Tip Top Electronics

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OldCarlos said:
Ben or his associate are obviously keeping tabs on this thread, just as they are with the `review` sites, including getting negative comments removed where possible, but rather than answer the legitimate questions being asked about their strange T&C's himself, he asks a `customer` or two to post a positive `review`?
(there is another positive `review` here which sounds similar to Joels; http://www.reviewcentre.com/Electro...cs-www-tiptopelectronics-co-uk-review_2365226 )

Ben? You aint doing yourself any favours!
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They probably employee Indian chaps from fiverr website to write reviews. 100 reviews for £5
I've done a bit of digging around and 80% of their website traffic comes from India. Not exactly their target marget.
 
Elliott, I take it you're just a tad cynical then? ;) :LOL:

(I'm sure Ben disassociated himself/tiptop from the Indian....Australian......NZ....... parts of the `business`) :rolleyes:
 
ecoleman said:
They probably employee Indian chaps from fiverr website to write reviews. 100 reviews for £5
I've done a bit of digging around and 80% of their website traffic comes from India. Not exactly their target marget.
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I can understand why people would be cynical of a customer coming to support a company that has had bad press, well not really bad press just assumptions as none of you seem to have had an experience of actually buying with the company bar one of you.

So what if the domain points to Australia, and his office is probably his house, as long is the products you order get delivered I don't see what the problem is.

I am always sceptical about these kind of companies but having spoken to Ben on the phone several times prior to ordering I was happy and the added fact you can pay with paypal which immediately protects your payment it was really a no-brainer.

I run a small business and obviously if I got slated on the internet I would have no work and my company would fold, I would imagine a similar thing could happen in this or any other situation, so instead of slating it with assumption actually have solid evidence of non delivery of orders any or other dodgy activity before you start throwing mud.

Anyway I can tell you i'm not in India I am very much real and I did purchase a BMPCC from tip top and Ben was very helpful.

Here is my company Vimeo and personal one, I'm not a robot.

Thank you

vimeo.com/joelcraigs
vimeo.com/untitledmediauk
 
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Joel Craigs said:
... so instead of slating it with assumption actually have solid evidence of non delivery of orders any or other dodgy activity before you start throwing mud.
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What sort of dodgy activity did you have in mind? I think we've already discussed:
- non compliance with Distance Selling Regs
- illegal restocking fees
- VAT avoidance
- transfer of ownership of dispatch, rather than on receipt

Is that not "dodgy" to your mind, Joel?
 
StewartR said:
What sort of dodgy activity did you have in mind? I think we've already discussed:
- non compliance with Distance Selling Regs
- illegal restocking fees
- VAT avoidance
- transfer of ownership of dispatch, rather than on receipt

Is that not "dodgy" to your mind, Joel?
Click to expand...

I'm not sure of the ins and outs of most if what you mentioned. Although I personally think it is un ethical is it illegal to add re stocking fees?

And again as I don't agree with transfer ownership of delivery if it's in the t&c's I don't see the problem.

Also I got a vat receipt. I'm not sure if this the same thing you are mentioning though?
 
Joel Craigs said:
I'm not sure of the ins and outs of most if what you mentioned. Although I personally think it is un ethical is it illegal to add re stocking fees?

And again as I don't agree with transfer ownership of delivery if it's in the t&c's I don't see the problem.
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If you were in the UK you might be aware of the Distance Selling Regulations which are quite clear on both of the above points.

Joel Craigs said:
Also I got a vat receipt. I'm not sure if this the same thing you are mentioning though?
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Interesting, could you obscure your personal details on it and upload a scan/image of the receipt?
 
Joel, this is not just us throwing mud.
This company has a very bad reputation on numerous forums.

Now Ben has indicated that he has broken ties with this company and is starting a fresh in the UK, but directors names keep popping up from the old business, their terms and conditions are dodgy to say the least. When questioned about certain practices Ben has declined to comment and reassure us. The only thing he has done is try to blind us with cow pats as to how fast his business is growing and how fantastic he is. The truth is he gets very little UK traffic to his site and I would be very surprised if he converted any internet savvy UK citizen with his twaddle he calls terms and condition.

If I was Ben, I would be all over this forum defending my business and answering any questions asked. After all the members of this forum are his target market and this is the biggest photog forum in the UK.
Why has he not registered as an advertiser here. I would have jumped on the chance to advertise on the biggest photog forum in the UK. It has to be cheaper than paying google CPC
 
Came across this post when I was researching Tip Top electronics. Was a bit hesitant to be honest but 10 odd days along I have my camera and saved myself £180. I don't know why you guys are giving this company such a hard time. They take Credit cards, you are protected if the camera turns out to be a fake or faulty. You save yourself a bunch of money. Why not?

