Angry brides use Facebook to organise march on HSBC HQ

by Nicola Clark, Marketing 05-Aug-08, 17:32

LONDON - HSBC is facing a PR nightmare as brides and grooms plan to converge on the banking group's head office following the collapse of internet wedding list company Wrapit.

The couples are planning to protest at the Canary Wharf headquarters to pile pressure on the bank, which, as Wrapit's main creditor, reportedly owed about £3.5m, is believed to have been instrumental in the gift company going into administration.

A Facebook group dedicated to the protest accuses HSBC of being more 'interested in their procedures than doing the right thing' and says: 'We're going to remind them that there is more than just numbers involved and that they have an ethical obligation to uphold.'

The move follows letters from Wrapit managing director Peter Gelardi criticising the bank. 'HSBC now have it within their power to minimize the pain caused to 2000 couples - and, probably, 100,000 of their guests - and ensure that no Wrapit customer loses any money and, as things stand, they will not take it,' said Gelardi.

HSBC press officers were not available for comment, but the bank did issue a statement saying that its duty of confidentiality to its customer precluded it from discussing details of their financial circumstances. However, it added: `HSBC is a responsible lender and believes it has done all it can over recent months to assist the directors. We fully appreciate that the company moving into administration has caused great stress among Wrapit's customers and couples. However, we are confident that HSBC has, at all times, acted appropriately given the circumstances, and any suggestion that HSBC is responsible for Wrapit's problems is absolutely refuted.'

Comments

Francesca Fisher - 06/08/2008

The angry brides and grooms should direct their vitriol at wrapit, not HSBC. The bank is only adopting sensible business practice. I used wrapit and it took over 8 months to deliver my presents. I don't blame HSBC for the business' inefficiency, only wrapit.

Steven Ray - 06/08/2008

So a mismanaged, financially naive company is not the target of abuse, but instead the bank that played a part in them going into administration gets the flak. OK, people don't generally like banks and their commercial-mindedness, but I doubt HSBC moved for liquidation as anything less than a last resort. They are not guaranteed to get back their money, and that's an obvious concern in a supposed economic downturn. 'HSBC now have it within their power to minimize the pain caused to 2000 couples - and, probably, 100,000 of their guests - and ensure that no Wrapit customer loses any money and, as things stand, they will not take it,' Peter Gelardi, MD of of Wrapit - surely that should have been your job in the first place instead of leading a company into dire straits?

Nerissa MacDonald - 07/08/2008

Crazy brides

Nicola Clark - 07/08/2008

The issue these brides and grooms have taken with HSBC is the fact that while they have a liability to pay back credit card transations they argue that 'this liability could be 'discharged more efficiently and fairly in gift form'. As wrapit has gone into adminstration HSBC - as their bank - is the only viable target for protest. It is interesting how quickly this protest got off the ground and how much media coverage they recieved - all down to Facebook.