What to do if you're banned! (a cautionary tale)

Just a heads-up in case it happens to anyone else.

I posted a couple of questions on Wednesday and a reply to a thread. Tried to log in to the community yesterday to check for answers and got a big pop-up screen telling me I'd been banned for "Spam".

That was a bit worrying but worse was that I couldn't access anything on the site. Couldn't log out, couldn't get help, couldn't contact moderators, everything got a "You're Banned" pop-up.
Eventually, I cleared out the browser cookies (go to your browser and look for Content Settings, probably under Privacy, then search the list of cookies for "Screwfix" and delete them). That got me access so I could send a message to the moderators but I've had nothing back from them at all.

I rang the Head Office number today and spoke with some helpful people who hadn't a clue what to do so would get someone to ring me back. Sure enough, 30mins later a very apologetic chap rang back to say he'd gone through the "list" yesterday morning (don't know what you have to do to get on the list) and must have clicked on wrong spot and banned me. Sorted it all out in a few minutes but although my reply to a thread has re-appeared, the 2 questions I asked have gone - although I still have my kudos points!

Moral: People make mistakes. If you get banned, ring H.O. and ask why.

S.