to be wary of Naked Wine?

[Nickpan]

(or leary, in MN talk)

Are they good wines? Impossible to compare price, as it's independent vineyards, that aren't necessarily in shops. And I don't quite get the 'angel' thing. Anyone get their wine delivered?

I was a member when they first started (sadly had to give up on it after a few years because I am poor now) and they were brilliant. Good wine, excellent customer service, and a nice feeling that you're supporting independent vineyards.

They even sometimes used to offer free wine tastings at their HQ in Norwich - you'd get an email asking if you were free next Tuesday afternoon. Those were good days

Another happy angel here.

I used their Australian branch initially to send wine to a kind friend in Sydney. I ended up signed up as an Australian angel 😱. BUT rang and spoke to them hoping they’d let me transfer to uk branch as it were and they just refunded ( entirely my error ) . So of course I subscribed in the uk and it’s been great ever since !

Yeah I like that one too Gary although I tend to like the white arabellas better than the red

I remember a thread on here where the OP had been paying them a direct debit for almost 2 years without realising it. She'd amassed over £800 in the kitty.

She was panicking like crazy but all it took was one phone call to them and they refunded her with no quibbles.

I think I’d rather have £800 worth of wine than £800

£800 in the kitty, what a situation!

'Angels' are actually investors - see here.. www.nakedwines.com/help#angels You are lending them or advancing them money. They say it's safe. I have no reason to doubt them.

I have tried tasting Naked Wines ones or twice and I thought they were perfectly pleasant but not necessarily matching all the hype on their website and promotional material. And I agree with above poster; the emails I've seen from them are IMHO far too frequent, intrusive and mock-matey.

Naked Wine has purchased Majestic

Other way round, sorry.

Angels: you pay a set amount each month into the kitty, which they use to support new vintages, new winemakers, etc - the idea being that your money is used to do something different. This, I think, is the aspect that will change in the next year or two.

You then get a discount on your wine to say 'thanks' for lending them your money, but of course you can also take your part of the kitty and use it to buy wine at any time.

I pay £20 a month and buy a case at Christmas and in the summer (we usually have some sort of party then). Have never got a bad bottle and think it's better value than 'good' wine from the supermarket.

Also when we were doing renovations and a bit skint they suspended my payment no bother, then I had it at £10 for a few months till back to normal. I'm a big fan.

After a quick look on their website, the Angels appear to pay £20 pcm for the ability to receive discounts on the wines. It is almost impossible to compare the prices of many of the wines so I looked at some big name French appellations to see how much the discounts were really worth.

For example, a basic Sancerre is listed as being supposedly £24 at full ‘non-angel’ price. I have never seen a normal Sancerre at this price. The discounted price (which you pay £240 per year to access) is £18. A supermarket own brand (Tesco finest) Sancerre is £14. We can assume that this is literally the very cheapest wine they can get and that they can squeeze the suppliers due to the volume they buy. My local wine merchant charges £20. There is of course no way of knowing what the level of quality the Naked Wine version is, but let us assume that it is something in the middle of the 2, or perhaps as good as the one from the local independent retailer.

In my opinion, the discount on the wine is, in reality, more like a maximum of £2 per bottle at the price of £18. Not £6 as suggested on the website.

After paying for subscription, you would have to order 10 bottles of Sancerre per month to be at the same price as the local wine merchant where I live. This is assuming no delivery costs if you spend more than £100 a time.

Buying cheap, a case of 12 Sancerre from Tesco would be £168. Buying a case from my local independent would be £240. Buying from Naked wines would be £236 with subscription charges and free delivery.

I just don’t think it represents value for money. For the cheaper wines they do, they say that they are from amazing independent wineries. But they also say a lot of their wines are shipped by tank to Germany and bottled there. It’s “not very romantic” as my local wine merchant commented!

Friend's husband subscribed through work (could have actually been virgin wines?)
If you are going to post about having problems cancelling or anything else, at least make sure you know what company you are talking about, or what's the point!

We have been getting Naked wines for a few years now and have been very happy. Their Christmas box is always very good.

Another happy customer here. I'm currently pregnant, so just saving up my payments until I give birth! Will then spend it all on the fabulous Christmas box.
It's very easy to suspend or cancel if you need to and the customer service is fab.
Great quality wines too, very rarely get a duff bottle.

We used them and got fed up. Wines were never that amazing and TBH, we didn't drink that much wine. Also we didn't think it was value for money for the quality as we got better taste in wine. A lot of perfectly pleasant but rather dull wine.

Stopped the subscription and we now mainly drink wine from Lidl's Wine Tour for almost half the price and much more enjoyment.

Just to be clear, your monthly payment of £10, £20 or whatever goes into a pot, out of which you buy wine, whenever you like, at discounted prices. The monthly payment is not a fee to access discounted prices. All money you put in is still "yours" (and you can even withdraw it if you change your mind).

It is not a subscription product!

It is a plan to save money towards your wine purchase and you can take payment holidays and you can increase or decrease your monthly amount.

BitchyArriver The discounted price (which you pay £240 per year to access)

You pay in £20 (minimum) per month and that sits in an account to spend, it's not a few.

I pay in £30 a month then treat myself to the case of 12 bold reds when I have enough, delivery is free over £100. They often give you free bottles to entice you to spend the money in your account. I've always been very happy with the quality and variety.

*not a fee (rather than not a few)

Always enjoyed our wines from them. No issues whatsoever. Enjoy.

any views on laithwaites
they keep sending me vouchers

Friend's husband subscribed through work (could have actually been virgin wines?)
If you are going to post about having problems cancelling or anything else, at least make sure you know what company you are talking about, or what's the point!

constance I think I was pretty clear what the point was when I said

Moral is make sure you can cancel if you don't like it.

but, if that is confusing to you, I'll explain a bit further why I thought it was worth posting:
A lot of these schemes run through work and can be less flexible than if you go through the company themselves. The companies are often the same company with different branding. And depending on how and when you sign up, you may be offered different t&cs.

I have tried a few online wine clubs and found Naked the best though most are ok. The only one I really didn't like was the Virgin Wines one, I rarely found the wines from them to my taste

The Wine Society is definitely the best club. I worked there for a number of years. It’s a mutual and all for members’ benefit. The buyers don’t buy for profit or margin, just good wine. They’re all experts and despite having left about 9 years ago I always buy my wine there as it is so reliable. You buy a share and you are a member for life. Customer service is fantastic.

PS would never buy from Laithwaites....

I have bought from them, not signed up for Angels but get good offers though for 1 off cases every 3/4 months and usually stock up then.

I’m an angel too. It’s a good way of trying new wines. I buy a case in June and another at Christmas. We had a dreadful bottle - only one in about ten cases - and got an instant refund. The customer service is excellent too.

not a fee (rather than not a few)

Sorry that wasn’t clear from the website.

However, I think my point still stands.

Another example is the Benjamin Darnault Pique Nique Blanc 2018. Full price on Naked wines is £10.99, discounted price £7.99, but ViVino users report an average price of £7.97.

I just don’t believe they are really discounting these wines. It’s like when the supermarkets put a wine at a silly cost for a few weeks, then it’s 50% off. It’s not really, it’s lies to make you think you are getting a deal.

That said I’m totally biased as I love my local wine merchant, and will pay a bit more to go to him. Always friendly chat, will get in special orders for me, really knows his stuff, and gives me a freebie on my birthday!

I agree with @BitchyArriver I don't think you should look at them as a money saving tool. I'm in The Wine Society but it's not to save money it's just so I taste lots of different wines and appreciate the odd 'free' bottle!