Zaycon Fresh Foods has suspended operations
Ugh.
I placed an order for chicken breasts back in March, and then another order for shrimp in April.
They were due to arrive in July and August respectively, but I'd already been charged for them.
Zaycon put up a notice on their site that they were ceasing operations, effective June 25th. Just out of the blue like that.
I'm very shocked, as is the rest of the frugal living community, where people have been shopping with Zaycon for years. None of us expected Zaycon would just up and basically vanish one day.
I feel terrible because I know some of you had placed orders and were going to try it alongside me. I hope at least a fair number of you already got your deliveries!
For the rest of you, you might want to call your bank/credit card company to see if you can dispute the charges for non-delivery. I called my credit card company this week to file a claim, and it sounds like I'll have my money back within a week.
Phew.
You can also trying emailing them: questions@zayconfresh.com
But I would imagine that their email is completely flooded with requests for refunds and information right now, so I wouldn't be super surprise if you don't hear back from them for a while.
I tried calling their customer service number and it just rang indefinitely, so that seems like a no-go.
I hope very much that Zaycon puts forth some more communication about this and that they will do the right thing and either offer refunds or fulfill deliveries that were paid for.
However, there are no guarantees, and I decided I'd rather just go ahead and dispute the charge than wait around to see what Zaycon decides to do.
I try super hard to only share about companies that are reputable and established, and gosh, I felt sure that Zaycon was on the up and up, as did so many of my fellow frugal bloggers.
Hopefully more information will be forthcoming, although it's hard to imagine what explanation there is for just disappearing like this with no communication.
I'll let you know if I learn more!
Whoah! I’m sorry, this situation has got to be super frustrating for you and all of their other customers. I did some digging out of curiosity, and found this court filing: https://www.courthousenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Zaycon.pdf. In a nutshell, it sounds like power struggles between and financial mismanagement/fraud by the company leadership caused investment deals to go sour and they went belly up (it’s like an episode of Empire, but with food instead of music). I wouldn’t count on Zayco reopening or giving refunds any time soon :/
I heard from a fellow blogger who I consider to be a reliable source, that the investors sued Zaycon. Zaycon will be or has filed bankruptcy, per the driver who delivered the aforementioned blogger her order yesterday. 90% of Zaycon staff were laid off. Drivers with stocked trucks for Mon and Tues deliveries this week were told that they would not get paid, to donate the food to a local food pantry. SOME* drivers made the choice to deliver on their own dime. I wouldn't expect any further deliveries. Best to contact your CC company/bank immediately and dispute the charges. I had phoned my CC company but the division who handles disputes works banker hours. I promptly received e-mail communications from the dispute dept and had to supply the name of the company, the order, order amount, date of delivery, and proof that I tried to contact Zaycon. I provided the posted announcement on the Zaycon webpage, with the questions@ link that didn't work for me. Stated that their phone has been disconnected (I tried, the automatic message came on), and was able to forward an e-mail I sent. My refund is "pending." My CC's policy is that they reach out to the company, who has 30 days to respond/dispute the claim. If they don't respond, I've "won." The customer service rep. didn't feel that I'd have any issues. Fingers crossed as I have over $550 tied up, and just want to be made whole. What is most disappointing is how Zaycon handled this. I've been receiving almost daily promos from them, the last this past Fri. The know how to contact me, yet didn't have the courtesy to advise me directly that they were shutting down. I also suspect that they dupped many into buying at the end of things in order to build up some cash, which wasn't very ethical. Should Z ever get back up and running, I won't be using their service, feel really burnt by what has happened. SOMEONE there knew what was going to happen.
Yes, that's my biggest disappointment too. Why keep promoting sales when you know you're not going to deliver?
It would be one thing if, say, you were a brick and mortar store and you kept selling merchandise right up until the end. That's ok because the customer gets what they paid for. But in this case, people were paying and they are not going to get the merchandise.
You keep taking money from people in an effort to dig out and stay afloat. At some point they had to have known they couldn't fill all those additional orders for all of those rapid promotions they were offering. Fraud most likely. I see a class action suit coming.
Another reason to keep operations normal is to not scare away investors or buyers. Investors and buyers will have the inside scoop, but you won't be able to make a deal at all if you tell consumers to stop buying.
