diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index d8b56dd43..1fe86e0fa 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ gem "gibbon", :git => "git://github.com/amro/gibbon.git"
 gem "bootstrap_form", "~> 0.3.2"
 
 group :development, :test do
-  gem 'debugger'
   gem "heroku-api"
   gem 'sqlite3'
   gem "rack"
diff --git a/Gemfile.lock b/Gemfile.lock
index 59b725a01..3ae898df4 100644
--- a/Gemfile.lock
+++ b/Gemfile.lock
@@ -114,7 +114,6 @@ GEM
       coffee-script-source
       execjs
     coffee-script-source (1.4.0)
-    columnize (0.3.6)
     connection_pool (1.0.0)
     cucumber (1.2.1)
       builder (>= 2.1.2)
@@ -128,13 +127,6 @@ GEM
     dalli (2.6.0)
     database_cleaner (0.9.1)
     debug_inspector (0.0.2)
-    debugger (1.3.0)
-      columnize (>= 0.3.1)
-      debugger-linecache (~> 1.1.1)
-      debugger-ruby_core_source (~> 1.1.7)
-    debugger-linecache (1.1.2)
-      debugger-ruby_core_source (>= 1.1.1)
-    debugger-ruby_core_source (1.1.7)
     diff-lcs (1.1.3)
     dynamic_form (1.1.4)
     erubis (2.7.0)
@@ -413,7 +405,6 @@ DEPENDENCIES
   cucumber-rails
   dalli
   database_cleaner
-  debugger
   dynamic_form
   exception_notification!
   feed-normalizer
diff --git a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake b/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
index 825391a34..c8ea1c205 100644
--- a/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
+++ b/lib/tasks/heroku.rake
@@ -59,12 +59,22 @@ namespace :heroku do
       heroku.put_config_vars(app_name, smtp_vars)
     else
       print "using SendGrid addon... "
-      heroku.post_addon(app_name, 'sendgrid:starter')
+      begin
+        heroku.post_addon(app_name, 'sendgrid:starter')
+      rescue Heroku::API::Errors::RequestFailed => e
+        display_heroku_error(e)
+        exit
+      end
     end
     puts "done."
 
     print "Setting up memcache... "
+    begin
     heroku.post_addon(app_name, 'memcachier')
+    rescue Heroku::API::Errors::RequestFailed => e
+      display_heroku_error(e)
+      exit
+    end
     puts "done."
 
     git = Git.open(Dir.pwd, :log => Logger.new(STDOUT))
@@ -123,7 +133,11 @@ namespace :heroku do
     puts "Thanks!"
   end
 
-
+  def display_heroku_error(e)
+    puts "\n\n*** Installation error ***"
+    puts JSON.parse(e.response.body)['error']
+    puts "*** Installation error ***"
+  end
 
   def auth_to_heroku(ui, config)
     heroku_api_key = config['HEROKU_API_KEY'] || ui.ask("Enter your Heroku API key: ")