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We advise strongly not to take any trade or business involving the Zooter and/or Charles Werb.
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The true story of The Zooter and Charles Werb on the-Zooter.nl and Zooter.eu.

From May 2009 until November 2010, we have been the official European distributor for the Zooter and took care of distribution and (after)sales for the Zooter landsailer in Europe. We were (daily) in close contact with the creator of the Zooter, Charles Werb from Australia, licensing the manufacturing of Zooters in China.

Our objective was to maximize Zooter's share in the European beachsailer/landsailer market, and give maximum support to customers and dealers. Unfortunately, in practice this took a very different turn. Several events followed each other, -unsustainable delivery times caused by problems in production and transportation, Charles'private life, unreliable business partners, and conflicting messages- making it impossible for us to represent the Zooter with any satisfaction. Charles had, ofcouse, for every situation a beautifull story to tell.

To make a long story short: Orders in May and June 2009 were dropshipped directly from China. June 2009 we've ordered Zooters for our stock and payed upfront. Charles Werb promised we would have stock within six weeks. After lots of quiries about the wereabouts of our stock (and at least as many excuses - shipments had to be rerouted, shipment got lost, shipment had to come back due to lack of quality discovered after accident in UK - wrong or non existing Bill of loading, China was selling directly, had to move production etc etc,) we cancelled the order September 2010 and asked for a full refund. Both parties agreed on the amount of the refund, taking other deliveries and issues in account, and even set dates for the payments (refund in three payments, the last payment for end of March 2011). Several times this deadline was pushed further by Charles. After long persuation Charles made a first payment of 1000 USD by the end of March. Mind you, the 1000 USD do not even begin to cover the smallest part of our refund. This merely covers extra expenses we had to make on service costs as Charles could not deliver promised parts. At this time, Juli 2011, we still did not get another payment.

Charles Werb will surely try to convince you we're just another unhappy Zooter dealer, but we've got copy of all communication to proof otherwise.

So, is Charles Werb a conman, a scammer?
Some are convinced he is. I really can't say. I've collected some e-mails and stories from people that supposedly have been scammed by Charles. The events, excuses and timeframes strike me.

Read and make up your own mind:


Ola Svensson
Vaxjo Sweden
Former Scandinavian Distributor
E-mailadres: ola.svensson66(ad)netatonce.net
Her story:
I want to write about my experiences about Charles and Craig Werb, and their company The Zooter. I came in contact with Charles Werb and his company Zooter at the Chinese Internet page Alibaba, where he was looking for retailer to his landsailer "The Zooter". I looked up the product and it seemed to be established. I paid the 9063 usd to Zooter for a number of sets and for a distribution package. I signed a contract and was promised the district of Scandinavia. I also got tips on some events I would contact in Scandinavia. Charles promised to send the goods immediately and, according to Charles I would even be receiving the goods before the New Year, 2009th.
When my Zooters did not show up Charles explained that they were lost in Singapore, the world's most efficient port, but he would send new ones. The next time he sent me a barely legible bill of loading in my Zooters. It showed up to be false, the boat didn’t even exist. Then he would send them by air, but even those were lost in some strange way. This time, the Chinese people's fault and now he would clean out all the useless and assistant to take care of everything hisself. Now, I demanded my money back, and Charles would fix it immediately and I would receive compensation for the currency change. Now it was some wrong with my bank account it and the 5000 usd was sent back to Charles again. I threatened the police report and to write to all his retailers and then he paid 1000usd through paypal, after further pressure he paid another 1000usd , he promised that I would get the rest when his divorce was completed and the house sold, I got 1000aud. I threatened the police and received a counterfeit note from Charles bank again. I threatened at going out on face book and contact all of his dealers. Then Charles put the money into Paypal, and withdrew them before I could raise my limit. Now he will be reported to the police, debt collection and I will do everything to get him out of business and be happy convicted of fraud along with his son Craig. I will never get my money back but I promise that Charles should be busy sorting out all this stuff. Charles is not to be trusted, I ask you to put him under some pressure and tell him about me.
Charles has been involved in fraud for over ten years now, it is time to stop him now.
If you want evidence I will gladly send it to you.
Ola Svensson Distributer in Scandinavia




