Correct spelling IS important

I wouldn't be able to resist letting them know, though. Hopefully, they would appreciate it, too.

Going back to reading menus, I think misuse of apostrophes is just as bad. These appear on menus all over the place, e.g. "sandwich's". I'm tempted to ask for "a sandwich without the apostrophe, please".

It's interesting that you mention Argos. Based on their website alone, I would not want to shop at Argos. However, they have the nationwide network of stores, the familiarity of their brand, and the sheer scale of the operation, which all help reassure the consumer that they're not fly-by-night cowboys or amateurs who should stick to the day job. So I think if anything it's more important for small, unknown businesses to present themselves well.

Think about it like an employer. You might be perfectly happy for your existing employees, who you are familiar with and know well, to wear jeans on an average working day. But when someone you've never met before turns up for an interview, you expect them to have shined their shoes and ironed a shirt because you expect them to be trying to impress you.

Same thing consumer-side. When a customer who isn't familiar with your company and has no idea of your reputation is at the "am I going to give you my money or not?" stage and looking at the introductory pages of your website or your glossy sales brochure, you need to impress them, you need to show that you've made the effort.

You're quite right that humans are fallible and errors will be made. As a consumer I can easily understand that someone doing the data entry for hundreds or even thousands of products is going to make the occasional typo. But if they've got a feedback page proudly entitled "HERES WHAT ARE CUSTOMERS SAY!" then I'm going to recoil. That's the shop front, that's the interview stage, and it needs to be immaculate.

I am always surprised to see the number of spelling errors on top tier sites such as the BBC / telegraph / guardian etc

Pretty much every day I see them - when i was a lad.....we would have none of that............blah blah

Shows the Uk education system has gone to pot - bring back the high schools and grammars LOL!