matspart3, good to hear the story from the other side - something that is rare on a forum like this.
I hope I wasn't one of those 'who immediately jumped to the conclusion that the ATCO was in the wrong' - but as you say in your PM, the key here is communication, and it's far too easy to misunderstand the tacit parts of a RT message (from both ends of the headset). Been there and done it myself on a number of occasions that I can recall....and probably a good number when I didn't realise how my call had been perceived.
Anyway, in this case it's nice to know there's a good outcome. Mmmmm, shortbread.