What would make a phone call about wine investment to a non-client acceptable?

Following a meeting before Easter with some members of the WIA and two members of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau, here is in draft form (comments and suggestions are greatly welcomed) the conditions that I think would make a call to a non-client call acceptable.

A cold call is one to a stranger who does not anticipate a call and has not expressed an interest in wine investment. Such calls are not acceptable for the purposes of investment and are a high-pressure sales technique.

Calls can be made to non-clients who have expressed an interest in wine investment and who are aware that having expressed such an interest they can reasonably expect a follow up call. Increasingly this interest is likely to be expressed through a website. Companies should keep records of these leads to show that they were properly established leads and be able to produce them if challenged. If adopted by the WIA, these records should form part of the annual monitoring process.   

Obviously there have to be the necessary safeguards in place to ensure that potential client is not subject to inappropriate and high-pressure sales. At the start of the call the potential client must be given the opportunity to end the call. If calls are monitored then those called must be made aware that the calls are monitored. The threshold of high-pressure sales should be lower for the elderly and vulnerable.  

When a client places an order over the phone they must be made aware of their right to cancel as in line with the Distance Selling Regulations’ legislation.

This draft of acceptable conditions will have to take cognisance of any proposals and changes that are made by the new The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), which has now taken over from the Financial Services Authority.  

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Hugo Rose MW, chairman of the WIA, has called on the fine wine trade to support self-regulation and the WIA here in Harpers. A prerequisite of getting such support should be ruling out cold calls – ie those to strangers who have no reason to expect a call about wine wine investment.

Andrew Dunne looking for a Russian bride

My attention has been drawn to an advert featuring Andrew Dunne on the Russian brides match site. Mr Dunne describes himself as a 'very successful 'retired' Personal development and sales trainer. My success came from self discipline, self confidence and self reliance I gained from 25 years as a practicing martial artist'. Clicking on the photo brings up a selection of nine photos of the putative bridegroom.

Assuming that it is the same Andrew Dunne, who was company secretary of Liquid Acquisitions Ltd and was involved with a number of other dubious wine investment companies including Bordeaux UK Ltd, I'm a little surprised that there is no mention here of this aspect of his career. The birth dates don't quite match as records at Companies House show that Andrew Dunne was born on 18th May 1959 whereas on his Russian bride profile he has lost 10 years being born on 18th May 1969. As Mr Dunne is looking for a bride between 18-30, this would assist in making the age difference less marked.   


Details of fraud investigations carried out by the Mirror, some involving Andrew Dunne:

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/danger-wine-investment-1-winni.html

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/danger-wine-investment-2-premi.html

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/danger-wine-investment-3-borde.html

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/countrywide-land-fraud-heres-t.html

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2013/03/danger-green-investment-from-c.html
       

Good news: Action Fraud is working

I had a meeting last Friday with a couple of members of the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau. They reported on how well Action Fraud is working. They were very pleased with the leads and sometimes unexpected links this new system is now providing.

So it is very important that if you have concerns about your wine investments or about a wine investment company you should submit a complaint through Action Fraud.