Pret's bank details published online: Why courting the blogosphere is a full time operation

Entrepreneurs are told continually that building a relationship with the millions of bloggers that inhabit the internet is a good way of growing a business; I myself have done it on several occassions. But this week an incident showed that just because you respond to a blogger and give them what you want, it doesn't necessarily mean the story's over.

Bloggers are a cheeky bunch. One of them is Paul Crudden who over a six week period recorded the time and money he spent with 50 businesses. He then invoiced the companies for the money he believed he is owed. I told you bloggers can be cheeky!

One of the companies he contacted was sandwich and coffee shop chain Pret A Manger which actually paid up! In a tongue-in-cheek letter, Pret's co-founder Julian Metcalfe apologised to Crudden acknowledging that his "time on the planet is valuable". Thanking him for flagging up the issue, Metcaffe said he was willing to send the blogger a cheque for £62 including an extra £1 to over Crudden's "walk to the post box". A good move not just in terms of customer service but in terms of PR. Crudden himself told the Metro (who he invoiced for £65.88!): "Pret's response is the perfect example of how a brand can show their human heart behind a corporate body." Brilliant stuff.

However, it was what the blogger did next which added a twist to the story.

Publishing Pret's response on his blog, he also posted the cheque including the company's bank account number and sort code. It was clearly unintentional but Crudden's action posed a potential security risk for Pret.

I spotted the cheque yesterday and called Pret. After leaving several messages on various people's answerphones, I finally got through to the PA of CEO Clive Shee who told me Pret does not have a press office. Very strange, I thought, for a company of Pret's size.

Informing her of the cheque, I asked her if I could speak to someone about Pret's policy towards bloggers. She said she'd get back to me.

This morning, I checked my office voicemail and had a message telling me Pret does not have a policy towards bloggers and was offering no further comment on the story. Logging back on to the Crudden's blog though, I spotted that the bank details on the cheque had been censored. I wonder whether the cheque would still be uncensored if I hadn't bothered to call Pret before writing this blog post.

So what lessons can Pret and other businesses large and small learn from this incident?

If you choose to embrace the blogosphere, the Twittersphere and any other social media community, you have to do it fully. It wasn't too long ago that if a customer wrote to a business and the business replied, very few people apart from the recipient would see the letter. But nowadays if a blogger writes to you and you write back, it is almost inevitable that the letter will be posted online for the world to see. On this occassion, so were Pret's bank details which if the company had kept an eye on Paul Crudden's blog would have been removed minutes after they appeared. Instead, they remained on the web for at least 24 hours.

As regular readers will know, I'm no fan of over-strategising about social media but if you do get involved (and I think you should) you need to make sure you stay in touch with the bloggers and tweeters you engage with and keep an eye on what they're up to. Pret A Manger is clearly now on Crudden's radar so if was Clive Shee I'd be adding his blog to my bookmarks folders straight away.

Following a post on Twitter, a PR company got in touch saying they represent Pret A Manger. I have been told that Clive Shee, who is currently in the US, will get in touch later today. I will post any comment.