Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd: why I wouldn't buy wine from this company

Château Pontet Canet

I have been contacted by AT whose elderly parent has been pressurised by Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd's telesales into investing in over-priced wine. 

On 19th September 2013 they were persuaded to buy: 

one case (12 bottles) of 2010 Les Forts de Latour for £2,200. The excellent wine-searcher site shows that a case of Les Forts de Latour could have been bought from Magnum Fine Wines on 15th November 2013 for £1675. A saving of £545 on the case.  A case of 2010 Les Forts de latour can now be bought for £1575. 

Then on 17th October 2013 there was a further purchase:  

a case (12 bottles) of 1990 Haut Brion for £6,630. Wine-searcher shows that this wine could have been bought for £4840 on 14.11.2013. It is currently being offered by Berry Bros & Rudd for £4920.
 
En primeur 2012
They were also persuaded to buy 2012 Bordeaux en primeur, which few would consider to be an investment vintage. The purchase was on 17.10.2013. Again they were substantially overcharged by Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd: 

a case (12 bottles) 2012 Haut Bailly for £635 and due for delivery in 2015. wine-searcher shows that this could have been bought for £455 on 15.11.13

a case (12 bottles) of 2012 Pontet Canet for £935 due for delivery in 2015. wine-searcher shows that this could have been bought for £650 on 15.11.13.

Not only have they been over-charged but the 2010 les Forts de Latour and the 1990 Haut-Brion have not arrived in their account even though they were bought on 19th September 2013 and 17th October 2013 respectively. 

 'The Buying Process'

'5. The wines are transferred to your account with 45 working days with a receipt' Blakeney Bridge Wine website  

'Our promise'!

AT has repeated chased up these wines speaking to a Nicola Martin – probably not her real name as telesales staff employed by these sharks prefer for rather obvious reasons to use a 'persona'. 'Nicola Martin' keeps making excuses saying that it could take nine months from the time of paying for the wine for it to arrive in AT's parent's account!

In this situation there is one very obvious solution: cancel the order under the Distance Selling Regulations. Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd are then obliged by law to provide a full refund.  

(I understand from AT that a letter was sent yesterday -18.2.2014 - to Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd at their registered office cancelling the order for the Les Forts de Latour and the 1990 Haut-Brion.) 

The Distance Selling Regulations come into force from the time the contract is concluded. Under the present legislation the buyer has the right to cancel goods bought at a distance eg by phone, email etc. for seven working days from the day after the goods are delivery. This period of seven days is extended to three months and seven days if the seller did not properly explain to the buyer at the time of purchase their rights under the law. 

I would be amazed if Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd explained properly to AT's parent their rights under the law. See here from Trading Standards. So order can be cancelled anytime from now to three months plus seven days after the wine is finally delivered.   

However, Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd should be well aware of the Distance Selling Regulations. As this is not the first time I have received complaints about Blakeney Bridge Wines pursuing vulnerable elderly people. Back in late 2012 they persuaded an elderly pensioner to cash in their perfectly good investments for Blakeney Bridge's over-priced wines.

The stung pensioner cancelled his order. Initially Blakeney Bridge Wine claimed that because wine was an investment and the price changed frequently it was a 'financial instrument', so exempt from the Distance Selling Regulations. Blakeney Bridge wanted it both ways – to punt an unregulated investment at vulnerable elderly people and then then to claim that it was exempt from the Distance Selling Regulations.

Fortunately Trading Standards were persuaded that this was nonsense and that the over-priced 'investments' from Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd were subject to the Distance Selling Regulations. The pensioner got a full refund on their wine but unfortunately lost substantially having paid a penalty on cashing in their good investments.          

***

Blakeney Bridge Wine Ltd was founded on 10 June 2011. Its current sole director and shareholder is 69-year-old Richard Allan. The company's registered office is Airport House Business Centre, Purley Way, Croydon, Surrey CR0 OXZ. Their trading address is unknown. 

The company's founding director was 23-year-old Phillip Stephen Watkins. He is now a director of London Carbon Neutral Ltd and Lcneutral escrow Ltd. Both companies have their registered office at Airport House. 

'Welcome To London Carbon Neutral

Here at London Carbon Neutral we have a portfolio of exciting carbon offset projects for companies and individuals to choose from. This allows you or your business to balance the CO2 emissions emitted while you implement your longer term CO2 emission reduction plans.'

'London Carbon Neutral helps to take the confusion out of buying and selling carbon offsets by providing a comprehensive yet transparent and straightforward service to our clients.'  

Financial Conduct Authority warning on carbon credit trading 

'what is most likely a scam.'

On 13th September 2013 the FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) issued a warning about carbon credit trading – 'Find out how carbon credit trading works, why we think you should avoid investing in carbon credits and related markets, and how to protect yourself from what is most likely a scam.'  

FCA warns on Graphene investments + Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd

Logo of the Financial Conduct Authority

The FCA (Financial Conduct Authority) issued a warning on 30th December 2013 about graphene investments:

'Graphene

Published: 30/12/2013   Last Modified : 02/01/2014

We are concerned about investments involving a man-made material called graphene. Find out more and how to protect yourself.

