summer holidays about to start, expecting children over for the first week of the holidays. vodafone decided yet again to overcharge me this month and bar my phone, nothing new there, however went to shops to get credit for my pay-as-u-go and first time ever my bank card doesn't work, 4 times, so needing money and phone credit to contact the x i go to my bank who i've been with for 15 years plus, and they all know me there, however on inserting my card in the atm for a mini statement the atm grabs my card, i go to the counter and join the proverbial long cue, this is when i find out all my accounts have been barred because according to the bank i've received a fraudulent cheque, on verifying the details i go home to retrieve the receipt for the cheque paid in which transpires to be one paid to me by a friend who did an end of term school disco and had hired disco equipment from me to do so. not the first time for this school either, on producing a receipt and details to the counter staff, they call the head office who inform them that i have to produce an invoice for the transaction, i explained that the transaction was done third party and the school wont know me also as this was the first day of the holidays my friend had left for his holidays and the school was now closed for six weeks, and i needed to get cash that day but they insisted my accounts were barred and all dd and so would also not be paid from any account, i insisted on talking to head office to escalate a complaint and get an explanation, and on many calls from the branch being cut when put on hold i finally spoke to a lady who informed me that she didn't believe the cheque was fraudulent but they will continue account barring till i produce an invoice Fraudulent,cheque,really, even though i reiterated the details of being a long term client, highlighting why id be stupid enough to pay a fraudulent cheque in my account, and also the cheque had the primary school details printed on it as it was paid from their bursary, and the need for cash at the holiday start, this sis when they said i could still make withdrawal over the counter but couldn't use my debit cads???? i asked for the details to be confirmed by letter to me and left it at that. off i go knowing i've no card facility for six weeks, and £70 down in my account, as i wouldn't be able to contact the school till then or contact my friend for two weeks to see if he could get any contact with them prior. six weeks went by as myself or my friend were unable to do anything till the school opened again, and by per chance i went to the bank again prior to the school term recommending to make a withdrawal but the counter assistant said i was unable to due to my account being blocked, on reiterating the details over the counter albeit humiliating, she looked at my account details and said that all bars had been lifted as the cheque was fraudulent, i was dumbstruck being that my friend would now have gone to the school to chase up details and subsequently look like an idiot or accusing, and i would have to explain to him now that it was a bank fault ?? i escalated complaints with the manager and after going over details i received an apology from her, despite the fact it was nothing to do with her or the counter staff, and then came that question and the reason i've written all this on this forum......what would you like??? oh dear, initially i though of all the humiliation and hassle, agro with two children having to waste time in bank ques to get withdrawals and only at my local branch because my accounts just showed up as barred anywhere else, the worry having to carry around cash enough to facilitate the childrens needs whilst out, mostly the loss of £70 for a six week period, then i remembered that id not received any letter of confirmation about the details id requested that i would have needed had i been able to contact the school, which also highlighted the fact to me that id not even been informed that the bars had been lifted on my account/s and had found that out by chance. the question of how much compensation, i am not a complaining type of person and don't get time to do what i've had to here, i have complaints with now almost all of my domestic suppliers due to incompetence on billing and am currently waiting to get time to chase up another two banks and two network providers that have promised compensation due to failure in services but have subsequently disappeared. what does one ask and what will compensate such an experience, who knows, as this may have ended or been resolved in the banks minds but for me the escalation of complaints and e-mails shall go on and on as that is the only port of call for complaints available nowadays. i am awaiting a call from the bank manager with proposals but whether it is satisfactory or whether i take it further to watchdog and /or the fso will yet to be seen. i better get used to this sounding off i suppose as i still have all the other complaints to tackle yet....... .....just let them go, not on your nelly having been a loyal paying customer for years with most of them i should expect and receive at least a generic customer service level yet i'm abused, ripped off and played about along with the rest of the decent general public and it should stop. i guess the figure i may ask for is the figure that such a hopeless company as vodaphone just sold themselves for, 82 billion pounds, and good luck to the new owners, energy suppliers i think ill leave till another time, but the elderly i feel sorry for, i'm 50 and i find all this stuff quite overwhelming, especially when they don't put there hands up, tho subsequently its now no better when they do.... .hmmmmm.... .End Of Constructive Unpunctuated Rant any replies or ideas welcomed.