure the overdraft is paid off as soon as possible. Any charges levied to my account as per the new terms and conditions will NOT be paid as I have not agreed to them." They have me between a rock and a hard place right now but I refuse to give in. I have an account elsewhere and have not used my Halifax account since the new charges were put in place. I do not intend to pay them a penny until such a time that they let me pay back my overdraft as per the OLD T&Cs.

Well, folks, my PIN "reminder" finally arrived today and, guess what? Not so much as a reminder, as a BRAND NEW PIN! No wonder the card hasn't been working as they obviously decided to issue me with a new PIN without informing me. Shall try and see if this PIN works tomorrow.

I will try the Post Office tomorrow, thanks The reason I haven't, is because when I called the helpline before, they told me it was only a cash card and, when I asked if I could use it at the Post Office she said NO I have already applied for an account with another bank and as soon as that is opened I will transfer everything to them. Hopefully that will be sorted before Christmas. Lloyds are without a doubt the most useless bank, if not business, I have ever dealt with. From start to finish they have been hideous. Hellifax, I am almost tempted to go back to you so you can screw me for £1 a day on my overdraft to escape this hell. Almost.

That's the very one! How can a member of LTSB staff get something so simple, but vital, so wrong? I am beginning to think some people just spout any **** just to get you off the phone ASAP! Oh well, they can listen to my phone calls back and respond to my letter of complaint accordingly. Meanwhile, I have absolutely no idea what to do next regarding the PIN situation. I am scared of getting my card swiped by the machine just before Christmas

Thought I would add to my existing post rather than create another: It is driving me nuts! Have had various problems with my Lloyds debit/cash card, the latest one being that nowhere seems to want to accept my PIN Yes, before anyone suggests, I am POSITIVE I am entering it correctly as they only sent it to me early last week! Since then I have withdrawn cash with it at one LTSB cash point last Friday, but I tried to withdraw cash in a LTSB branch yesterday over the counter but the PIN reader was saying "incorrect PIN". This was my last attempt so it said the card had been blocked, but when the clerk swiped it, it said it WASN'T blocked She of course was also adamant that I MUST have entered the wrong PIN as the computer couldn't possibly be wrong Now, I have the confirmation of this PIN sitting right in front of me and it is EXACTLY what I entered BOTH when it was accepted at the cash machine last Friday AND yesterday/today when I tried to get cash out. So, I am now only allowed one more attempt before my card gets swiped by the next machine I try I should also mention that I have recently established that I can only get money out with this card at a LTSB cashpoint (how dumb is that) so now I am stuck without any money til Friday when I will be near one. Anyone had anything like this happen? I will go into the bank again on Friday and take this PIN slip with me and they can type it in themselves if they like. P.S. It says VISA debit on it. Although I can't use it in store either, just online. But that's yet another gripe

Yes, I realise that now Just can't believe how ridiculous it is to have an account that you can ONLY get cash out of a Lloyds cashpoint (3 miles way is nearest!) and I can use it online but not in a shop? Very bizarre! Not to mention the fact it has an erroneous VISA debit logo on it!

dx100uk - exactly! It says VISA debit on it so surely should be as much use as any other VISA debit card! Surely... It is just a Cash account I have but that is the card they gave me with it.

Halifax appear to have paid £37.50 into my account today, bless. Of course, I have transferred it straight out again This would be refund of the £12.50 fee they took in error and £25 for my troubles, then. Oh well, bye-byes Halifax!