Like others have said the delivery time might not work for everyone but if you can wait 10 days then do give them a shot.

I ordered just before New Years and had my camera 10 days later. Someone always answered the phone when I called them (2-3 times) Sent them emails a few times for information and got a reply quicker than any of the online stores do.

For anyone reading this website and wants to save themselves money without the hassle of going through a HK based importer then give these guys a shot. I will certainly buy from them again.

No I am not in India and being paid £5 to do feedbacks. I am based in the North of England and just giving some feedback in case someone else wants to give them a try.
 
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axil23 said:
No I am not in India and being paid £5 to do feedbacks.
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Would you happen to know what the going rate is for "Internet promoters" in England then?


Ben,, unless you are going for some sort of record, (4 sign ups who arrive and post just to promote your business must already be a record) you really should give it up now!

Stop the funny business and put all the effort into running an efficient legit business.
 
You guys are hilarious. So stuck on your bandwagon. You ever thought that genuine people like me Google Tip top electronics reviews and the first thing that comes up on it is this thread.

See this link http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tip+top+electronics+uk+review

Its the first link on Google and to be honest with you this thread is the reason why I bought from them and I am 100% satisfied.
 
axil23 said:
to be honest with you this thread is the reason why I bought from them and I am 100% satisfied.
Click to expand...

ecoleman said:
So you read all the information here and decided to take a chance anyway, did you?
Why bother searching for reviews in the first place?
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Elliott, I suspect that comment was made just to get a reaction, a bit like the hairy little man who lives under a bridge ;).
 
Well I ordered fro them and have to say I am getting worried after a lot of subsequent posts I have read, luckily I paid via credit card but really hoping the camera turns up. Has anyone actually received anything from them? I have emailed them twice, contacted them on facebook and called twice... nothing!
 
I ordered from TipTop an iPhone before christmas.
Sadly I only stumbled upon the site after ordering via credit card and starting to get suspicious upon getting no order email.
I Immediately asked for a refund and ever since then, Ben kept telling me he is struggling to refund, or claiming he processed the refund yet nothing appears in my statement.
This really sucks since I live of a soldiers salary and I wasted all my savings for a present that my girlfriend never saw.
In one email Ben said he's trying to refund the paypal account, which was really weird since I haven't used paypal.
It's been almost a month and Im still struggling, I filed a lawsuit through the credit card company.
Hope this doesn't happen to you
 
patriotspyke said:
Well I ordered fro them and have to say I am getting worried after a lot of subsequent posts I have read, luckily I paid via credit card but really hoping the camera turns up. Has anyone actually received anything from them? I have emailed them twice, contacted them on facebook and called twice... nothing!
Click to expand...


Your guess us as good as ours. They are pretty good at having bad reviews removed and they seem to employ people to post fake good reviews.

I see you asked the same question on DP Review. I'd cancel the order and request a refund. It's not just about receiving an item, but what happens when it goes wrong.
 
Massive, massive, massive dodgy 'company'. Anyone using them after all this needs their head seeing to. Brilliant thread though, has had me in stitches!
 
I'm tempted to buy something inexpensive to see what happens and report back
 
WOOP WOOP!!!

We are all loving this fourm!!Thank you all for your comments above!!We are getting so much traffic through this forum!!

Whether your a hater or a lover Id like to say thank you because the more we post and the more we chat on here our hits are going through the roof.

We have signed up with reputation online who tell me to stop posting on here as it is simply boosting the ranking up but I just help myself as I feel passionate about it all.

I feel like the wolf of wall st with all this bad press!! (great movie by the way!!)

On a serious note I would like to deal with our current customers on the forum that have an issue.


I ordered from TipTop an iPhone before christmas.
Sadly I only stumbled upon the site after ordering via credit card and starting to get suspicious upon getting no order email.
I Immediately asked for a refund and ever since then, Ben kept telling me he is struggling to refund, or claiming he processed the refund yet nothing appears in my statement.
This really sucks since I live of a soldiers salary and I wasted all my savings for a present that my girlfriend never saw.
In one email Ben said he's trying to refund the paypal account, which was really weird since I haven't used paypal.
It's been almost a month and Im still struggling, I filed a lawsuit through the credit card company.
Hope this doesn't happen to you


Yakov,



Because you panicked and filed a chargeback with your credit we cannot process the refund through our credit card gateway (paypal pro) .I have called our paypal account manager numerous times who assures me the refund is being has been processed by them and it is your bank who has not completed the refund.I am sorry it is taking time but we have done all we can.Please give us a call tomorrow and I will do all I can to get it tidied up!!


