Looks like 2019 isn’t turning out to be a good year for ‘miles’ company.
With news of oBike and Ofo’s impending demise, both truly-hyped bicycle transportation companies for first-mile-last-mile solution, the writing seems to be finally on the wall for another ‘miles’ company.
And that would be Zuji.
Yes, that company that allow(ed) you buy cheap airline tickets, make hotel bookings and even car rental reservations for a super-low price.
Now it would appear that memories are all that’s left.
Some scribbles here, some scribbles there
In all honestly, the signs have been there for all to see.
To make things digestible, here’s a very conveniently packaged list of events that have transpired since right about the tail-end of 2018
November 2018
- Zuji fails to pay up for tickets it sold to customers.
- Suspended by International Air Transport Association’s (Iata) centralised air ticket billing service from selling tickets through a settlement program with participating airlines.
- Stuff cut from Singapore office as Zuji’s stated new direction was to shift its focus and operation to Hong Kong.
- Zuji Singapore website temporarily closed to make way for improved and revamped website come Q1 2019.
December 2018
- Zuji’s travel license lapsed in Singapore and was no longer able provide travel products and services here
January 2019
- Zuji puts up a Facebook post on 11 January 2019, sharing that they were “experiencing technical difficulties on processing refunds” and were taking “all necessary action” to have their “refund process resume as early as possible.”
- On the same day, ST reported on the refund issue and stated that Zuji Hong Kong’s travel agent licence had also expired on 9 January 2019.
- On 15 January, ST reported that Zuji “appears to have ceased business, after failing to renew its travel agent licences in both Singapore and Hong Kong.”
- When ST visited the Zuji’s office at Novena Square on 15 January, its doors were closed and lights were off.
- Zuji Hong Kong and Singapore’s website both appears to be down.
Image: Zuji redirecting page
- The Consumers Association of Singapore (CASE) shared “that they received 33 complaints 3 complaints against Zuji in the past year relating to delays in refunds after travel bookings were cancelled, additional charges, and unsatisfactory service, among other issues” according to the ST report.
All that remains; refunds
Now, it would seem that this latest report has all but confirmed our greatest suspicion.
That Zuji is well and truly going under.
In fact, even Google has “confirmed’ the news:
All that remains seems to be the outstanding refunds that Zuji had promised to make on their 11 January Facebook post; but even that seems to be an increasingly impossible dream.
With refund-related comments going even way back to July 2018, it would seem that Zuji has been facing issues for quite some time.
The reports and issues that have surfaced since November 2018 onward may well and truly be merely the tip of the iceberg for what was once a Asia-Pacific’s leading online travel agency.
#RIPZuji
Here’s a simplified summary of the South Korea martial law that even a 5-year-old would understand:
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