Naked wines - watch your bank account

System

ThumbRemote wrote: »

Although not using their company name on the credit card payment is somewhat dubious.

I suspect customers would prefer a reference number than the word "naked" on their credit card bill.

Dirk_Gently_2

I'm a long-standing "Angel" and have no complaints about the £20 a month payment - I understood it and look on it as a nice painless way of saving for a wine case every 4-5 months or so.

I am !!!!ed off today though, on checking by on-line bank statement,. that what was always showing as "www.nakedwines.com INTERNET" for the past few years seems now to tobe showing as "<8 digit number> INTERNET".

I presume this is the same payment, but I've just spent 45 minutes on the phone to my bank trying to find out what this payment is before I made the connection that they might have changed the way they record the transaction, as well as taking it a day earlier to add to the confusion.

My bank couldn't tell me one way or the other, so I've got a mysterious payment that I assume to be theirs, which is damn annoying.

Why they would change to such an unhelpful description and waste customers' time is anyone's guess. :mad:

Dirk_Gently_2

goater78 wrote: »

I suspect customers would prefer a reference number than the word "naked" on their credit card bill.

Just reading back on this thread, what would you prefer as something that makes sense and is traceable :

"12345678 INTERNET"
or
"www.nakedwines.com INTERNET"

Or was that just an attempt to be funny ......?

EdGasket

I just received a £60 voucher for nakedwines from Amazon. There is absolutely nothing on the voucher to say I will be joining any 'club' or paying £20 a month into a wine account. I am so glad I checked this out first and thank you to all the posters who have taken the time to expose this dodgy practice.
Of course no-one is going to give you £60 for nothing which is why I checked it out before going further but it is very underhand not to admit on the original offer document (in this case a voucher card) that anyone accepting the offer will be signing up to £20 a month deducted from their card. Who has time to read all the small print on websites anyway? Shame on you Amazon for being involved with this type of scam.

Valli

EdGasket wrote: »

I just received a £60 voucher for nakedwines from Amazon. There is absolutely nothing on the voucher to say I will be joining any 'club' or paying £20 a month into a wine account. I am so glad I checked this out first and thank you to all the posters who have taken the time to expose this dodgy practice.
Of course no-one is going to give you £60 for nothing which is why I checked it out before going further but it is very underhand not to admit on the original offer document (in this case a voucher card) that anyone accepting the offer will be signing up to £20 a month deducted from their card. Who has time to read all the small print on websites anyway? Shame on you Amazon for being involved with this type of scam.

Given that there are already threads about Amazon's prime membership which also involves giving your bank details to the company because if you don't cancel within the specified timescale they will start to take membership fees from your bank account it's hardly surprising that they would be involved in 'clubs' like this.

The best caveat I can give is this

IF you are signing up to something that is FREE BUT the company wishes to have your bank details ask yourself WHY.

The chances are that you WILL incur some charges sooner or later if you sign up for a 'membership' and the company requires your bank details. Unless, of course, you cancel within the specified timescale and by the specified method.

Examples
Amazon prime membership
Free Mobile phone insurance
Free GRAZE boxes
Trial Beauty Products (Dead Sea Mud I think)

Other posters will, I am sure, be able to add to this list.

sharjay99

Yep I got one too that I was thinking of using. The only extra money it mentions is 4.99 p&p and says 'any additional spend on wine, will be charged to your debit or credit card'

MrRusty

happened to come back to this thread. SO some people think that because I praise NW I am an employee? No, just an interested customer who praises good and criticises bad. You will find me on various diverse forums including apug.org and pepipoo.com.

I am now on my, I don't know, 12th - 14th? case from NW. In that time I have had one corked bottle that I got an instant refund for. The rest have varied between good and exceptional value, especially when compared to supermarket fare. Factoring in the free bottles I get, the average cost of the wine I like and buy works out at about £6.30 delivered.

Yes, the £20 you put away every month IS an interest free loan and it is used to fund the new wine producers and help their cash-flow in return for good wine at good prices.

There is no catch. OK, perhaps the psychology of the initial sign-up causes people to miss the fact they are also signing up to £20/month, but you can spend/stop it at any time, and it just goes to your personal "wine fund" and when you get to order your next case, you find you have already paid some of it which takes the sting out a little bit!

To anyone who says the wine isn't good value - well don't buy it then!

It is not a scam. You put money in and get wine, delivered promptly, and a guaranteed refund if you don't like it. Where's the problem?

If you want to know where the £20's go, read some of the wine producers ' stories on the website.

EdGasket

It IS a scam when they offer you £60 off wine and only state you must spend £39 using a card on the offer document and THEN deduct £20 a month from your card without making this clear from the outset!

Azari

I've just signed up to NW, yesterday, having been procrastinating for some time.

I had to explicitly select 'Angel' status, though. so it's not something that happens by accident.

They make it absolutely clear that the whole point of being an Angel is that you will pay £20 a month so that they can 'sponsor' winemakers and get good deals.

Having said that, I do think they should have a much cleared confirmation screen where they welcome you as an 'Angel', reiterate the pricing, and ask you to confirm. That would be nothing more than good web design and there are enough people here who have been 'caught out' to show that there is some problem in that area.

All that remains for me, now, is to see how the wine measures up.

SandC

I had an email the other day explaining and apologising for the reference that appears on our statements being an 8 digit number rather than nakedwines as was previous. It's something to do with their new banking arrangements and all the direct debits came out under a number reference - should be rectified by next month apparently.

I'm not an employee either, I signed up, used the money off voucher I had, decided that I would like to become an angel and have so far enjoyed the wines I've had. I've not had a case for a couple of months but have enough saved in my account now to cover one that'll sort Xmas out.

There's no scam, but you do need to decline becoming an angel if you're just taking advantage of a money off voucher. It's not like other wine clubs or book clubs where they send you stuff unless you remember to tell them not to - and they aren't a scam either you just need to know what you're signing up for.