Time for me to throw in my 2 p worth. This thread has, actually, highlighted a few things.

However, before I start, Ben that is a measured and sensible post. I am not one of your customers and unlikely to be one given geography but, for what it is worth, the majority of your customers on this forum appear to rate you highly. However, you in common with 100% of the population, are not perfect all the time. It is, at the end of the day, how imperfections are recognised and dealt with that count.

More to the point, the forum exists to provide a place for comment. Some comments will be negative and, if they are backed up and reasoned, no one can have an issue. Free speech is a valuable right. However, as with all rights comes responsibility. It is that which appears often to be forgotten generally in today's society. In forum terms, that does not just mean avoiding libelous comment but also behaving in a fit and proper manner, with some common courtesy in my humble view. There will be times when each of us screw something up - what goes around tends to come around....

In my view, the mods are in a difficult position here. Arguably, they could have deleted parts of this thread and/or locked it long since but they would then be subject to criticism for sensoring posts. None of us really want that. It can be avoided by a little thought before the "post" button is clicked. The vast majority on here do that. A few, from time to time have not.