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Well I ordered fro them and have to say I am getting worried after a lot of subsequent posts I have read, luckily I paid via credit card but really hoping the camera turns up. Has anyone actually received anything from them? I have emailed them twice, contacted them on facebook and called twice... nothing!


Hi there,

Please give us an order number on here or call us first thing in the morning and we will give you a definitive date on your order.If you dont trust us and think we are "well dodgy" then simply ask us for a refund and we will process if for you!!


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el, this is not just us throwing mud.
This company has a very bad reputation on numerous forums.

Now Ben has indicated that he has broken ties with this company and is starting a fresh in the UK, but directors names keep popping up from the old business, their terms and conditions are dodgy to say the least. When questioned about certain practices Ben has declined to comment and reassure us. The only thing he has done is try to blind us with cow pats as to how fast his business is growing and how fantastic he is. The truth is he gets very little UK traffic to his site and I would be very surprised if he converted any internet savvy UK citizen with his twaddle he calls terms and condition.

If I was Ben, I would be all over this forum defending my business and answering any questions asked. After all the members of this forum are his target market and this is the biggest photog forum in the UK.
Why has he not registered as an advertiser here. I would have jumped on the chance to advertise on the biggest photog forum in the UK. It has to be cheaper than paying google CPC



I wish I had time to be on here all the time I really do.I am happy to comment on any current issues that are going on with any of our customers.

Please get over the past my man and get lets focus on the present and the future.If you would like to have this out man to man stop hiding behind the keyboard please call me tomorrow on 02032894349 so we can sort it alternatively please visit us at unit 4 / 32B hawthorn road,Bournemouth.

I really dont understand why you are so infatuated with us / me??

You seem to be the big Robin Hood of this forum so lets see if you can back it up and give us a call!!!!
 
They probably employee Indian chaps from fiverr website to write reviews. 100 reviews for £5
I've done a bit of digging around and 80% of their website traffic comes from India. Not exactly their target marget.


Yes we do employ "Indian Chaps"??We have an office in Noida in Delhi..Your comment above seems to be a little out of line.It suggests that we should not be employing Indian Labour?

Have you got a problem with us employing "Indian chaps"?
 
axil23 said:
You guys are hilarious. So stuck on your bandwagon. You ever thought that genuine people like me Google Tip top electronics reviews and the first thing that comes up on it is this thread.

See this link http://lmgtfy.com/?q=tip top electronics uk review

Its the first link on Google and to be honest with you this thread is the reason why I bought from them and I am 100% satisfied.
Click to expand...
Cheers Axil.Please give me your bank account details so I can slip you the bribe!!
 
Dave1 said:
Would you happen to know what the going rate is for "Internet promoters" in England then?


Ben,, unless you are going for some sort of record, (4 sign ups who arrive and post just to promote your business must already be a record) you really should give it up now!

Stop the funny business and put all the effort into running an efficient legit business.
Click to expand...
 
Dave,

Come on.Keep up with it all!!WTF are "internet promoters" This is a term I think my mother (Not sure if should of bought my mum into this thread) would use maybe even my Grandmother,both of whom have absolutely no idea what they are taking about.Do you mean SEO (search engine optimisation) or CPC comparison sites like google shopping?

Just to let you all know.We have an office in India near Dehli (Noida sector 14 I think) for those of you have lots of time on your hands to google map it.
In this office we have approx 2 guys looking after our listings and pricing.We have approx 3 guys looking after our orders and talking to suppliers and the rest are made up of developers / designers and SEO operators (keyword warriors).We communicate by Skype most of the time as this is by far the cheapest form of long distance communication.We have conference calls and are constantly in touch with this operation pretty much 24/7

Whilst we are very aware of the fact their work may not be up to the standard of a UK based IT firm, we also identify the additional pitfalls of time zones and language barriers .We cannot walk away form the fact that when we lay out our budget and the fact we spend a fair wack on our marketing with CPC's it is almost a no brainer that we would save ourselves approx 70% and have an IT engine room in India.This is not to mention the quote we have just received from a UK IT firm to build our new portal (6500 items) at 28K GBP with a fully functional ordering system / amazon / paypal / sage pay / and a plethora of other reasonably complex checkout integration's. Guess how much we can have it built over there? INR 505110.00!!!!WOOP WOOP!!

