Okay so I’m going out on a limb here and fully expect to be shot at: I thoroughly sick and tired of the constant whinging about, or by, the people who’ve lost money because of the collapse of Farepak Hampers. Now don’t get me wrong, I DO feel sorry for anyone who loses money when a venture goes bust and I feel especially sorry for the folk who were saving for Christmas and are now in dire straits, but I really don’t see why Farepak’s clients should be a special case.

In the UK, we’ve seen people’s personal pensions siphoned off by unscrupulous companies. We’ve seen individuals lose their life savings when banks have crashed. We’ve seen whole work-forces dumped with no financial compensation when the idiot in charge makes bad business decisions. In cases like these, compensation is little or none – usually none - and the consequences are far-reaching. So what makes someone who stuck their spare cash into a venture like Farepak Hampers so special?

Personally if I wanted to save money for Christmas, I’d have put my spare cash in a bank, a building society, or some other account that at least paid interest; indeed I do exactly that. My choice isn’t exactly radical and certainly doesn’t make me anything out of the ordinary.

Come on people, get real. Farepak Hampers was a business like any other and the people who invested their money in it were taking a chance just like those investing in any other venture. Farepak collapsed, get over it. Stop whinging!