Nigel Osborn from Australia
E-mailadres: r.osborn(ad)bigpond.com

I'm sorry to hear you have become another victim of Werb. I presume like hundreds of others he owes you money. How much do you know about him? Look on Seabreeze & put his name into Google.
In case you don't know too much, I'll give you a potted history.
  • 1. He is a Jew from Cape Town, South Africa where his family was in the clothing business. His younger brother is the only honest one in the family & is a dentist in London.
  • 2. I say he is a Jew because he tells me that every day & how his father brought him up to be honest!!!
  • 3. He migrated to Australia about 20 years ago sponsored by a clothing company which he bankrupted within one year.
  • 4. He went to West Australia & made surf boards. He bankrupted Morey Surfboards, a large company, & went bankrupt himself for $1.5M
  • 5. Ran off to Eastern Australia, continued making surf boards & then kites, & went bankrupt again for $1.1M
  • 6. He was reported to the police, our tax office, security commission & did a little bit of week end jail.
  • 7. His house was in his wife's name and was repossessed by the bank. She, I believe has now divorced him.
  • 8. He then started up his Zooter business which as you know are made in China where he had already had business dealings.
  • 7. He sold distributorships which made him good money. I warned as many people as possible & more & more people learnt the hard way to keep clear of him.
  • 8. I believe he now sells mainly off his web site as so many distributors have withdrawn.
  • 9. His business address is on the Gold Coast.
  • 10. You should contact Zootersucks, the ex UK distributor, or Zebulon the Swedish distributor.
    He basically sells his product, gets paid & then doesn't deliver. For reasons I don't understand debt collectors don't seem able to collect, one reason being when he goes bankrupt, all debts are wiped out. At the moment I think he has money but I can't collect because of the stupid bankruptcy laws. Due to the poor construction of the Zooter, one customer has had severe facial injuries.
    Pure Rush was the UK rep and was conned out of a huge sum of money.
    I'm owed 30,364 USD and his ex business partner 200,000 USD. At the moment he should have money as he has sold several distributorships, so it would be a good time to get a decent debt collector onto him as he has paid out small amounts before. If he closes one business down, he just starts another. Like an alcoholic has to drink, he is a "conoholic" as he just has to con people including family & friends. It's a pity as he is a good salesman & would do well if he operated legally.. I've contacted various web sites but people like yourself still get caught even though he has been on Google and other sites for 6 years.




    The Ex UK distributor PureRush:
    This is just a warning about the construction of the Zooter landyacht and one of the owners on the company Charles Werb. I used to be the distributor of the Zooter landyacht in the Uk and discovered that the construction of the yachts is very poor making the buggy extremely dangerous. I have tried to resolve this with Charles Werb but he has gone into hiding. Since then I have found out a lot about his past business dealings and he is a very shady character to say the least. I am now collecting all the dirt on him and am going to expose him to all his existing business partners and customers. If you have had dealings with him in the past and have any information you could share please do so we can finally stop this guy from ripping other people off. Charles Werb is the owner of Zooter and he gets them made in Honk Kong and China. Not only are the buggies poorly constructed and things keep on falling off but if you take a magnet at touch it against various components on the buggy you will notice some peices are magnetic and some aren't. This shows different types of metal have been used for the construction. This is acceptable if you have special welding procedures otherwise the welds can be brittle and crack very easily. I have requested to see these welding procedures (and as the distributor for the UK I think I have the right and am duty bound by my customers) and Charles refused. The one weld in particular that concerns me is the weld that attaches the front wheel steering housing to the buggy. This has broken on a buggy previously and the woman went face first into the tar. The pics are not very nice.
    BE CAEREFUL!!!




    Feedback from Brian:
  • I finally got a chance to sail my zooter. Here is what I learned:
  • 1. Land sailing is fun. The first run is a bit terrifying, then it gets good.
  • 2. Zooters don't Work well on rough grass fields.
  • 3. Zooters don't work well for heavy guys despite reassurances that they would. I bent the frame, the steering started to come apart, the brake fitting cracked, The bolts holding the frame to the Rear axle kept coming loose, the seat started to tear, the sissy bar could not sat tight and kept moving, and the seat back broke.
  • 3. I am glad I am building a mini.
  • 4. Probably should have coughed up the extra bucks for a blokart.
    I have no illusion that I will get any warranty. You are apparently lucky to get your product, there is little chance of service. Anyway, I currently have a zooter for sale. It has only been used once. Will let it go cheap.




    Here are some links about Charles:

    http://www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Kitesurfing/General/Can-anybody-tell-me-about-XTC/?whichpage=2
    http://www.boards2go.com/boards/board.cgi?action=read&id=1108783750&user=ge11er
    http://caladineconsulting.com.au/?page_id=20
    http://ineedwind.com/forums/Land-Yacht-Sailing/General/Zooter-landyachts-and-Charles-Werb/



    Do you want to share your experiences with Charles, Zooter landsailer or XTC surfgear, or do you have any other links, please e-mail at: zooter(ad)landzeiler.nl.

    Francis

    Last update: July 5th 2011