Eee, thank you for all that. You know, I would never have found the complaints line, so yay for someone who knows how these organisations work. Frankly, unless you know what the corporate-ese about "service charter" actually means, knowing that's where they hide the complaints line information is about the last thing you'd think of (because of course it isn't in the "contact us" section).

Actually, it seems that the amount of promotion an organisation gives about their service charter (and that is a stupidly designed website section) or customer relations procedures is inversely proportional to the actual service quality it actually delivers.

I should get it unravelled today, but yes, I'll tackle followup (if necessary) in order of the less hassle to the greater - it very much becomes a case of diminishing returns. If they don't want to give me the entitlements, fine, I don't have to pay my levies. *channelling staffie vibe*

And I think part of what is aggravating me in particular is that, as you point out, I'm hardly the most disadvantaged in these circs. I'm the right colour, I have the right kind of name, I natively speak the right language, I come from the right country (or the best possible one in terms of cross-border arrangements, which this isn't), I have money, I don't desperately need services, I'm reasonably intelligent, and I'm literate. Which all makes me wonder how much they cock up for people who don't have those privileges.