SSE are very sorry...

Stansgran You are indeed correct and it does indeed change the argument but only slightly. I apologise for misreading overchanged as overcharged but would point out a) there is no such verb as overchange and b) Movedalot presumably read overcharged in my response as her newly coined word overchanged. (Sorry, I couldn't resist the pun.) My comment about overcharging remains valid.

Movedalot I apologise for misreading your post but I shall point out that, given your frequent moans about being misunderstood and misrepresented, it is ill advised to invent a new word, especially one so easily confused with an existing word, when posting.

j08

only slowly

Sometimes I ride my bike on the path.

Moved said overchaNged not overchaRged. Does that change the finer points of the argument ? I've neither bought nor purloined a paper clip in my life but they arrive in documents by legion and I recycle everything. I was given a "good" pen by my fiancé for Xmas and have never bought one since(bar refills) and yet I can easily wander around the house collecting pens from an astonishing variety of companies all unsolicited . Honesty is the best policy. Once about to get off the bus without paying as the conductor was upstairs and the then boyfriend told me off and put down the fare. He is now DH and a very good man .

I'll hold my hands up movedalot. I did on occasion take a ballpoint pen or make a short phone call from my workplace. At the same time, I did on many occasions stay late or work through my lunch hour, unpaid.

No doubt I have committed other minor misdemeanours during my 62 years on this earth, but none that I shall lose any sleep over.

I have never, though, led an organisation that has encouraged staff at all levels to adopt a sales regime that has lied to potential customers and, by so doing, has stolen millions of pounds from those (including the elderly and vulnerable) that believed those lies. If I had, I would be ashamed and would expect to be held personally responsible. Alas, that's unlikely to happen.

"never deliberately do anything I think is wrong, whether it be a 'small' thing or a 'big' thing makes no difference to me."

Wow Movedalot! Not even teeny (ish) little things?!

Movedalot Whatever has made you so bitter and aggressive towards me? All I did was point out that you had confused two words – overpaid and underpaid. What axe are you so eager to grind?

However, as we are discussing moral values, I am happy and more than willing to forgive you.

Love not live

Well your reply J08 is predicated upon everyone having access to the Internet in the first place and that is far from the case. And it's hardly a level playing field when a big energy company decides to take on a consumer is it?
Movedalot - live the moral prevarication between avoiding telling the truth and telling a lie - I remember something about sins of omission and sins of commission. I have told many deliberate lies in my life for reasons that I believe were right. Would you deliberately lie yo save someone from physical harm or emotional hurt? I would and have and I'm proud of it - I've also speeded( but not the amber light thing) and in my handbag as type are loads of pens from work. On my desk are loads of work documents printed off with my paper and ink cartridges . I daren't even start to count the paperclips oh my!!!

I think if you are savvy it can be managed ok. Some of the things I've been hearing on the radio make me wonder what people have got between their ears. They just seem to want to grab any deal put in front of them, without checking it out. There are enough websites like Moneysavingexpert to advise. And there is plenty of advice on the radio.

No, I haven't ever told a deliberate lie. Why is that so extraordinary? I have avoided telling the truth to save someone's feelings. Why is that scary? Surely it is not normal to think lying is OK?

Movedalot you are scary - have you never told a deliberate lie? Goodness me!

Well J08 I certainly want the current mess better supervised and regulated or do you think it's fine as it is ?

Would it all be better run if it was j08. Surely that is the crux of the matter?

"there are certain aspects of life which should not be for profit making but provided as a service at the most reasonable cost possible, not for making huge profits for relatively few people."
(Quoting Bev)

Do you want it all nationalised again?

Yes soop it is. A cage has been rattled and it is not going down very well.

Sauce for the goose then?

Is it okay to feel baffled?

Oo-er, get her! Apparently I'm not worthy either. Do you have a forelock greatnan? How very silly and how deeply ungracious when she has been caught out in an absurd mistake.

I take exception to being told I am not worthy of a reply. As to taking a delight in disagreeing with you, surely that applies both ways!
I loathe dishonesty - with me, what you see is what you get.

gilly I'm talking about whether something should be condemned or not, sentencing is of course a very different matter. Perhaps 'condemned' is the wrong word but I think you will know what I mean. Perhaps it is the opposite of condone? I do not condone wrong at any level.

I do believe that there are graduations of wrong Movedalot, surely there has to be or someone found "stealing" a paper clip would receive the same sentence as someone stealing millions.

I do agree that it is morally right to never deliberately do anything that you know could cause hurt or suffering to others.

absent I'll make an exception - I'll apologise to you when you apologise to me for the ones I have asked of you in the past and you have ignored.