Victims of Wine Escape ‘scam’ hit dead end trying to recover money as company goes out of business

Several victims who went on wine-themed getaways at hotels in Cornwall have hit a dead end trying to get their money back because the company went bust and Action Fraud said it would not investigate.

Scores of people from Cornwall paid £65 a head to attend one of four plush sound parties which were announced at venues in Redruth, St Ives, Newquay and Padstow last month. But just days before the first event, organized by the Wine Escape company, the hotels confirmed that no reservations had been made and that no such thing was taking place.

People were furious and accused the business, which is registered on Companies House, of being a scam afterwards. One group paid £800 for tickets ahead of the 1920s-themed occasion. It was only after the first event in St Ives was due to start that Wine Escape emailed those with bookings to say it had been canceled.

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Ironically, the event description said the escape room story involved a story where “the holidays turn sour when a storm of revenge, lies and deceit spoils the evening.” Despite telling customers they would get their money back after a complete quiet period, no refunds materialized.

The company number shown on the Wine Escape website is linked to a business based in Staffordshire on Companies House called Cherry Tree Productions Limited which was incorporated in February 2022. This company is more than six months in arrears on its accounts and it was almost canceled earlier this year. .

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Director Rebecca Jayne Dignon is also listed by Companies House as a director of a second company called White Star Studios Limited, the nature of which is described as “conference organizer activities”. It was incorporated in October 2023.

Companies House says he is also a director of a third company called Flix24 Limited, with a registered address at 8 Bank Street in Newquay, the former home of the Palm Bay Cafe. Flix24 Limited was incorporated on April 13 and is listed under the business category “off-licence restaurants and cafes”.

In an initial statement after the accident in Cornwall, Wine Escape said it had “temporarily” suspended its business operations. However, earlier this month the company announced it was insolvent. In a further statement, it blamed an “unprecedented increase in costs”, saying it wanted to go through the insolvency process with “integrity and responsibility”.

Action Fraud has now also confirmed to one of the victims this week that it will not follow up on her fraud report. An email to Ali Sainsbury-Read, who paid £118 for a rare night out with her husband, read: ‘I’m sorry to hear you’ve been the victim of a crime. Thank you for taking the time to report to Action Fraud. .

“Your report has been forwarded to the National Fraud Intelligence Bureau (NFIB) for review. NFIB experts review the information you provide.

“Where possible, the information is also compared with other available data to enrich and corroborate the details of the fraud. The NFIB assesses whether there are viable lines of inquiry that would allow a law enforcement agency, such as the police service, to investigate.

“On this occasion, based on the information currently available, it has not been possible to identify a line of inquiry that a UK law enforcement organization could pursue.

“Registered users of our service have the opportunity to update their report, so if you have additional information about your offense that you think might change your rating, please log in to your account and submit that information. We are continually evaluating individual content and reports of crime, if a line of inquiry is identified we will provide you with an update.”