Part of the issue is that there was an ousted CEO and the insurance company who carried their liability insurance etc. refused to cover a suit that was filed. The judge determined that Cincinnati Insurance company was off the hook which led to Zaycon closing the doors.
There is a rumor that an owner is looking to open a company with other types of foods plus the meats, poultry and fish to be called SuperFresh.
Oh no I just feel really sad when companies go out of business.
I've seen lots of frugal bloggers and bloggers recommend Zaycon. I was just thinking about trying it the other day 🙁
QUICKLY get in touch with your CC company! I was reading on a FB post regarding this that some people are having issues because they placed the order over 60 days ago.. and their bank is denying claims due to the amount of time between charge and complaint...
Don't put up with that nonsense! (Not putting it more strongly because this is a family-friendly website.)
The cc co is using the wrong date. The relevant isn't the charge, it's when either 1) delivery should happen or 2) notification that delivery won't happen. Option #2 just happened, so your cc co is required to make good on their guarantees.
My card was through Chase, and they didn't give me any grief about the dates of the charges, even though they were from back as far as March. They asked me when the deliveries were due, so I'm guessing they're using that as the date that's relevant.
agreed, both the credit card and the bank wanted to know the expected delivery dates.
Woah!! Ok first of all, don't beat yourself up. I feel bad rec. things I like and someone else gets a bad experience because it didn't suit them / case of bad luck. It happens!
I'm really surprised a company could just fold like that though. What in the world happened... Its too late to be a April fool's day joke.
Any business could, theoretically, fold overnight. You have to meet payroll and pay vendors and at some point it all falls in on itself if you can't do that. It isn't ethical to not tell your vendors and customers, but companies sometimes struggle mightily to the bitter end and then disappear completely.
All online transactions are an act of faith.
I had this happen with my cell phone carrier Ptel. We had paid for the month, then we got a text that they were ceasing operations in 7 days. I scrambled to find a new low cost carrier (Metro PCS!) and switched 4 days later. Our credit card returned our payment since Ptel would not respond.
Another shoutout for Metro PCS! Four lines, unlimited talk and text with a huge amount of data for $101/month, all in. We don't need four lines, so we gave the 4th to a friend who is on a super tight budget. We bought the phone and shipped it to her, even though she lives on the opposite coast. Metro PCS doesn't care where your "family" is.
Oh no! I have never ordered from them, but I've seen them recommended so many times. That's terrible, and very, very unethical, if they knew they were folding and still took orders. I know some people are going to lose some money.
A company I worked for got sold to another, and management started making really bad decisions. They started having money troubles, but still acted like everything was fine. When they finally folded in late February one year, it was just about the same time that employees were finding out their health insurance was being denied because it had been cancelled by the employer Dec. 31st of the preceding year, without telling anyone, and with premiums still being taken out of their paychecks (the company was self-insured, using BCBS as a plan manager, but BCBS was not responsible for this mess). It was awful, and the worst part was, no one went to jail. Our retirement was locked completely in company stock, so we all lost our retirements, too. By sheer luck, I had switched to my husband's company insurance at the same time mine was secretly cancelled by my employer. Most were not lucky -- one woman who had a newborn use the NICU owed over a hundred thousand dollars, because her insurance had been cancelled behind her back.
Please keep us posted Kristen. I hope everyone who ordered gets their money back.
Oh my goodness! What an awful thing your former employer did.
It was. The man running the company gave himself a good retirement package, too, just before the company folded. It took all the strength I had and a lot of prayer to keep me from saying "Good!" when I heard he died of cancer a year or so later.
This happened to us with a different food delivery service last year. It had been in business for years (we had used them before, quit for awhile, and only recently came back). Out of the blue, an e-mail that they were closed and orders wouldn’t be delivered. We weren’t out any money, luckily, but we were supposed to get a free order that week so it still was a bummer.
Thanks for the info! I was so looking forward to using Zaycon now that we’re living near family and can share the orders. I hope no one has an issue getting refunds but I’m fairly certain credit card companies protect consumers in these situations.
Thank you for posting this! I was supposed to pick up a delivery tomorrow and had no idea. Hopefully my credit card company can help.
Did you get a cancellation email? I got two this morning.
Yes, after I posted this I got both an email and a text. Still working with the credit card company...
