Tip Top Electronics

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big soft moose said:
so in essence he's only putting down those he'd rather be without, and if they take their business elsewhere as a result then that's a win - the rest of us, who are brighter than a paramecium don't need to worry because the remark wasn't aimed at us.
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:) Good one. Blimey, if you are serious, I am definitely old fashioned in my thoughts about customer service. :)

Lol. Hehehehehehe. Nice one. :)
 
well put it this way his remarks won't stop me using L4H , they are cheap, they are good value, they are friendly (assuming you aren't a complete tit), they are efficient, the lenses are high quality, they are gullible enough to believe that 4k of lens went missing in the post ;) ....
 
No problem Pete. I was not hinting you should change where you spend your money. My opinion was more about customer service and ethic in general.
 
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Hi. Currently visiting family in the UK and found the Tiptop site. Seemed legit and went ahead with a purchase of a Panasonic GX7 body which I hoped to take back to South Africa with me .

This is what transpired:

1.Paid with my credit card and received an automated order number.
2. The system advised that I would receive a confirmation e-mail as well. This was never forthcoming
3, Phoned Tiptop and spoke to a "Drew" who informed me that paying with a South African credit card would be a problem due to possible fraud. Fair enough I thought even though I have purchased on many occasions from around the world with my card. His manager would phone me back. Still waiting....
4. Phoned my bank in SA who told me the payment had already been deducted from my account making point 3 irrelevant
5. Phoned Drew again who this time was rather vague when I said payment had already gone through. I asked if they would now deliver the goods and he was insistent that they would rather refund me , again because of possible fraud.
6. This refund would happen in 2 hours and a manger would call me back to explain.
As of 16h05 I remain hopeful and will report back
 
Hope you receive your refund quickly, Harry.

Hmmm, the name `Drew` has been mentioned before. Wonder if it's actually Dhruv (Chopra) from electronics bazaar? (who Ben said they no longer had a link with)
The Australian entity was from my contact in Australia when I originally set the business up.We have no direct ties to Electronic Bazaar.We will look to register tiptop under a different name ASAP as I can see this is tarnishing our reputation.
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I know `Ben` said he wouldn't be updating/commenting regularly, but surprised (or maybe not) that he hasn't been back on for a while to answer posts & concerns.
He last posted on the 12th Dec, but was online last Wed the 18th.
 
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Still not a word from Tiptop. Will phone Again to see what their excuse is now. While I would support any company regardless of size offering a fair deal the track record of Tiptop so far has been dismal. No way to garner consumer confidence Tiptop ,or should it rather be Topcon?
 
Hi. I phoned on Thursday and was told payment had been received and the goods would be shipped on Friday. A mail confirming this would be sent by them. I found this strange as they previously wanted to refund me.

No mail was received so I phoned again on Friday and this time a Ben told me they would refund me and would not be shipping the goods to me. When I queried why this had again changed he mentioned it had to do with some confusion at their call centre in India.

A credit has been passed to my credit card but not for the full amount! As I am not familiar with the UK banking system could somebody please advise what right this "merchant" has to deduct +-£40 from my credit of £494?. Surely if they were unable to deliver I should not be penalized? Something would appear to be amiss here in the manner in which Tiptop conducts business.......
 
harold pienaar said:
A credit has been passed to my credit card but not for the full amount! As I am not familiar with the UK banking system could somebody please advise what right this "merchant" has to deduct +-£40 from my credit of £494?.
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No right whatsoever.
 
I see Ben was online here yesterday, presumably checking out the thread & how his `rating` is looking, ........but still no reply!
 
A happy new year to all and many thanks for your input. I have checked with my bank as to the credit from Tiptop and would appear that Visa have charged a fee for this refund which I will dispute with my bank. Tiptop did refund the full amount so my apologies to them for assuming it was their fault.

Would I consider dealing with Tiptop again?

Only if:

1. They improved their feedback to their customers dramatically. At present if one does not badger them you hear nothing
2. They actually phone or mail a customer if promising to do so
3. They intend to ship the goods at the prices they advertise. I get the feeling that the Gx7 body I ordered could not be shipped at their stated price and that their opt out was to use my foreign credit card as an excuse not supply. The funds were in their account already so there was no reason not to ship....

While I mean no malice to Tiptop and wish them well they really need to understand basic customer service
 
harold pienaar said:
A happy new year to all and many thanks for your input. I have checked with my bank as to the credit from Tiptop and would appear that Visa have charged a fee for this refund which I will dispute with my bank. Tiptop did refund the full amount so my apologies to them for assuming it was their fault.

