| j3rkules |
11-09-2015 07:16 AM |
Following my disastrous experience with the company Zombaio (Zombaio.com), I want to share my experience in the hope that it may prevent others falling into the same trap.
Zombaio is now owned by Paynet System (paynetsystems.com) who is under lots of warnings also on many sites.
To make a long story short, they stripped me of over $ 10,400. This is 6 months worth of income for my site that I use primary to pay for expenses and a small salary.
Now for the full story:
I opened a dating site back in 2009, The Slave Market (slavemarketbdsm.com) a BDSM oriented site. At first a free site, I quickly realized that I had to at least cover my servers’ costs, time, etc. Nothing crazy, I make more or less $ 2 per hour after all expenses are paid for.
So in 2009, I set up a payment system with PayPal. Of course, it was only a matter of time before they closed the account because it is an adult site. After a moment of research, I turned to CCBill (ccbill.com) to handle payments by credit cards, debit and phone. We are now in 2010.
CCBill is a recognized and robust company. They are serious and pay every week. But they are expensive, very expensive. And their requirements about a site’s content in a BDSM context end up in being a certain censorship.
So I went out to find another company that would be less expensive, more flexible, and above all, give me some security. Since moving from Paypal to CCBill had deprived me of one month’s worth of income. I did not want to be caught again in a situation where I could not receive any payment. I remind you that I basically want to cover my costs. So during this time, I paid out of my pocket all that costs to maintain the site.
After a while looking for companies processing credit cards and comparing their rates, my choice went to Zombaio. If I had read on a blog just one story like mine, I would have understood why this company has such low rates!
I must say that from 2010 to 2013, things went relatively smooth. Of course, half the checks regularly arrived late, but the following one generally arrived on time. So I was tight for a while, then I got two checks in quick succession.
I should have known better from that moment actually. But with no censorship and low rates Zombaio blinded me and I didn’t react. I thought at worst, I could fall back on CCBill quickly; my account was still open and active, even though I did not use it.
I didn’t get that the trap was closing in on me. Payments from Zombaio did not just stop overnight. It was very subtle: first a delay in May. Then a letter from the president in June explaining that a third company was responsible for the situation, but that everything would be back to normal as soon as August. The delay continued to accumulate, but a check did arrived from time to time… for a while…
I was telling myself that it was not their fault and to change company was hard work. Not to mention that most of the companies, including CCBill, ask $ 500 per year per credit card (ie $ 1,000 per year for Visa and Master Card) to manage the risk of a site like mine.
As luck would have it, I was short on cash because of Zombaio’s delays; I was not in a position to spend $ 1,000. The best thing to do was to wait until August. It was not that far after all.
Then in August, I received another message announcing a new partnership that would save the company! Of course, almost unnoticed, we were told that payments will resume in October instead of August. Just when I thought that this was enough, a check arrived. Well, they were already two months behind on payments, but they still paid … sometimes.
I did not realize then that what they paid was actually only a fraction of what they collected on my members’ credit cards. I think I wanted to believe in them. It’s stupid, in retrospect I should have been gone by that time. But October after all was not so far away either.
September passed and then came October. Checks are now nonexistent, but a word from the « new » president arrives… announcing that payments would resume for November onward! And that amounts due before this date will be placed in a special reserve to be paid as soon as possible.
As soon as possible? I had to borrow to survive this period, new payments will be issued at the end of November only and the amounts due (in my case, $ 10,400) paid when possible, if paid at all!
This is the situation in which I find myself. Of course, I am now with CCBill (so I had to spend $ 1,000 extra from money I borrowed). My hope of seeing that money is thin, because I know there are thousands of businesses in the same situation as me with Zombaio. Imagine the total amount due (and stolen) by these scammers. They will never be able to pay.
My only hope is to write my story and have others write their story to prevent future potential victims. I want to warn my contacts, the contacts of my contacts, my members and their contacts, the remaining Zombaio’s customers and state clearly that it is out of the question to deal with them and with any client that uses them as processing company. Let’s be clear: as a customer, do you really want to give your money to scammers if you know the company you buy from will not receive a penny?
As a company, stay away from Zombaio. As a client, do not use a site that uses Zombaio.
This is not a simple boycott for moral or other reasons. This is a clear statement: people who steal from small companies should not have the right to exist on the Internet. I probably do not have the means to go and fight them in court in Sweden (Though if I get the opportunity, I will do it with joy!), But I have the ability to tell people so that they know, increase consumer awareness and especially clients remaining with Zombaio so that we put these thieves out of business. They’ve been at it for too long.
If you have a similar story to tell about Zombaio, write to me here, I will be happy to put it online so that this movement grows in credibility. Zombaio must be stopped at all costs.
(All amounts are in US $. I’m in Canada, add the exchange rate.)
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