Just a quick alert. Beware of anyone cold calling selling wine as an investment. I know this sounds like obvious advice, but some people seem to ignore it.
Lionel Nierop, who runs Bid For Wine, told me that he’s discovered that a scam company had been cold calling consumers, selling wine as an investment while pretending to represent Bid For Wine (who don’t use any telephone sales techniques). This is quite scary for someone like Lionel, because if consumers paid for wine, and then it failed to materialize, he’d be left to pick up the pieces.
Jancis Robinson has written on the topic here. And Jim Budd has bravely published a list of companies he wouldn’t buy wine from here.
Be careful who you buy your wine from.
This is the blog of wine journalist Jamie Goode, online since 2001. Feel free to nose around; your comments are welcomed.
i have been cold called by a company called vintage vines trying to get me to invest in their fine wines. i tried to find a little info on them but their website (www.vintage-vines.co.uk) is ‘under construction’, they are a fairly new company and very persistant in getting me to invest.
any advice?
I have been contacted by the same people and 6 months on, the website is still under construction. My tel no. is ex-directory and I am registered on the TPS but these people do not seem to care about that. It seems obvious to me that this is a scam. They have sent me a literature pack which seems very good but I have passed it to my MP as I feel something should be done at the highest level re. these scams and persistent telephone nuisances.
I was as well David (contacted this month – early Dec. 2012). It’s certainly plausible concept and very well presented – but I’m not biting. There was another similar one recently which offered green energy bonuses – they weren’t as pushy as the fine wines lot though.
Spam – and its telephonic derivatives it seems – is evolving…