Would I consider dealing with Tiptop again?

Only if:

1. They improved their feedback to their customers dramatically. At present if one does not badger them you hear nothing
2. They actually phone or mail a customer if promising to do so
3. They intend to ship the goods at the prices they advertise. I get the feeling that the Gx7 body I ordered could not be shipped at their stated price and that their opt out was to use my foreign credit card as an excuse not supply. The funds were in their account already so there was no reason not to ship....

While I mean no malice to Tiptop and wish them well they really need to understand basic customer service
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It doesn't work that way. VISA would not charge you to receive a refund.
If that's what tip top have told you, they are lying.

Tip top, however has probably been charged a percentage of the transaction by their payment processor and will also have a charge for the refund, which they are trying to pass on to you and blaming visa.
This is their charge, not yours. Get back on the phone and demand the full amount.
 
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Hi there everyone,

Everyone's favourite conman here!!

I am sorry I have not been able to pop on to post on the forum. We have been busy formulating our next schemes and working out how we can really upset all our customers on purpose as by the looks some of the comments above it seems this is all we want to do!!NOT!!

On a serious note and to be totally truthful I have been absolutely flat out spending time on the things that matter. Servicing our fantastic customers who over the Xmas period have contributed to our record sales month.Out of the 416 customers who purchased from us in December our fulfilment rate was touching the 96% mark.Which for a company that has only really been trading in the UK for the last 3 months is pretty good going!!!!!We will continue to push the boundaries and keep our pricing low whilst adding many more fantastic electrical goods to our product portfolio as we continue to forge relationships with new suppliers around the globe

I am sure there are many people above on this forum that will have an issue with the what I am writing and will mange to pick something out of it but I don't really care any more as no matter what we seem to do you cannot please everybody!!!

Tiptopelectronics has some of the best prices in the market right now and I whist I am not dismissing the fact that 5 star customer service is a must.We are doing our best with the resources we have.If you don't like something about what we are doing please just give us a call and we will go out of our way to come to viable solution so both parties are happy.That is all we want to do here!!

Now Xmas and the new year is out of the way we are pleased to announce we will be opening a new call centre and our customer service staff will now double possibly triple.This means quicker response times and will allow us to speed our shipping times up!!!

In relation to the above post for everyone's information. As an online store we are leaving ourselves open from attack form criminal activity . From countries all around the globe we have around 3 -5 attempts to push fraudulent credit cards through our site on a daily basis. If we ship an item to a customer and then we are hit with a charge back from the bank this is a total loss for us.So as you can imagine we a very strict and cautious when we receive orders from foreign cards and the delivery address does not match the billing address of the credit card used.

I am sure Harold is totally genuine above, but all we did was ask him to provide ID to solidify the transaction.He eventually decided he wanted a refund.We processed the refund accordingly and because it was an overseas bank they have charged him an international transaction fee.This has happened to us before and in most cases the fee will be refunded by the relevant bank, once they see it was a straight refund.So just for the record and with the reference Ecolman we process refunds to UK cards and no charge or fee is added at all???

We are happy to refund the total fee amount if Harold has no luck with the bank but why should the banks win here.I would much rather give it back to Harold or even a discount on another order should he come to our store in the future.

We are also happy to give a free accessory to anyone of our customers who purchases from us and mentions this blog at point of sale.

Once again I would like to reiterate any one out there that is having doubts over what we are doing here please just drop us a line or email us.Please don't just read this blog and assume as a large amount of the material is untrue and has no evidential back up.We are happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thanks for reading

Tiptopelectronics would like to wish you all the very best for 2014
 
Wow, you make it sound so easy to setup a website on a foreign country and the orders just come pouring in.
Being in the ecommerce business myself, I know that you are talking absolute rubbish.

Ecommerce on this country is hard work, and your website with your bogus terms and conditions just wouldn't generate the volume of sales you are bragging about.

We also take card payments from overseas customers and have never, ever heard of an international refund fee. It is the merchant that pays the fees, not a customer!!
I've also used my own credit card with international merchants and received refunds with no fees payable by myself.
 
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Ben Broome said:
We processed the refund accordingly and because it was an overseas bank they have charged him an international transaction fee.This has happened to us before and in most cases the fee will be refunded by the relevant bank, once they see it was a straight refund.
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Wow. What a fertile imagination.
 
Rahul Agarwal said:
Dear All,

Update on my earlier review.

I have finally received my refund. Thankfully. In full.