To: Lloyds TSB CEO Via email: [email protected] 　 11th December 2009 　 Dear Sir Sort Code: ; Account Number: I am writing to complain about a series of events last night which left me unable to access any money from my above account. Your telephone banking service was unhelpful, to say the least. I recently decided to transfer my business from another bank as introduced a number of charges which would result in me paying far more. I was not happy with this so transferred all my direct debits, standing orders and credits into my existing Lloyds TSB Cash Account (above). I knew that this would provide me with similar features to my old account that I needed, those being: 1. Online banking, 2. VISA debit card (at least this is what it says on the card you provided me with) and, most basically, 3. The ability to withdraw cash from any machine. Now, having used my card a number of times online for purchases I did not forsee any problem with obtaining £30 from the cash point in my village. However after attempting this twice, each time I was given the message “invalid card”. This seemed strange since I used it just a few days before for an online purchase, and the PIN was accepted, etc. I needed this money so was forced to call your telephone banking service on 08453000000 from my mobile phone, at significant cost to me. The member of staff informed me that, although my card is a VISA debit card, I can only use it to withdraw cash from a Lloyds TSB cash point. The nearest LTSB cash points this member of staff told me are 3 and 6 miles away! Clearly this is unacceptable to me. Being able to withdraw cash from almost any cash point is surely the most basic of services? I certainly should not be expected to travel 3 miles (when I do not drive) simply to withdraw money from my own account! I have had very basic accounts with other banking institutions before and have never heard of such a thing. This is all the more bizarre given the “VISA debit” logo branded onto said card. The member of staff went on to tell me that I could still use the card inside the shop (which this cash machine was attached to) to make a purchase and then obtain cashback. This would at least allow me to get the £30 I badly needed. So, after terminating the call I then attempted to purchase my shopping inside this store with my card, however after two attempts, each time was given the message on the PIN reader “incorrect PIN”. With no other way of paying for my shopping, or getting my cashback, I was forced to leave my shopping at the till, which was embarrassing to say the least. Upon leaving the store, I called your telephone banking service once again and was given somewhat different information. Firstly, the operative told me that I should indeed be able to retrieve my money from any cash point! However after checking with her team leader, she then retracted this! She then told me that the first operative had given me the incorrect information - I cannot use this card for purchases or cashback. This resulted in me having to cancel a planned night out as I had no way of obtaining my money. So, needless to say, I am extremely unhappy and rather confused. I have a Lloyds TSB debit card with a VISA logo on it, that I can use for online purchases, but not to buy a pint of milk and a loaf of bread at my local shop. I can use it to get cash out 3 or 6 miles away but not at either of the two cash points in my town. To summarise, I find the following unacceptable:- 1. The conflicting information provided by your staff 2. That I can only withdraw cash at a LTSB cash point 3. That I cannot use my card to make instore purchases and obtain cashback (but I can, bizarrely, use it online!) I have now established that my Lloyds TSB VISA debit card is next to useless. Please could you provide me with explanations to the above and suitable resolutions. Otherwise, regretfully, I will have to transfer my banking elsewhere. Yours faithfully gemmabe

Have had what appeared to be a personal response, apologising and allocating my complaint to a customer relations manager. In the meantime I still refuse to pay £1 a day for my overdraft which is double what I am paying now. So, today I have swictched all my standing orders and direct debits to my Lloyds TSB account. I will make sure all my income is paid in there too and will pay off Halifax overdraft as I would do any other creditor. Does anyone know the implications of this, i.e. with it being Lloyds TSB? Can they offset my overdraft with the funds I will have in the Lloyds account? If so, will have to open another account elsewhere.

Sending the below letter tonight which is hopefully self-explanatory. Have seriously had enough and am switching all my payments over to another bank by 6th December. Have already sent template letter to say I do not agree to the new charges and got the standard "F OFF" back and a reply from my MP. Anyway, the letter: Halifax plc Customer Relations PO Box 548 Leeds LS1 1WU 1st December 2009 Sort Code: 111111 Account Number: 22222222 Dear Sir/Madam I am writing to complain about the recent poor customer service I have received when calling your central helpline. I telephoned your offices on 2nd November 2009 to give notice to downgrade my Ultimate Reward account to a Reward account. The lady I spoke to told me that there was no notice as it was an instant process, so I would simply need to phone the day before the next £12.50 fee was taken out. I then telephoned on 27th November 2009, as I was advised to do, and the gentleman I spoke to informed me that it was not in fact an instant process, as insurance policies, etc. needed to be cancelled, and he would refer it to the business support team. He also reassured me that the £12.50 fee should not be taken out the following day but if it was, that it would be refunded and the downgrading of my account would be backdated to 27th November – the day I called. Imagine then my surprise when, upon checking my account via online banking, I saw on 30th November that my account was still showing as Ultimate Reward and I had, in fact, been charged the £12.50 fee which had not subsequently been refunded! The lady I spoke to on this third occasion regarding this matter told me that they would not normally backdate the downgrading of an account, and that I should have been told that any such downgrade would occur the following day. Why, then, when I called on 27th November, was my account not downgraded until today, 30th November? And this was only after calling for the third time! It seems the gentleman I spoke to on the second call I made on 27th November did not action this. During this call I repeatedly asked for a refund of the £12.50 fee but was advised that the relevant telephone calls would have to be listened to first, which could take up to five working days! The operative was unwilling to refund this figure despite the fact she could clearly see this left me with just £4 available funds. I asked her to get the calls listened to as a matter of urgency. To add insult to injury, you have today taken interest of some £15 which has taken me into an unauthorised overdraft for which you have charged me a further £5! Clearly, had your staff given me the correct information then the £12.50 fee would never have been withdrawn and there would have been enough funds to account for the interest you have taken! Given that the only reason I am downgrading my account is due to your new charges schedule coming into force on 6th December (which I still refuse to accept), I feel rather aggrieved that I have had to spend a great length of time on the telephone - and have been left out of pocket – to initiate what surely is the very simplest of tasks. In summary, I trust that you will:- 1. Provide me with a full refund of £12.50 taken on 28th November 2009. 2. Cancel the £5 charge due to leave my account on 31st December 2009. 3. Compensate me for my time, telephone calls and stress caused by your failures. 4. Provide me with a full explanation of these incidents, including why three different members of staff gave me three different stories on procedures for the downgrading of my account. Please also clarify what the actual procedure is! Whilst writing, the second member of staff I spoke to on 27th November was due to ring me at 7pm this evening to discuss a loan to pay off my Halifax overdraft. Unsurprisingly, no such call arrived. Having since tonight seen on your website the APR in the region of 22.9%, I have now had second thoughts on this. I trust you will deal with my complaint both promptly and fairly. Yours faithfully gemmabe

