We recently suffered the horrors of our business account debit card being cloned and some scumbag going on an internet spending spree. Got all the money back, but it affected access to our bank accounts for a week.

So I figured it was time to get some company credit cards, just in case. 

And as Publicity Heaven is a member and supporter of the FSB, it made sense to apply for an FSB credit card and help the organisation earn some commission.

What a nightmare. 

First of all the application link on the FSB website was broken. And no-one at MBNA (who run the scheme) answered the phone for a good five minutes. That’s when ringing the special “I’m a member of the FSB and I want to be a new customer please” phone number!

So I rang the FSB directly to give them some feedback. Turns out they knew the link was broken and “are looking into it”. Then the final blow… the lady on the phone told me the FSB credit card is for individuals not limited companies. 

Ah. Perhaps you should have mentioned that on your website. Before I wasted 15 minutes trying to get one.

My point here is not to have a rant. It’s how easily a bad experience (albeit a minor one) has turned into negative PR for the FSB. 

In the internet age a blog like this leaves a permanent record on the internet. In a year’s time, someone Googling “FSB credit card” could find this post and decide not to bother, based on my experience.

There’s a lesson for every business there.

Tags: FSB

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 16th, 2009 at 12:43 pm and is filed under Bad PR. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.