Whilst we are now working on building some more front end customer service in Bournemouth it is imperative we save on labour to keep our prices sharp and attractive which for the majority of customers (not you high end photographer guys who keep posting on this thread) is 90% of the reason they shop online.

To be honest our bread and butter is not the photography gear but the apple products and Samsung SKU's we shift and whilst I would love to live in a dream world where by all you guys on this post would come and talk to me and actually give us a go it is not the end of the world for us if this forum takes away a portion of our business because people have been bitten by ebay sellers and Hong Kong based companies that ship goods direct from South East Asia and have read this forum and been turned off.

I seem to be rambling a little here and will wrap it up but would genuinely love to hear from anyone that has anything positive to say about the topic of grey items and importing goods from the far east?

Once again our number is 02032894349 thats 02032894349 please call us.If I am available I am happy to chat with open minded customers that want to shop online save a few pennies and still have a little trust left in the world!!

Thanks for reading this post.

Ps I nearly forgot.Here is Joels order confirmation."Joel if your reading I'll slip that 100 pound in your top pocket next time mate!!"




Hello, Joel Craigs
Thank you very much for your purchase. We have received your order and have sent it through to be processed. Your item will be shipped as soon as payment is confirmed. Shipping times are typically 7-10 business days but in a lot of cases your item will be with you sooner. We will send a tracking number via email as soon as it is generated. Please do not be alarmed if you do not receive your tracking immediately. Once you have your tracking that means your item will be next day delivery. Please refer to the shipping page on our website for further clarification. Once again we thank you for your ordering with us and hope you will be back to use us again.

Your Order #1741 (placed on November 1, 2013 4:23:15 PM GMT)
Billing Information:

Payment Method:

Joel Craigs



Bank Deposit - Account info

Account holder :

TIPTOP ELECTRONICS

Account number :



Sort code :

11-08-55

Bank name :




Reference: Your Name


Shipping Information:

Shipping Method:




Free Shipping - Free


Item

Sku

Qty

Subtotal

Blackmagic Design Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera-Black



None

CINECAMPOCHDMFT-B

1



Subtotal



Shipping & Handling

£0

Grand Total




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Ben, I think you need to read up on some customer service manuals.

I think anyone else reading this thread that is involved in a legitimate business would be pretty horrified with the childish way you go about 'setting things straight'.

You can say that this thread is getting you more traffic, but I can't even begin to think how you can be doing your reputation any good at all if people are actually reading the thread and other reviews out there?
 
bazfoster said:
Ben, I think you need to read up on some customer service manuals.

I think anyone else reading this thread that is involved in a legitimate business would be pretty horrified with the childish way you go about 'setting things straight'.

You can say that this thread is getting you more traffic, but I can't even begin to think how you can be doing your reputation any good aart all if people are actually reading the thread and other reviews out there?
Click to expand...

Oh, and it would help if your order confirmations (posted above for Joel) contained correct English grammar... It doesn't give a great impression of a business either.
 
I have been asked by Ben to verify that my review of my experience with TipTopElectronics are in deed my own, and not some ghostwriters words. I'm talking about this review here:
http://www.reviewcentre.com/Electro...cs-www-tiptopelectronics-co-uk-review_2365226
It is genuine, i've written it, and i stand by it. In a time when the Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera was almost impossible to buy in Europe, they somehow managed to get me one - and i've been using it gladly since then, while others still waited for their camera a month later... It took a couple of days longer to deliver to Germany than i'm used to from other UK vendors, and we had a couple of email exchanges about that, but finally it arrived and i found all communications with Ben to be honest and understanding.
Of course i'm one single satisfied customer, and of course you may also credit this posting to some ghostwriter from whatever country you'd like to insult on the way... but that's up to you. In the end it's all just talk. I'm happy about how it all turned out.
 
Ben - I have posted here and on DP review to ask anyone if they are happy with the service, not to throw mud. I placed an order on Saturday and have now seen a lot of posts which naturally make me worry. Your site said the item was in stock and therefore I would have thought it would be issued quite quickly. I have emailed and used facebook to query when it will be despatched but have not had a reply. Please can you look into this. I know you state 7-10 days but some reassurance would be nice. Order #12021 .
Thanks
 
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bazfoster said:
Ben, I think you need to read up on some customer service manuals.