An update - Halifax said yesterday if Currency Express had cancelled the transaction yesterday (as ICE said they had) then the funds would appear back in my account this morning. Surprise, surprise, they are not! Have now forwarded a complaint to Currency Express and instructed them to send a fax to Halifax in order to refund my £400 immediately. In the meantime, still cannot purchase my Euros.

Thought I had better post my experience of Currency Express. NOT GOOD! We are off on hols in a week to Greece and the Euro rate went up today so I ordered online through Currency Express, which always seems to be the best deal on Travel Money Maximiser. My order seemed to go through fine, and it was next day delivery - great, I thought! Make sure we have our money in plenty of time. When I checked my Internet Banking, the money had been taken from my card so again, all seemed fine. 4 hours later, I get an email informing me my order has been cancelled! This is because my address is a business address! Er, no, it's not. It's actually a flat above an estate agent's! Doh! Anyways, thought I would phone Currency Express on their 0870 number to clarify things and make sure my Euros are put in the post tonight. Only a few minutes job you'd think. NOT! 20 minutes and 2 unhelpful operators later I find that the £400 they have taken from my card is still in bank limbo land and will be so for possibly 5 WORKING DAYS! I asked them why they took my money when clearly they could not provide what I have paid for. They said they haven't taken my money, just placed a hold on it. Lol, same thing to me! Means I have to wait for it to clear back before buying my Euros, doesn't it, as don't have enough in my account otherwise! I asked them if "Flat 1" sounds like a business address to them? Er, no. I told them they were welcome to contact my bank and verify that I do in fact live in a residential property and the debit card I "paid" with is indeed held at that address. In addition, my local council recognises my flat as residential and so to TV licensing, both of which charge me accordingly. Of course, every argument I could come up with was met by the brick wall that is "computer says no". They said they do perform additional checks, but they couldn't tell me what they were, due to "Data Protection" even though I obviously want to avoid a similar scenario in the future. They also informed me I should make sure I check the "marketing" box on any electoral roll forms, as that is the only way they can see my full address details and prove it is a residential property After finished speaking to the 2 Unhelpful People, I telephoned my bank who said it would normally be 5 working days until I get my money back. Their systems will update overnight, and if it isn't showing in my account in the morning, I have to telephone Stupid Company back and instruct them to send a fax to Halifax authorising the funds to go back into my account as they will not be claiming them. All this stress and telephone calls and I do not have my £400 OR my €500! Pay the extra few quid and buy elsewhere! At 5pm am now pouring myself a large vodka tonic!

