Virgin Wines

Hi all,

Anyone use Virgin Wine to get their plonk? Any thoughts/impressions you'd care to share with someone thinking of trying them out?

They've offerred me a trial to try out their new 'Winebank' scheme (direct emails only, not on the website apparently) where signing up will get me a free half-case of wine. Tempted to try it for the cost of delivery, but general impressions about their service/wine quality would be of interest.

Cheers,

Darryl

I have used them a couple of times - we got all the champagne for our wedding through them and each time i have been really impressed with the service and speed of delievery. I havent tried their no quiblle returns/refund service (because no need!).

Be prepared to be reasonably bombarded with emails of offers by them though - pretty much on a weekly basis.

Hope this helps!

Mark

[Neil]

I have also used them a couple of times, initially to get the 750 sign up miles and to be fair the wine was of quite a good quality if not the greatest, but more than drinkable after a hard days work. The delivery service is quick but like Mark said you do get lots and lots of emails from them.

Neil

I'm a member of their Discovery Club - they offer you a case every quarter of wines they think you might like. I specified 'full and fruity' reds and enjoy trying out bottles I may not normally buy.

My wife ordered a case of whites by accident and on request it was picked up and the money refunded without quibble. Delivery and pickup have been speedy and without problem - the driver leaves the case in a pre-arranged place in the side porch to my house.

All in all - a top service and 750 FC miles per order to boot! (As long as you give them your FC number when you order).

Cheers!

Tony

[Decker]

The 750 miles have been removed unless you order via the website link. I've cancelled by quarterly in protest... though the current reds were stunning

I've only used Virgin Wines the once, and it was a bit of a hit and miss affair to be honest.

I placed an order which was all fine, then a few days later I got an email to say that 4 of the bottles of regular Laurent Perrier were not available, and would I take Laurent Perrier Ultra Brut instead for the same price [^]

Phoned Virgin Wines who knew nothing about the email [n] but sorted it out in the end and I got the wines about a week later. The order tracking on the website is a bit poor to be honest. But it all arrived well packed and I'm happy with the purchase.

Lastly, my 1000 miles didn't post ( within a week according to the Virgin Wines website, but when I phoned them they said it takes more like 4 weeks ) and I've now chased Flying Club to get the credit. The order was submitted with my FC number, so I'm not going to be fobbed off with any nonsense about not putting my FC number into the order correctly.

The news that for FC miles to be posted you have to use a special hidden link rather than going through the normal website is just stupid and designed to cause trouble. Sheesh.

In comparison, I have to say all orders with Tesco Wines have always been delivered within a 1 hour time slot, been very competitively priced and have always posted the 1000 clubcard points ( 2400 BA Miles )

Apologies for a slight rant..

David.

[Bazz]

We have used them stacks of times and have never had a major problem - delays once due to warehouse issues but other than that, nothing.

The 'special hidden link' is simply http://www.virginwines.com/earnmiles
and if you order by phone you are supposed to quote 'ifly' to get you miles credited, neither options really represent a hardship.

I agree witrg Bazz, the link is simple and shown above, but it does however seem a bit stupid to not simply process all orders in the way.

I am a member of the discovery club and order in addition to this and have always found them reliable and the service is great. If you speak to them a couple of times you will get a named 'wine advisor' who you can speak to/email with any queries in future.

I have on the odd occasion reported what we considered to be a bad bottle of wine and on each occasion had the cost of that bottle refunded to my a/c.

G.

Graham!

What the eck are you doing posting on this forum when you are on Honeymoon?[:0]

Hope the actual day went well[y]

Originally posted by markb
[
Be prepared to be reasonably bombarded with emails of offers by them though - pretty much on a weekly basis.

And the problem is....?????!!![:w]

Thanks for the comments, all. I've taken them up on their 'Winebank' scheme after getting confirmation that I'll still get FC miles on each order!

My half-case of whites and reds for 5.99 should arrive sometime this week, so let's see how well they deal with my delivery instructions... [:)]

Darryl

Ordered the case of Reds 10 days ago, it arrived 2 days later and the miles appeared today.

[:)]

Tony

I tried them to buy and deliver wines for clients at xmas and found them perfect and very goood indeed ( plus I got the miles)

Well, the half-case arrived intact and left where instructed with no problems and my follow-up case of whites arrived today after being ordered on the Friday - not bad at all!

Just need to make sure my FC miles are credited, but I'll give them a week or so before I worry about that. [:)]

So yes, impressed with their service so far and I'll use them again.

Darryl

I've just had a quick look at Virgin Wines as my 21st is coming up so lots of miles potential! It is sensible to split the order up into several to boost miles earning? I'm thinking maybe a case per week for a few weeks rather than doing it all in one go. I couldn't see anything in the T&Cs about minimum orders or frequency of orders to qualify for miles.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,

Ben

[preiffer]

No problem with that Ben, but bear in mind you'll have to pay delivery on each order that way.

Thanks for that, good point about the delivery. Luckily my dad is also a bit miles mad so once I've explained why I'm doing it he should be applauding my enterprise!

[preiffer]

It's an interesting one, when you compare it to the buy miles option.

IF you want the wine anyway (and I mean, REALLY want/need the wine, otherwise this is irrelevant)

£300 BUYS you 19,000 miles with VS' own scheme.

50 delivery charges at £5.99 = £299.50, which 'buys' you 37,500 miles.


As I say, if you don't want wine, and are just doing it for the miles it's a bad deal (after all, the case of wine is another 50 x £40-150 ish!). BUT, if you do, it's a much more efficient way of 'buying' miles. [y]

I just ordered a case for a Fathers Day gift - will let you know when / if the miles are creditted.

The site seems easy to use although is a little restricted on selection. An easy way to keep topping miles up however!

For selection I'd recommend BBR or Majestic.

That's a good way of looking at it. I guess I'd also have to take into account the fact that the wines seem to be a bit cheaper at Tesco/Majestic.

Isn't it 750 miles per order though, so 37,500 for 50 orders?

[preiffer]

Originally posted by benamure
Isn't it 750 miles per order though, so 37,500 for 50 orders?

Sorry, got it wrong - corrected post above too.

Oooh, I've just seen (from memory it used to be 1,000 for first, 750 thereafter) that the 'new' welcome bonus is 3,000 miles. Must have missed that one!

Originally posted by benamure

Isn't it 750 miles per order though, so 37,500 for 50 orders?

..That's a heck of a lot of wine....!![y]

Another thought... via Tesco Wine Club you get 1000 bonus Clubcard points per £75 spent on wine (using the right code) so..

£75 spent at Tesco.com = 1000 clubcard points = 2400 BA miles....
or
~£60 spent at Virgin wines = 750 VS miles....

Sorry Nick I don't know anything about BA Exec Club. I'm a bit concerned though that when I start work in August, my employer's preferred carrier will be BA *shudder* and I'll be forced to acquaint myself with it.

Anyway, back on topic, just ordered a case of wine, so a handy 3k miles should be on the way. That said, whilst 3k miles is plastered all over the Virgin Wine site and the VS site, the FC T&Cs on the Virgin Wine website say you only get 1,000 welcome miles. Hopefully that's just out of date. I'd be interested to know how many you get credited Nick

Thanks,

Ben

Keeping my fingers crossed - Virgin Wines website states 'Order being assembled'.

My order's turned up in one piece. I'm impressed with how straightforward it all was, although I'll reserve final judgement until I see some miles!