I think anyone else reading this thread that is involved in a legitimate business would be pretty horrified with the childish way you go about 'setting things straight'.

You can say that this thread is getting you more traffic, but I can't even begin to think how you can be doing your reputation any good at all if people are actually reading the thread and other reviews out there?[/quote


Horrified!! Lol

Who are you to post we are a massive dodgy company without actually using our service??you have no idea Baz!!Im on this forum defending the company.How is it that previous posters on here can get away with making snidey childish remarks but when I have a bit of giggle and lighten the mode it is deemed as childish??

If you dont like the way i do it.Go and find another forum to lurch over.I know my little boy will sometimes turn down food at the dinner table he has never even tried before.I say to him "How do you know you dont like it if you wont even try it?" He doesn't have an answer.

So put your money where your mouth is and try and order something from us!!!!
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patriotspyke said:
Ben - I have posted here and on DP review to ask anyone if they are happy with the service, not to throw mud. I placed an order on Saturday and have now seen a lot of posts which naturally make me worry. Your site said the item was in stock and therefore I would have thought it would be issued quite quickly. I have emailed and used facebook to query when it will be despatched but have not had a reply. Please can you look into this. I know you state 7-10 days but some reassurance would be nice. Order #12021 .
Thanks
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No problem.In fairness you did order on Saturday and we do allow the 7-10 days to ship the item.I am checking on this now and will get back to you via email once I have an update!!
 
Ben Broome said:
I have called our paypal account manager numerous times who assures me the refund is being has been processed by them and it is your bank who has not completed the refund.
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That is so vague. Is the refund is being processed or has it already been processed?
 
I just had a look at the TopElectronics website. Their value statement is so poorly structured it hardly inspires confidence. No sympathy for people who risk their money ordering from them.

Tiptopelectronics.co.uk believes in giving our customers not only value for money, but exceeding customers’ expectations on every level, from a pre and post sales prospective we aim to keep our customers informed and kept in the loop, whether enquiring on an order or a simple technical query ,we want to go out of our way to create a pleasant online shopping experience when using our portal.

http://www.tiptopelectronics.co.uk/about-us/
 
Yakov said:
I ordered from TipTop an iPhone before christmas.
Sadly I only stumbled upon the site after ordering via credit card and starting to get suspicious upon getting no order email.
I Immediately asked for a refund and ever since then, Ben kept telling me he is struggling to refund, or claiming he processed the refund yet nothing appears in my statement.
This really sucks since I live of a soldiers salary and I wasted all my savings for a present that my girlfriend never saw.
In one email Ben said he's trying to refund the paypal account, which was really weird since I haven't used paypal.
It's been almost a month and Im still struggling, I filed a lawsuit through the credit card company.
Hope this doesn't happen to you
Click to expand...



Hi Yakov,

As I explained we refunded your card many days ago now.Here is the info from paypal (credit card gateway)

Follow up to our conversation this morning, and a review of your PayPal account, I can confirm the following.



parman said:
That is so vague. Is the refund is being processed or has it already been processed?
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LOL HERE YOU GO GUYS..ITS BEEN REFUNDED..INFO FROM OUR CREDIT CARD GATEWAY!!!

Follow up to our conversation this morning, and a review of your PayPal account, I can confirm the following.

On 16-December-2013, you received a payment of £385.22 GBP from the buyer Yakov Gorbulski. This transaction became the subject of a Chargeback on 24-December-2013.

Subsequently, a full refund was made to the buyer's card on 03-January-2014 which means you no longer have the funds and the money has returned to the funding card issuer.

Refunds to cards should appear in the card account within 5-7 working days but depending on the card issuer it could take as long as 30 days. Your buyer will need to confirm this with their card issuer.

Please let me know if you require further assistance.

Yours sincerely,
Sam
Business Support Department
PayPal

Copyright © 1999-2014 PayPal. All rights reserved.

PayPal (Europe) S.à r.l. et Cie, S.C.A.
Société en Commandite par Actions
Registered Office: 22-24 Boulevard Royal L-2449, Luxembourg
RCS Luxembourg B 118 349
 
Ben Broome said:
LOL HERE YOU GO GUYS..ITS BEEN REFUNDED..INFO FROM OUR CREDIT CARD GATEWAY!!!
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If I was one of your customers (made up or otherwise), this would really P*** me off. Why is it you think this situation is amusing in the slightest? We are talking about other peoples money here...you know, money that they have worked hard for. All you seem to be doing is making light of what people have real concerns over.
 
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