Hi there, Just popped on the site to get the complaints email addy for Halifax and saw this thread. Was compelled to reply and say how sorry I am your holiday was ruined and for no reason, especially when you went to so much effort to let the bank know where you would be. With regard to compensation I think the very least you should be entitled to is enough money to cover the cost of a real holiday of a lifetime, as they totally wasted your holiday, 4 weeks of your life and not to mention the stress they caused as a result of their sheer incompetence. Next time you go on hols, there are a lot of currency top-up cards you can get now which offer good rates and no silly people cancelling them. Halifax have just suspended my online banking because I logged on from a different computer and a week later I am still without it...I was very angry but this thread sobered me up into seeing how much worse things could be. Please keep us updated with how you get on. I do believe you deserve a tidy sum after all this.

Hi all I would appreciate some advice on this matter. I have been with Tiscali Broadband since August 2007, firstly with a consumer account. I work from home as a contractor for 2 companies. My job is based solely on the Internet. The second company I joined (In August) required me to have a static IP address. Tiscali would not provide this to me on a consumer account, so I had to upgrade to Business Broadband at an extra cost to me. Ever since then I have had nothing but trouble. I will try and summarise this as best I can. Firstly, I was suffering from an intermittent connection immediately on moving to Business Broadband. After several calls to an 0870 number in India they eventually identified a line problem with BT, although they were previously adamant that the problem was with my hardware. I had tried different modems, filters, etc. and was still suffering the same issue, so knew this was not the case. India did not listen. Anyway, after the problem was sorted by BT, I had a normal connection for approximately 3 days. Then started the next issue. I was suddenly only able to view certain websites! Not good for accessing the webpages I needed to do my job through! I was told that a server was down but this problem was now fixed. It was not. Tiscali tracked down the problem to an issue with my static IP address. They mentioned something about it being duplicated. I have been given several different static IPs and each time, the same problem occurred. I finally spoke to someone honest yesterday in India, who admitted that this is an ongoing issue that they cannot solve. What is happening is that their system is so rubbish! that each time they assign me an IP address, someone else will soon have that same address, causing me to suffer an intermittent connection. For several weeks now, the connection has been cutting out EVERY FEW MINUTES, so you can imagine the effect this is having on my jobs, not to mention my stress hormones! Honest Man in India, yesterday finally offered me a MAC code which is on its way to me so I can transfer my account to a more competent provider and continue my work in peace. HOWEVER, I am so angry at this whole issue, and wish to complain about the following: -Tiscali's inability to track down the problem -Tiscali's dishonesty -On a number of occasions being promised a call back that never came -Why Tiscali are still advertising and providing static IPs to other people -The length of time this issue has been ongoing -Why when I upgraded my package and paid more money, was I only able to ring Tech Support Monday to Friday 8-8 (previously 24/7 on my cheaper package!) -The incompetence shown by Tiscali Technical Support -The amount of money it has cost me -The risk this has caused to my jobs -The amount of stress this has caused me -The measly £10 compensation I was offered! -Why on a number of occasions Tiscali attempted to call me, did they fail to leave messages -Why Technical Support transferred me back to a static IP address without my permission nor even notifying me! -Why I have had no response from their complaints department for weeks -Why it has taken this long to offer me a MAC code when it was known to them they could not solve the problem I am sure there is more but that is all I can think of for now lol. As I write this I am typing it offline in Wordpad as my connection won't hold longer than a few minutes today, even though I am currently back on a dynamic IP! It is beyond a joke now. I have been in tears over this on a number of occasions as I have lost so much money and have been in fear of losing my jobs. I would have done if my employers had not been so understanding. I have complained to Tiscali officially through their internal procedures but they have failed to resolve my issues so it is now my intention to file a complaint with the CISAS (Communications & Internet Services Adjudication Scheme). They state I can claim up to £5000 in losses I can prove I have suffered. What I need to know is what I can reasonably claim. I intend to recoup all monies paid to Tiscali for their "services" but I also wish to claim compensation for loss of earnings, stess, etc. Sorry this is so long-winded, and undoubtedly ill-written! I have just about had enough today I thank you in advance for any help and advice you are able to provide. Gemma

Hello Kevin, I have not read all the latest posts, but just in case you were not aware, there was a gentleman from Radio 4 money programme on BBC1's Breakfast this morning talking about your specific case, he will also be on the radio later talking about it I believe he said.

well kev i just nearly fell off my chair when I heard this news. I am sure you are down about this at the moment, but I feel in the long run this could be a positive thing for us all if you do, as we all hope you will, follow it through. Something like this was bound to happen eventually, and although the banks may appear smug at the moment, I am sure that won't be for long. Keep strong and remember you have a lot of support here.