Hi there Lisa, It is good to hear that the Bluecorner website reconstruction has been completed, As the marketing manager for affinity cards Ltd could I please ask why the Bluecorner cards   match.com,bliss,max power,magic,smashhits are no longer available to purchase?   As an existing cardholder I find the card excellent and the customer service outstanding and i would like to see the above cards available for purchase again.   

lisalord:

My name is Lisa Lord.  I'm the Marketing Manager for Affinity Cards Ltd (First Prepay). 

Just to clarify the situation with our Bluecorner website.  We have experienced some technical difficulties with the Bluecorner site which have now been rectified.  A new look site has been created to enable our customers to continue to service their cards.

We endeavour to provide the best possible service to our customers at all times, unfortunately this was not 100% possible when the Bluecorner site was down.  However, during this time customers should still have been able to load money onto their cards via offline load channels such as PayPoint and the Post Office.  A customers' ability to make purchases on their card was unaffected by the temporary technical problem with the website.

Unfortunately, some of the content on this thread contains non-factual information regarding First Prepay's card programmes.  As a result, I have asked the moderators of this forum to remove the posts which represent unjustified reputational implications for First Prepay.

Regards

Lisa Lord

Glad to see something finally got "blue"corner stirred!! Interesting how you would like to have posts which are critical of your business removed. :0)

IF ONLY YOU GUYS INVESTED AS MUCH TIME IN YOUR PRODUCT AND YOUR WEBSITE.

what is the non-factual information that you refer to btw? Would love to have your comments on this consumer forum :0)

Blue corner has &nbsp hit the buffers!

All card accounts being cancelled with no reason given.

Obviously an amateur outfit run on a shoestring, as the letter giving me notice of closure didn't even say who it was from, or quote any7 card details at all - just 'for commercial reasons it is necessary to close your prepaid account'. As I have more than one such account, I was initially perplexed. Normally, banks etc send such correspondence on headed notepaper !

I wonder if such a letter actually represents appropriate notice, being so lacking in detail? They obviously can't afford lawyers (nor anyone else of any professional stature!).

The bluecorner website told me it was those cards closing down.

I shall not miss them!

William

Bluecorner has not hit the buffers at all, bluecorner and affinity cards are now called first prepay and they will continue to offer many prepaid cards, All of the original bluecorner cards are being closed but all card holders are being offered a free alternative card and any remaining card balance will be transfered to the customers new card or refunded by cheque, As a customer i must admit that i would like a reason for the closure rather than them just saying commercial reasons but personally i think the reason for closure is either 1, all of the alternative cards charge higher fees in one way or another, 2, the cards are not chip & pin and maybe maestro rules require all cards to be chip & pin, 3, i assume they require permission to use the logos of other companies e.g magic 105.4, bliss mag, max power, on the cards and maybe this permission is coming to an end, If the reason is higher fees then i wish they would let people keep the cards and just charge a bit more as i have great difficulty using chip & pin cards due to my sight and none of the alternative cards are signature only, I have even contacted the issuer of the cards Newcastle building society and at present none of the alternative cards can be offered as chip & signature either, It would be nice if a manager from first prepay such as Lisa Lord could come on here and give us the real reason for the closure of these cards.

Many thanks for that information, I had found prime before but they charge too much fees for example if i load £1000 they will deduct £20 reload fee where as bluecorner only charge £1.50, Most months i make around 50 transactions and prime will charge a minimum of 50p and a maximum of £1 for each transaction so my transactions will cost between £25 & £50 in fees where as bluecorner charge nothing per transaction, looks like i shall have to go back to paying cash in shops until newcastle building society work out how to issue the first prepay cards as chip & signature.

