I RECEIVED a surprise call from Neil McCall in Goose Bay, Canada, a man aware of the usually friendly reputation of people in our area.

His opinion was rocked, however, by the unfriendly treatment he received when he tried to complete a financial transaction from his own bank to his girlfriend's bank, the Abbey National in Leigh.

He was informed his bank would need the exact address of the Leigh branch and he was unable to find it online.

After discovering the addresses and phone numbers of other banks in the area, he figured that if he called one of them they would be willing to help. Wrong.

He tells me he rang my bank, the Yorkshire, and had the misfortune to connect with a miserable sole who refused to look up the number and give it to him. That surprises me, I've found them nothing but helpful.

On the other hand he wants to thank the good samaritan at the Nationwide who solved his problem and the Abbey staff who were also very friendly.

It seems customer service was a bit lacking somewhere -- or someone was having a bad day.

It just goes to show that the bad attitudes of people over something so simple can affect our reputation in other parts of the world.