We are receiving many reports from people who have been offered investments in graphene, which is a type of carbon that may one day be used in display screens, electrical circuits and batteries. 

Why are we concerned?

We first uncovered this issue when we found evidence of a 'graphene investment firm' on the computers of a suspected boiler room. So we believe that the same firms that have sold other high risk, dubious products such as carbon credits, rare earth metals and overseas land and crops, are now trying to sell graphene.'

The full warning from the FCA is at the end of this post. 

•••

Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd

The FCA warning is very timely as just before Christmas a putative client of Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd passed me a contract from the company. The contract was an agreement to exchange wine for graphene:

Mayfair were kindly offering to exchange a half case (6 bottles) of 2006 Lafite Rothschild and a full case of 1996 Léoville Las Cases worth around £4800-£5000 for £6800 worth of graphene. Mayfair explain that: 

'At Mayfair Worldwide Trading Limited we have introduced an Asset Exchange program renowned within the city of London. We are currently undergoing a multi-million pound asset exchange program to innovatively get investors out of their under-performing assets with ease and efficiency.' 

I may be risk averse but if I had some 1996 Léoville and 2006 Lafite I would hang onto the wine, even though top Bordeaux has not performed well over the last couple of years. See Liv-ex blog here and Decanter here. Past experience suggests that in time the prices of these wines will increase and that wine should be seen as a medium to long term investment. So why would I want to take the risk with graphene even though Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd are kindly offering to exchange £6800 'worth' of graphene for wine worth less than £5000?

What in any case would I do with £6800 worth of graphene? Who would want it? The FCA point out that: 'Manufacturing companies that use the metals almost always buy them in very large quantities, making it highly unlikely they will deal with small independent retail consumers.'

Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd

Trusted Worldwide

What of Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd? Their glossy website claims that they are 'trusted worldwide' and that:

'With the combined knowledge and experience of our dedicated team of advisers, wealth managers and analysts we believe that we are the market leaders within the commodity sectors, we have an array of products ranging from Gold and Oil to Diamonds and Graphene.

We believe client relationship is key and that is the main cornerstone of our business, we work with many institutions and individuals to always ensure we are setting the highest standards possible.

For all of your alternative investment needs look no further than what our services can provide, our advisors are here from Monday to Friday to fully consult to your investment needs.' 

For a company that was only founded on 14th August 2013 to have become  'trusted worldwide' in less than five months and to be 'the market leaders' is a truly remarkable achievement! The genius running this company is 32-year-old Adam Edwards – amazingly for someone so talented this is his first directorship. 

Under the heading 'Risk Warning' Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd warn that 'The information contained in this website is not intended to constitute and should not be construed as, investment advice. Wise words from Adam Edwards, which I'm pleased to say the putative investor heeded and decided to hang onto his wines and not transfer them to Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd's account. His wines had been purchased from European Fine Wines Ltd and he had told them that he wanted to sell them.

I shall heed Adam Edwards' warning and steer clear of his Mayfair Worldwide Trading Ltd as his company is not qualified to offer investment advice. Nor are they registered with the FCA, so no protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.  

•••

  

The FCA's Graphene warning in full:  

'Graphene

Published: 30/12/2013   Last Modified : 02/01/2014

We are concerned about investments involving a man-made material called graphene. Find out more and how to protect yourself.

We are receiving many reports from people who have been offered investments in graphene, which is a type of carbon that may one day be used in display screens, electrical circuits and batteries. 

Why are we concerned?

We first uncovered this issue when we found evidence of a 'graphene investment firm' on the computers of a suspected boiler room. So we believe that the same firms that have sold other high risk, dubious products such as carbon credits, rare earth metals and overseas land and crops, are now trying to sell graphene.

Manufacturing companies that use the metals almost always buy them in very large quantities, making it highly unlikely they will deal with small independent retail consumers.

It has been reported to us that callers promoting investments in graphene are using dubious, high-pressure sales tactics and targeting vulnerable consumers. There is a strong possibility of fraud with graphene because it is unregulated and it is difficult to confirm that you have bought the genuine product.

Protection when investing 
Remember: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!

Most firms promoting and selling investments graphene are not authorised by us. We strongly advise you to only deal with financial services firms that are authorised by us, and check our Register to ensure they are.

If you buy an investment product from a firm that is not authorised by us, you will not have access to the Financial Ombudsman Service (ombudsman service) or Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) if things go wrong.

This also means you will not be able to take your case to the ombudsman service or FSCS if you cannot sell or trade your investment in rare earth metals.

You should also search our list of unauthorised firms to avoid doing business with, although the names of the firms are likely to change regularly.

There are more steps you can take to keep your savings safe – find out how to protect yourself from investment scams.

You can also find out what to do if you think you have been scammed.

http://www.fca.org.uk/consumers/scams/what-to-do-if-you-are-scammed