For around two and a half months, there has been an increasing number of cases in which customers have been cheated out of their money by the online charter platform Zizoo. The YACHT editorial team was contacted by five readers who experienced every customer's nightmare: shortly before their charter, they were told by the fleet operator of the chartered yachts that the down payments from Zizoo had not been received, the contracts had therefore been cancelled and they would only get the boats if they paid again on site.
Even worse, in one case Zizoo even let the customers travel to Croatia for their holiday, and only when they arrived did the crews find out that the money had never arrived. This led to long discussions with the local charter company. Zizoo then promised immediate payment and the customers went sailing. On their return, however, it turned out that the payment had never been received. The charter base then simply wanted to withhold the deposit. It was only after a long dispute at the base and when the crew threatened to go to the police in Croatia that they got their deposit back. The customers then demanded compensation from the Zizoo management, but have not even received an answer to date.
The pattern is the same in all cases known to the editorial team: the advance payments were made by the customers on time, but Zizoo does not pass them on to the fleets.
In another case, the behaviour was similarly unscrupulous: the customer was contacted by the base after the first instalment for his charter on Elba was due, stating that it had not been received. He immediately contacted Zizoo, who explained that something had "gone wrong" with the payment. A short time later, the money was paid, but the customer suspected something bad and took out charter insolvency insurance. And right, shortly after the second instalment was due, the fleet got in touch again to say that the money had not arrived. The reader contacts Zizoo and is asked to pay the second 50 per cent of the contract amount again, saying he would get his money back in four weeks. Gritting his teeth, the customer pays again so that the holiday, flights and all the preparations have not been in vain.
In another case, Zizoo's behaviour was even more brazen: shortly before a charter in Croatia, the base contacted the customer again and explained that Zizoo had not paid, but that the ship could be handed over if payment was made again within three days. The customer's attempts to get Zizoo to make the payment in the next three days so that she and her crew can sail after all fail. Instead, Zizoo offers a completely different ship from Mali Losinj in Pula. The customer accepts the offer so as not to lose her holiday and money, but becomes suspicious. She contacts the charter company and asks whether there is a corresponding booking for her and her crew. He replies in the negative and says that Zizoo has not even made a booking enquiry and that the boat has been fully booked for the date for months. The crew then demand a refund and announce that they would otherwise press charges against managing director Anna Benicevic. Zizoo replies that they are working on another replacement booking. This is rejected and the customer insists on a refund of her payments.
At the same time as the cases reported to YACHT by readers, the online review platform "Trustpilot" is suddenly raining down devastating reviews from customers who report almost identical experiences across the board. Customer fulfils contract, on site or before the holiday then problems with the base to which the payments were not forwarded. More than 20 such entries can be found there, almost all of them with headlines such as "Beware of scams", "Beware of rip-offs", "Pure chaos", "Hands off" and similar. There are a further ten descriptions of similar cases on Tripadvisor.
What Zizoo says about the allegations
Zizoo claims to be the "world's leading online agency". The startup founded by Croatian Anna Benicevic in 2015 has also raised around 30 million US dollars in capital in various investor rounds over the last few years. As part of its growth, "Zizooboats GmbH" was also founded in Berlin, also with the Croatian as Managing Director.
YACHT's attempt to contact the German Zizoo branch office in Berlin initially failed because the telephone number given in the imprint says "no connection at this number". It is also noticeable that the website's terms and conditions have recently become unavailable. The editorial team ended up on hold with the customer hotline. It was only possible to obtain a statement from CEO Anna Benicevic on the cases described via the general central Zizoo e-mail address. She explains:
(...) "The summer season was exceptionally busy for us with a particularly high demand for boat holidays in Europe and the Caribbean. Unfortunately, due to the increased demand and an internal system change, alongside thousands of positive experiences this summer, there was a small proportion of customers who experienced disruptions in our service quality. We take this very seriously and are working to improve our processes.
As for the four customers you mention, I confirm that these cases have already been processed and no refunds are outstanding.
Regarding your point about Trustpilot: "We actively resolve incoming reviews and follow up verified reviews individually if we can link them to a genuine booking. Unfortunately, I cannot give you any information on reviews that have not been verified."
However, there has been no talk of compensation for the annoyance and problems experienced. To date, none of the customers have received an apology from the management, even though some of the cases occurred two months ago. In fact, the customers named to the company by YACHT have since received their money back or, as in two cases, have been able to get it back via the cashback function of their credit card after reporting Zizoo's unfair behaviour to the card operators and submitting corresponding applications. However, in the course of the correspondence between YACHT and Zizoo, another customer came forward who has not yet received a refund. This raises the question: Can Zizoo no longer even fully understand its own outstanding debts, or are only the cases that were explicitly enquired about by YACHT being dealt with?UPDATE:The question has been answered: Just one day after the Zizoo report was published on YACHT online, other German crews whose funds were not forwarded and have not yet been refunded contacted the editorial team. So Zizoo hasnot all outstanding debts have been settled.
YACHT asked a few fleet operators how their cooperation with Zizoo is going. It turned out that three major German and Austrian companies have already stopped working with Zizoo, in some cases two years ago, due to late payments and poor communication of information to customers.
Just a few weeks ago, YACHT reported on very similar incidents at a smaller British online agency and gave tips on how best to proceed with charter bookings in order to rule out risks from the outset or at least minimise them as far as possible.
Tips: You should definitely pay attention to this when chartering online
- Check the company headquarters and place of jurisdiction on the website imprint or in the terms and conditions of the offer sent to you. In the case of a German company, there should also be an entry in the commercial register. Germany is the first choice; in the event of a dispute, you can then take legal action under German law. Legal action abroad is often lengthy and usually not financially viable. Although EU law is currently changing and cases are increasingly being heard at the headquarters of the injured customer rather than in the charter company's country of origin, you cannot always rely on this.
- Enquire about securing your down payments via a security certificate or external insurers (e.g. "Checked & Trusted" from Yacht-Pool). You can take out the latter solution yourself, but then at your own expense. Important: It is of no use if the agency confirms that your payment is covered by a security certificate, you must also have written confirmation from the insurer. Otherwise, the only option is to take out your own insurance. There are providers (e.g. Pantaenius, Hamburger Yachtversicherung, etc.) who generally insure every charter contract they conclude. The costs depend on the charter sum.
- The members of the German charter interest groups (Verband Deutscher Yacht- Charterunternehmer www.vdc.de and Arbeitskreis Charter des BVWW ( www.charterboot.net ) have membership lists of their agencies online, which have generally been reputable and renowned companies for decades.
- Are there only standard advertising photos of the shipyard of your choice or real photos showing the yacht name, fleet name, cabins and saloon? The latter allows a much better view of the state of maintenance and equipment. Ask for the reason if there are only shipyard photos - or change the provider.
- Ask which services are explicitly included in the price. These should then be included in the contract and later in the boarding pass, which you will receive shortly before the charter. If the agency promises more than the provider offers free of charge on site, there may be discussions at the base.
- If you have questions about the area and boat, you should check the quality of the information. If the clerk "swims" quickly when answering detailed questions, you may be better off with a traditional agency with a trade fair presence.
- Do not rely solely on supposedly good reviews on rating portals. They may be fake or just from the early days of the company.
This also means that you can insure your charter sums, find out more in this new YACHT-tv article (see link below)
