Trademarks: Filing a Trademark: "Failure to Respond"

On the 11th September 2013 I submitted a trademark application for a term that was not trademarked.

I gave them time to do research etc and left it with them, today on the 28th November 2013 I have received an email from the IPO telling me that I have failed to respond in time and that my trademark application has been refused and I will now have to fill out form TM5 to appeal at a cost of £100 ...

This was a shock to me as I've been patiently waiting, no letters, no phone calls, no emails?

Is there anything I can do about this, do they have an obligation to try and contact me via more than just one email in a month to tell me that my response is needed?

What should I do now? I don't really want to have to pay an additional £100 as I feel they've not been of assistance at all.