Thanks for posting a timely update on this. Since Zaycon didn't bother e-mailing customers with pending orders, I wouldn't have known to dispute the CC charges. How disappointing.
Zaycon delayed my deliveries for shrimp and bacon just enough to put me over the the time period to get a chargeback by my CC company. They have filed a dispute but say I probably won't see any of the $236.
You will get your money back if you protest the charges. The card carrier will send a ticket to Zaycon for info regarding the charge and if they don't answer the charges have to be refunded to you.
I've had a little experience in this area. Nobody can say a word before the plug is pulled. Sometimes, a bank closes a company's access to credit or freezes their accounts unexpecetdly and they literally fold overnight. Employees show up to work and there's nothing there. They don't tell, typically because they just can't. Wishing Zaycon had done otherwise is just a waste of your precious life energy. Better to spend it with your CC company, trying to get a refund asap. Also, this is a good lesson in why it's better to use a CC than a Debit card.
Sorry to everyone who got caught in this mess, but life will go on. Imagine how their employees and their employees families are feeling right about now.
I hope some food bank recipients are enjoying some mighty fine "surprise" chicken. I'd really hate to hear it had gone to waste.
Years ago, a friend of mine was a flight attendant for a then-major airline (Braniff). While they were making a full cross-country flight, the airline went belly up. The pilot was told that their flight had been declared an emergency. Talk about no warning and scary to boot!
I just received a text from Zaycon that my orders would not be delivered.Very disappointed in the company as they had been advertising sales up to the end.
CTMOM- I totally agree. We had 2 pick-ups scheduled as well.
I called my CC company 2 days ago when a fellow blogger told me about it. DH is on the phone now to get his $ back. His bank says they've been taking these calls all day...…
I'm sad as they had a great product and in my opinion, a good way to deliver the product without a lot of overhead. I don't know how they handled their financials or anything but as a customer, it was a shock and not the right way to handle it.
Ugh! I put my first order in back in April for $300 after hearing lots of good things on this blog and others. The pickup wasn't until August and I was incredibly leery about paying for something that far ahead of time. I should have gone with my gut. I just looked at my CC website and they said they have to be disputed within 60 days so I bet I'm just out the money. Maybe they'll have better news when I call after work but I won't hold my breath. I feel like an idiot!
Deb, see my comment about about when the 60 days should start.
You were right! I called them when I got home last night and they are processing the dispute! Woohoo!
I had a bad feeling shortly after placing the order and I went back and forth about cancelling my order. Guess Zaycon decided for me.
Although I totally respect how many people Dave Ramsey has helped, things like this is why I've never understood or agreed with the vilification of credit cards.
I understand a lot of people don't have control, but giving other people access into your bak account (via debit card) makes me totally feel out of control!!
I LOVE my credit card and I do feel secure using it. I get instant texts any time a charge is placed so I feel totally in control of what happens.
I recently received a text from my cc, looked at it, saw it was a charge from a jewelry store, immediately locked my card and reported it, and charge was removed.
Wow, this doesn’t surprise me. I had used them a few times in the past for chicken breast and ground beef. The last time I ordered chicken breasts the end of this last year (we are still finishing the meat now) it was not the quality it used to be. The meat was so rubbery and not the right texture. I had decided I wouldn’t be going down that route since I can get better deals locally that are easier for me to process and freeze.
It definitely sounds like operations were not being conducted honestly over there. I am SO SO glad I didn’t have a pending order with them. I would be so mad.
They currently have 2 large court cases pending against them, one is from their former CEO for 6.5mil that their liability ins wouldn’t cover. Both cases had court proceedings Monday, so it looks as though these cases didn’t go in their favor. They also owed a lot of Bloggers money for posts made promoting their products. It definitely seems like they are done for good at this point. If what another poster stated is true that one of the owners is thinking of starting a new business "SuperFresh" that makes me so angry. He is going to have an uphill battle getting that going since they have literally abandoned so many customers virtually out of nowhere, with many have lots of money tied up and already charged with maybe no recourse of refund at this point. Word gets around fast, people aren't going to be happy about it.
When bloggers started saying their orders were being pushed back I decided not to take a chance.
I'd never used them before, so when my order got pushed back, I didn't think anything of it. I just figured it might be an innocent supply issue. Oy.