Took a while but their responses when received, statements like: '2-5 days + 2 days from your bank'; 'should receive' etc. were all really vague and had me doubting them. Cant speak for product as I have not received any but at least I got my money back.
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So, you got your money
Rahul Agarwal said:
Dear All,

Update on my earlier review.

I have finally received my refund. Thankfully. In full.

Took a while but their responses when received, statements like: '2-5 days + 2 days from your bank'; 'should receive' etc. were all really vague and had me doubting them. Cant speak for product as I have not received any but at least I got my money back.
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So you got all your money back and you're not happy? :p:p:p
 
Ben, any reply to the earlier points/questions about you T&C's? (post #' 46 & 53)
 
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andrewc said:
When I make a refund via VISA using my card terminal, the processing fee taken by the card terminal fee is refunded.
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That's interesting. I must admit I have no idea whether that happens when we give refunds. There are so many card transactions every month, I think it would be almost impossible to tie the charges back to the transactions. And anyway, whether or not I get the charges refunded doesn't affect the decision to give a refund - so in a sense I'm not really interested!

(But I am sure that the customer doesn't get hit for any charges in this process.)
 
Got to say I find you guys very "half empty". I've registered here specifically to comment


I placed an order with Tiptop on Dec 6th, specifically AFTER reading comments in this forum. My due diligence was based on prices and the ability to ensure I could get my money back if everything went pear shaped. and I like a try'er

Was the experience of dealing with an emerging business in the busiest month of the year "ideal"? No. They were clearly under considerable stress to receive import shipments when half the world is shipping and processing goods of some sort. Did I pay extra shipping insurance for a UK shipment, No. Did everything turn up when I wanted it, No it didn't.

What did happen was the item that was promised for Christmas was delivered. My purchase was assured by paying through PayPal, so with my agreement half of my order was due to be credited back. This happened today, the first real trading day for most similar businesses after the holiday. Not so unreasonable.

As a man under pressure Ben remained calm, polite whenever I spoke to him. I spoke to 2 other guys too ,both polite and attentive. Despite my rising concerns for a Christmas deadline, TipTop did what they said they would, and paid back in full for what I had to get in a hurry elsewhere. Have they work to do? sure they have, but don't I think that's so unusual and I like the fact that someone at least wants to be accountable - not the usual "con" approach, nor is the fact that they shipped goods and paid refunds in full... how bizarre!

My view is this, if you want / need it urgently then TipTop might not be the route for you, ask them. If you can wait and you want a great price and are willing to pay the Paypal overhead (about 3%) then I see no reason not to give them a chance

Tim
 
I noticed they show £3307 for a brand new D4 - wow!!! However I would be expecting to pay import duty/vat/clearance on top of that. If so, then expect to pay at least 4% duty making it £3439, then £3439 + 20% vat = £4127 plus DHL or Fedex will sting you for a clearance cost on top of that.

The clue is on their website which states -
Any item shipped from our overseas warehouses may be liable for a duty and customs charge depending on the item shipped and when it arrives into the country. We DO NOT cover the cost of any additional charge sent to you from DHL or FEDEX unless this has been previously agreed at point of sale. This is to make the customer aware and also cover themselves.

Also be warned that even if goods are sourced from a UK warehouse it could be from a UK bonded warehouse which means no import duty or vat has yet been paid on the goods since they haven't actually cleared customs. Once goods leave the bonded warehouse they first have to be customs cleared, duty/vat is paid by the clearing agent or courier company (i.e. DHL/Fedex) handling the shipping who would then bill it to you.

I work in imports so know how this works and I don't doubt a lot of their advertised prices do not include duties/taxes. If buying from them I'd ask for proof that UK duty/vat has been paid on them otherwise it's probably not worth the bother. The UK warehouse means nothing as not all goods held in UK warehouses have necessary had import duty/vat paid on them.

Personally I wouldn't buy anything from a company that advertises goods at prices without UK import duty/vat having been paid. IMO it's a way of trying to deceive the customer into thinking they're getting a better deal than anywhere else, when it's probably no better than elsewhere. All sellers should be clear, upfront and advertise at UK customs cleared prices rather than lull people in and let DHL/Fedex sting you for duty/vat/clearance costs.

For a new company I don't doubt their service, nor would I worry about refunds/cancellations over anyone else. Just be astute and as with anything over the net, ensure you know what you are paying before committing to anything.
 
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stuartm1 said:
Personally I wouldn't buy anything from a company that advertises goods at prices without UK import duty/vat having been paid. IMO it's a way of trying to deceive the customer into thinking they're getting a better deal than anywhere else, when it's really no better than anywhere else. They should be clear, upfront and advertise at UK customs cleared prices rather than lull people in and let DHL/Fedex sting you for duty/vat/clearance costs.
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Well said. But beware that you are risking the wrath of the mod team. They don't like us saying things like this. Check out the 'sticky' at the top of this forum!
 
