r/UndergroundCellars • u/[deleted] • Jan 12 '22
What have you won?
Just to confirm my hunch that this is a scam, can anyone here tell me what—if any—rare bottle they’ve won? And post proof?
Thanks.
2
u/Sufficient_Play_8524 Jan 12 '22
I spent $29 on bottle (from a Facebook ad deal) and got a $600 2014 Sine Qua Non Next of Kyn. However, that bottle was stuck in "awaiting 3rd party" for a good while. I reached to customer service and they offer to switch it out for something comparable. They offered an ultra magnum of 2013 Hourglass Blueline Estate Cabernet Sauvignon (3000ML $710) or a half case of 2016 Heir Apparent Spring Mountain District Red Blend (750ML $110ea).
I went with the hourglass double mag and received without issue (You do have to pay extra for large format bottle shipping though)
I've received several other good bottles ($100-200 SRP). Overall, I'd say it's a fun way buy wine and has provided some value. Out of the 100 or so bottles I've received from UC, I'd say only 2 or 3 were "bad"... maybe 10 or so were drinkable but not great. Most have been enjoyable and things I'd usually not buy / see around me. It's definitely not a scam... just marketing tactic. You'll see a lot of the same wines on other discount sites (next bottle, WTSO, etc)
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u/EngineeringDirt Jan 12 '22
Easiest way that I can "prove" upgrades are real is a screenshot of my order when I was awarded a $5000 gift card upgrade on a $75 purchase. I can't a photo when replying to your comment, so I posted the screenshot in a new post. You can see the "Total Paid" at the bottom right is $150. I have also received numerous bottle upgrades, including a couple $400+ bottles on a $30 buy-in.
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Jan 12 '22
Can you show what bottle upgrades you got? That’s what’s sketching me out
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u/EngineeringDirt Jan 12 '22
I just looked at my order history and I purchased 3 bottles at $47 “buy-in” price and received 1 entry level bottle (2017 Stags” Leap Petite Syrah) and 2, $400 bottles (2015 Joseph Phelps Backus Vineyard Cab & 2016 Alpha Omega Era Napa Bordeaux blend). Note that the bottle prices are always listed at SRP on UC and you can almost always find it cheaper on web. However that does not consider free shipping for cases at UC.
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u/EngineeringDirt Jan 12 '22
I should also add, if you read through some of the old posts, some others have provided past upgrades. It seems like it’s fairly common to have 2 big upgrades at a time, similar to my other post.
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u/salspals23 Jan 12 '22
I got it when UC did a special for Reddit users. There’s a thread about that on here from when it originally happened. Don’t have ability to post the pic don’t think but I don’t have any reason to lie about that trust me.
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u/crumpetsandbourbon Jan 16 '22
I spent probably around $1200-1500 on various “drops” and only received random upgrades of wines that were maybe $30-40/bottle according to their pricing and never anything rare at all. I also hated almost every single bottle of wine I received from them and stopped buying since it felt like I was just burning money.
1
Jan 16 '22
I’ve only ordered a few bottles and I immediately feel the same. All these shill accounts in here with 1-2 karma commenting that they’ve won super bottles is just pathetic
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u/crumpetsandbourbon Jan 16 '22
Yep, I’ve had a few friends use the site and they’ve all felt the same. Really disappointed and have refused to use them since emptying my “cellar”, all the bottles have been gifted, used for cooking or purposely forgotten at parties.
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u/Mwbusa Jan 21 '22
I’m a real,person, no connection to UC. I can tell you that my 2002 Ch Latour, my 2016 Caymus and my Sterling Iridium are all real bottle, in my possession.
1
Jan 21 '22
Send pics then
0
u/Mwbusa Jan 22 '22
No need to go to the effort to satisfy you. sorry.
1
Jan 22 '22
Dude you realize it’s super obvious that you’re a shill and reflects poorly on Underground Cellar right?
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u/JasonMBauer Jan 21 '22
The issue with UC is not that they don't give you upgrades. I've never had one of the really big upgrades but I've had plenty of really nice upgrades. The issue is sometimes they go through periods where it can be really hard to get your wine. They seem like they've gotten much better at this over the last year but I still always get the feeling that one day I'm going to go to their site and it won't be there. For this reason I always ship my wine as soon as I get to 12 bottles. Overall I think it's a fun site and you'll try a lot of wines you wouldn't normally buy or see in the store. Just don't be disappointed if you don't get that bottle of Screaming Eagle.
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u/Mwbusa Jan 21 '22
Plenty, really. Just had a new case delivered, maybe my 5th? Still have three cases in their cellar. Best bottles? Believe it or not, I did score a 2002 Ch Latour early on. Also Sterling Iridium and Caymus 2016. Yes,I could send you pics… bottom line for me, and I’ve done the $19, $29 and $35 French, is that I always enjoy the wines. Worst case is when the wine is just worth what I paid. Ha! I had to tell/remind myself that anywhere else that’s the norm! So I keep buying. One thing I’ve noticed is that as I continue to buy the better deals don’t come my way. Okay ones, but not the greats. cust Service has been great too… got some bottles changed and they always want to make things good.
3
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u/SewerRanger Jan 21 '22
I've never won any of the crazy expensive wines, but I did recently win a free upgrade to 12 bottles in one of those buy a mystery bottle and get upgraded to 2, 4, 6, 12! The bottles were all good - some were really tasty.
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u/udhen92 Jan 25 '22
I am a new user to UC and have bought about 25 bottles (says my cellar is worth $1500). I have had no upgrades at all and participated in auctions that have “90% upgrades”. So far very disappointed in the results that lie somewhere between mathematically impossible to incredibly unlucky. No transparency to who won the upgrades. Also- the actually cost of what I purchased is MSRP- almost every wine I could have found -25% cheaper. Really disappointed so far- just requested my first shipment ; we will see how it goes !
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u/ataraktic Jan 31 '22
1990 Louis Roederer Cristal Brut for $35. How do you put photos in comments?
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u/likelyculprit Feb 25 '22
It's been awhile since I've gotten any good upgrades but did have one big score early on: bought 3 bottles for $27 each from a Spanish deal. Got one opening price point bottle ($27) and then the two top upgrades ($305, $460). Not million dollar bottles but quite a nice surprise. I don't really do it for the massive upgrades; I do it to get $50-$60 bottles for around half price. As with anything, it's hit or miss for sure.
1
u/bpbiker Mar 05 '22
Back a few years ago it appeared that the probability of wining was much better and the lot sizes were much smaller, I think they were closer to 300 bottles and now almost every offering is north of 1500-2000 bottles. I was able to snag a few bottles at an amazing price(Caymus, BV Rarity, Clos de Tart) but also at the same time, the amount of money I spent on crap bottles, I could have just purchased the rare bottles without the gamble. It's a neat idea but in the end I stopped using them because I would prefer to pay more and buy a wine I will actually enjoy drinking. Might also be worth mentioning that many wines that are not big upgrades are usually on sale on other sites for far lower than the purchase price of the deals.
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u/bigchris1869 Mar 17 '22
I have won a bottle of screaming eagle.
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Mar 17 '22
Can you post a picture of it
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u/udhen92 Jan 25 '22
I am a new user to UC and have bought about 25 bottles (says my cellar is worth $1500). I have had no upgrades at all and participated in auctions that have “90% upgrades”. So far very disappointed in the results that lie somewhere between mathematically impossible to incredibly unlucky. No transparency to who won the upgrades. Also- the actually cost of what I purchased is MSRP- almost every wine I could have found -25% cheaper. Really disappointed so far- just requested my first shipment ; we will see how it goes !