Hi

which prepaid card did you get as some of the cards have been stopped by them if you go to the blue corner web site home page there is a list of the ones they have closed

a quick lost of the ones that have stopped since 31 jan 2008 are

Bliss, Magic, Smash Hits, Match, i money, Max and a few others

hope this helps

Well i had a magic card and have had it since they were launched and it was perfect for me as all transactions were signature verified, Due to having bad vision I find it next to impossible to operate a chip & pin terminal in a shop and unfortunately all the cards they do now are chip & pin, I have been in regular contact with newcastle building society over the last 3 months but at the moment they cant offer the cards which are known as chip & signature so I asked them to produce me a mag swipe only version of my charity champions card which they also say they cant do but i am sure they could if they really wanted to, I have the feeling that they dont think i really need the card because i am able to operate a computer but this is only possible because i have a large button keyboard and a display which displays text very large, For the last 2 months i have been forced to either pay cash or take a friend with me to enter my pin which i find annoying but what else can i do as the only other prepaid card i know of which is signature verified is prime and it is just to expensive as would cost me £20 to load and £25 - £50 in transaction fees per month based on my average usage.

lisalord:

My name is Lisa Lord. I'm the Marketing Manager for Affinity Cards Ltd (First Prepay).

Just to clarify the situation with our Bluecorner website. We have experienced some technical difficulties with the Bluecorner site which have now been rectified. A new look site has been created to enable our customers to continue to service their cards.

We endeavour to provide the best possible service to our customers at all times, unfortunately this was not 100% possible when the Bluecorner site was down. However, during this time customers should still have been able to load money onto their cards via offline load channels such as PayPoint and the Post Office. A customers' ability to make purchases on their card was unaffected by the temporary technical problem with the website.

Unfortunately, some of the content on this thread contains non-factual information regarding First Prepay's card programmes. As a result, I have asked the moderators of this forum to remove the posts which represent unjustified reputational implications for First Prepay.

Regards

Lisa Lord

-- Reply from an old post, still relevant given problems still arising.

Dear Lord Lisa,

I have been following this thread with interest. It is good to hear from somebody that actually works for Affinity Cards Ltd. in order to clarify the situation. However, and with all due respect, it shouldn't be a marketing manager.

Whilst I understand that the Bluecorner website experienced some technical difficulties, to which you didn't apologise for, you have to understand, accept and appreciate the qualms, concerns and apprehensions that some customers may have given the circumstances (as discussed). In addition, the site has been functioning incorrectly since May of 2007 (when I signed up for a second account). As you are the marketing manager, I feel it beneficial to inform you about my concerns regarding the way I perceived the company at the time of transition. I was a customer of Bluecorner/Newcastle Building Society/First Prepay etc. and I was very concerned when I received a letter from 'Firstprepay' to say that they had taken over from the previous company and that for commercial reasons, my account had to be cancelled. The letter was a photocopy, had a number of errors and was not professionally written. Due to this I cancelled ALL Affinity cards immediately as concerns about the security of my data came to mind... solely because 'FirstPrepay' sent out a slapdash letter without any reasoning! As the marketing manager, you should be aware of people's perception to the company before, during and after. If somebody looks at an unprofessionally designed website, they tend to shy away. If somebody cannot log on to a banking website because the server's are being updated, they tend to shy away. If somebody receives a letter that's had very little effort put into it, they tend to shy away. In my case, cancel the account.

At the moment, as far as I can tell, this thread has turned into complaints against the coompany from the aggreived, which has sparked comments verging on blatant attempt at advertising. It is these comments that should be censored from further viewing as this could be deemed as misleading to a certain extent.

Ref:

A customers' ability to make purchases on their card was unaffected by the temporary technical problem with the website.

This is not the issue. The issue is the uncertainty of this technical problem progressing onto something further that could lead to an embarrassing situation at, say, the supermarket.

Finally, and in reference to your comment:

Unfortunately, some of the content on this thread contains non-factual information regarding First Prepay's card programmes. As a result, I have asked the moderators of this forum to remove the posts which represent unjustified reputational implications for First Prepay.

