Quality customer relations...

Ye cannae beat the Medieval institution that is the British Banking System. Steeped in mystery & tradition, they proudly turn any minor administrative task into an ordeal that would be worthy of a mention in Homer's Odyssey.

I recently got some mail through my door from those kindly folk up the road, providing me with the finer details of a charge that was to be debited from my account. Fair enough you may say, except that the charge had already been taken out my account about 3 weeks prior and a good 10 days before the letter was written (which almost leads me onto a diatribe about 'Royal Mail' who, in this case, took 10 days to get the delivery 400 metres along the road - and it was downhill).

Anyway, I knew the bill was coming so I was in no particular concern about it. What did catch my eye though was the accompanying statement of 'Principal Terms'. As I quickly scanned it, my eyes fell upon point 3C, which you can see below (or, almost see):



So, if you don't take the time to read it properly and you just happen to catch that particular line (like I did) it states: "If you are a Sole Trader, you die."

Well, actually, I am a Sole Trader and, therefore, is this some kind of a threat from my bank..?

I mean, in its full context, it's a valid point but, it must be said, there are a million nicer ways in which they could have made it. At the least though, they could have made it with a hint of empathy or even humanity in the statement, vice the clinical methodology of a surgeon 'removing' a cancerous tumor...