diff --git a/C4/Members.pm b/C4/Members.pm
index c6c6985129..4eb9979898 100644
--- a/C4/Members.pm
+++ b/C4/Members.pm
@@ -772,17 +772,17 @@ sub ModMember {
         }
     }
 	my $execute_success=UpdateInTable("borrowers",\%data);
-# ok if its an adult (type) it may have borrowers that depend on it as a guarantor
-# so when we update information for an adult we should check for guarantees and update the relevant part
-# of their records, ie addresses and phone numbers
-    my $borrowercategory= GetBorrowercategory( $data{'category_type'} );
-    if ( exists  $borrowercategory->{'category_type'} && $borrowercategory->{'category_type'} eq ('A' || 'S') ) {
-        # is adult check guarantees;
-        UpdateGuarantees(%data);
+    if ($execute_success) { # only proceed if the update was a success
+        # ok if its an adult (type) it may have borrowers that depend on it as a guarantor
+        # so when we update information for an adult we should check for guarantees and update the relevant part
+        # of their records, ie addresses and phone numbers
+        my $borrowercategory= GetBorrowercategory( $data{'category_type'} );
+        if ( exists  $borrowercategory->{'category_type'} && $borrowercategory->{'category_type'} eq ('A' || 'S') ) {
+            # is adult check guarantees;
+            UpdateGuarantees(%data);
+        }
+        logaction("MEMBERS", "MODIFY", $data{'borrowernumber'}, "UPDATE (executed w/ arg: $data{'borrowernumber'})") if C4::Context->preference("BorrowersLog");
     }
-    logaction("MEMBERS", "MODIFY", $data{'borrowernumber'}, "UPDATE (executed w/ arg: $data{'borrowernumber'})") 
-        if C4::Context->preference("BorrowersLog");
-
     return $execute_success;
 }
 
@@ -792,7 +792,9 @@ sub ModMember {
   $borrowernumber = &AddMember(%borrower);
 
 insert new borrower into table
-Returns the borrowernumber
+Returns the borrowernumber upon success
+
+Returns as undef upon any db error without further processing
 
 =cut
 
@@ -810,10 +812,15 @@ sub AddMember {
     my $sth = $dbh->prepare("SELECT enrolmentfee FROM categories WHERE categorycode=?");
     $sth->execute($data{'categorycode'});
     my ($enrolmentfee) = $sth->fetchrow;
+    if ($sth->err) {
+        warn sprintf('Database returned the following error: %s', $sth->errstr);
+        return;
+    }
     if ($enrolmentfee && $enrolmentfee > 0) {
         # insert fee in patron debts
         manualinvoice($data{'borrowernumber'}, '', '', 'A', $enrolmentfee);
     }
+
     return $data{'borrowernumber'};
 }
 
diff --git a/C4/Members/Attributes.pm b/C4/Members/Attributes.pm
index 24c6f71a5d..35d67029a4 100644
--- a/C4/Members/Attributes.pm
+++ b/C4/Members/Attributes.pm
@@ -203,7 +203,12 @@ sub SetBorrowerAttributes {
     foreach my $attr (@$attr_list) {
         $attr->{password} = undef unless exists $attr->{password};
         $sth->execute($borrowernumber, $attr->{code}, $attr->{value}, $attr->{password});
+        if ($sth->err) {
+            warn sprintf('Database returned the following error: %s', $sth->errstr);
+            return; # bail immediately on errors
+        }
     }
+    return 1; # borower attributes successfully set
 }
 
 =head2 extended_attributes_code_value_arrayref 
diff --git a/tools/import_borrowers.pl b/tools/import_borrowers.pl
index 6141998a2a..74a58895dd 100755
--- a/tools/import_borrowers.pl
+++ b/tools/import_borrowers.pl
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ my $columnkeystpl = [ map { {'key' => $_} }  grep {$_ ne 'borrowernumber' && $_
 
 my $input = CGI->new();
 our $csv  = Text::CSV->new({binary => 1});  # binary needed for non-ASCII Unicode
-# push @feedback, {feedback=>1, name=>'backend', value=>$csv->backend, backend=>$csv->backend};
+#push @feedback, {feedback=>1, name=>'backend', value=>$csv->backend, backend=>$csv->backend}; #XXX
 
 my ( $template, $loggedinuser, $cookie ) = get_template_and_user({
         template_name   => "tools/import_borrowers.tmpl",
@@ -193,6 +193,9 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
         }
         if ($extended) {
             my $attr_str = $borrower{patron_attributes};
+            $attr_str =~ s/\xe2\x80\x9c/"/g; # fixup double quotes in case we are passed smart quotes
+            $attr_str =~ s/\xe2\x80\x9d/"/g;
+            push @feedback, {feedback=>1, name=>'attribute string', value=>$attr_str, filename=>$uploadborrowers};
             delete $borrower{patron_attributes};    # not really a field in borrowers, so we don't want to pass it to ModMember.
             $patron_attributes = extended_attributes_code_value_arrayref($attr_str); 
         }
@@ -246,6 +249,8 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
             }
             unless (ModMember(%borrower)) {
                 $invalid++;
+                # untill we have better error trapping, we have no way of knowing why ModMember errored out...
+                push @errors, {unknown_error => 1};
                 $template->param('lastinvalid'=>$borrower{'surname'}.' / '.$borrowernumber);
                 next LINE;
             }
@@ -254,7 +259,7 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
                     my $old_attributes = GetBorrowerAttributes($borrowernumber);
                     $patron_attributes = extended_attributes_merge($old_attributes, $patron_attributes);  #TODO: expose repeatable options in template
                 }
-                SetBorrowerAttributes($borrower{'borrowernumber'}, $patron_attributes);
+                push @errors, {unknown_error => 1} unless SetBorrowerAttributes($borrower{'borrowernumber'}, $patron_attributes);
             }
             $overwritten++;
             $template->param('lastoverwritten'=>$borrower{'surname'}.' / '.$borrowernumber);
@@ -276,6 +281,7 @@ if ( $uploadborrowers && length($uploadborrowers) > 0 ) {
                 $template->param('lastimported'=>$borrower{'surname'}.' / '.$borrowernumber);
             } else {
                 $invalid++;
+                push @errors, {unknown_error => 1};
                 $template->param('lastinvalid'=>$borrower{'surname'}.' / AddMember');
             }
         }