MoneySupermarket Forums allow members of the public to freely discuss a variety of different topics and companies. Members of this forum seek advice from other members experiencing similar problems, or from those that have done in the past. Whilst this country already airs a restriction of speech in an official Freedom of Speech right, I completely disagree with your comment RE: 'non-factual information' and your stance on attempting to remove the posts. You must define 'non-factual information' when the information being provided does not purport to be factual, but rather an opinion. After reading over ALL posts thoroughly, it is clear to see that ALL comments relate to personal customer's feelings toward Affinity Cards Ltd. and NOT defamatory remarks made by a company, competitor or official representative of a publishing organisation. The 'reputational implications for First Prepay' occurred when Affinity Cards Ltd. decided that acting unprofessionally would be 'Okay' and 'Acceptable', to which they are now paying the price for judging by the comments in this forum. Even your suggestion to have the posts removed creates speculation into the secrecy of the company's operations, especially bearing in mind you have expressed your side. I would like to bring to your attention the following link: MoneySupermarket - Legal Terms and, in particular, the following excerpt taken from the aforementioned:

Some channels will provide you with access to third party sites who will host reviews about some of the products and services available. In some instances you may also be able to access user reviews directly on the Moneysupermarket.com site. Regardless of whether you are transferred to a third parties site or read a user review on our site, the views expressed therein do not represent the views of Moneysupermarket.com Ltd or any of its associated companies and Moneysupermarket.com Ltd are not responsible for the accuracy of any such views or expressions.

Thank you for your post, Lisa.

Kind Regards,

Vicissitude

An ex-account holder with Affinity Cards Ltd./First Prepay who was extremely dissatisfied with the 'service'. Those considering purchasing an account with Affinity Cards Ltd./First Prepay should proceed with utmost caution. (My personal opinion and personal advice)

Further disclaimer (for clarification): Vicissitude is a totally fictious name not relating to any living person or an official of any known company. I am just another regular member frequenting the MoneySupermarket Forums. I am not working for, or on behalf of MoneySupermarket Ltd or moneysupermarket.com in any capacity and receive no monies or gifts for the advice given at any stage. MoneySupermarket urges those reading to seek professional advice where required. Any views or opinions expressed herein are not endorsed by MoneySupermarket Ltd and MoneySupermarket will not be responsible for such views or expressions.

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Kind Regards,

Vicissitude

Interesting thread, I was looking for another card on the web for my other daughter as my eldest has a bluecorner/firstprepay card, and tripped over this.

I did find it hard once I had peeled back all the fees of the varied prepaid cards to find one as fair as bluecorner, despite all the venom in this thread, I assume by marketing bods from competing companies to bluecorner. Some of the other cards are seriously, and I mean seriously loaded with fees that are meant to sting.

Bottom line they're the cheapest cards on market with most ways to load.....if there website isn't pink or doesn't run at ferrari speeds so what, the product is the cheapest and best.....and the firstpremier card shown on the firstprepay.co.uk site looks the biz

manintheblack:Interesting thread, I was looking for another card on the web for my other daughter as my eldest has a bluecorner/firstprepay card, and tripped over this. I did find it hard once I had peeled back all the fees of the varied prepaid cards to find one as fair as bluecorner, despite all the venom in this thread, I assume by marketing bods from competing companies to bluecorner. Some of the other cards are seriously, and I mean seriously loaded with fees that are meant to sting. Bottom line they're the cheapest cards on market with most ways to load.....if there website isn't pink or doesn't run at ferrari speeds so what, the product is the cheapest and best.....and the firstpremier card shown on the firstprepay.co.uk site looks the biz

Well I certainly don't work in marketing, and I certainly don't work for anything to do with banking/credit/debit/prepaid cards!

The cheapest is not always best! You get what you pay for. I appreciate they may be the cheapest out there but they change their policy more times than Victoria Beckham changes her outfits! They give very little warning, and make the company look very shoddy indeed. I'd rather pay a few pounds extra and receive proper documentation and also where the policy doesn't change or get cancelled every five minutes!

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Kind Regards,

Vicissitude