On Wed, 01 Sep 2004 14:00:00 +0100, Andy Hall
wrote:

It's not a gentlemen's club.

You're dead right, there! In Scotland at least, it's a rip-off in
shark-infested waters! We are not talking about multi-million or
multi-billion pound contracts or tenders to build a bridge or a tunnel
under the Alps. We are talking about domestic dwellings which happen
to be, for most people, the one and only large asset they will ever
acquire. And it is simply not fair for the system to allow the kind of
practice to go on where the buyer simply does not know beforehand what
the vendor is willing to accept. You can dress it up any way you like,
but that is how I see it. Not only me, either.

MM