StewartR said:
Well said. But beware that you are risking the wrath of the mod team. They don't like us saying things like this. Check out the 'sticky' at the top of this forum!
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Thanks for the warning, I just think customers need to be aware as quite often people overlook terms and conditions on websites.

Be much clearer and simple if a lot of internet sellers stuck an asterisk next to their advertised prices stating *price inclusive of UK import duties & taxes.
 
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For what is worth I was never asked for proof of identification. When I did not receive a confirmation email for my purchase I phoned to be told I would credited due to the overseas credit card concern. A mail would also confirm this, which was not forthcoming either. Phoned again to be told the goods would be shipped with a confirmation email, which again was not forthcoming. Phoned again to be told I was going to be credited.........

Does not engender much trust to say the least.

While I am not familiar with UK vat implications etc if Tiptop claims to be increasing capacity etc one would hope experiences such as mine will be a thing of the past.
 
After reading this thread all the way through, Ben's comments totally put me off even considering dealing with his business.
 
Hello all
I've been monitoring this thread since I startup photography just this Xmas gone. Got a D3100 with a couple of good lenses. Wanted to buy a lens from these guys but held off. Have to say I dont understand why members are really going to town with the "Ben" guy. I'm no expert in trading online, not at all, but there are plenty of sites that operate the same way - import - and avoid VAT and fees by placing onus on the buyer. But at the end of the day, if the item can be bought cheaper even considering the additional fees, then principally I see not issue other than the warranty position. Clearly all items need to be original and come with the relevant provenance.

Also, purchases made via Credit Card or from a Debit Card are protected. At the end of the day you just instruct your bank/card provider to issue a CHARGEBACK on the basis that you are not an importer and have been mislead in respect of VAT and Customs. I've done this before , twice, and it has worked on both occasions where the seller was not open about their export/import status.

So there is an element of "protection" provided you are savvy about how you purchase from these types of outfit.

I've purchased from China, HK, USA, Australia, and paid import fees and VAT when the seller has been open and honest about the potential for them to arise.

Have to admit though, TipTop Electronics seem to be going a long way to give the impression they are in the UK. If this "Ben" character was genuine, why not just slap a big "Premier Importer of Original Equipment" across their site and come clean. I'm sure they would get more business and happy customers.

I've sent these guys a long email requesting a whole raft of information - as invited by "Ben" - so will keep you updated.
 
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The issue is not so must where the goods come from or costs.
The issues are down to a multitude of websites, forums etc that indicate they are scam artists, with zero customer service.
They have site in various countries which they have tried to state they have nothing to do with even though the evidence suggests otherwise.

They employ dodgy tactics to boost reviews, and actively manage bad reviews online by having them taken down.

If you don't have a problem buying from a company like this, then knock yourself out.
 
keratos said:
Also, purchases made via Credit Card or from a Debit Card are protected. .......

So there is an element of "protection" provided you are savvy about how you purchase from these types of outfit.
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I'm pretty sure that protection on debit card purchases tops out at £100, not much use if you're buying expensive kit and I'd not be happy expecting the bank to make up the shortfall in a purchase I made of my own free will.

In the end you buy from whoever you feel comfortable dealing with, this thread gives potential purchasers a good idea of what to expect from this particular supplier and in my opinion it's not good. However if after reading through it someone still chooses to go that route then it's their choice entirely.
 
Steep said:
I'm pretty sure that protection on debit card purchases tops out at £100, not much use if you're buying expensive kit and I'd not be happy expecting the bank to make up the shortfall in a purchase I made of my own free will.

In the end you buy from whoever you feel comfortable dealing with, this thread gives potential purchasers a good idea of what to expect from this particular supplier and in my opinion it's not good. However if after reading through it someone still chooses to go that route then it's their choice entirely.
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No. The £100 figure is the floor, in other words the minimum spend, not the maximum.

Aside, I received a response to my message to TipTop which I wasnt happy with. They skipped around all the important bits and bamboozled me with a load of marketing crap so I wont be buying from them.
 
Interesting post, was looking at ordering a lens around the £500 mark from them. I guess when your going to save around £160 off the price compared to a well known UK distributor, it's unreasonable to expect the same level of service I think. ie. delivery times, maufacturer's warranty, as it's obvious these are grey market imports, hence they lose the VAT. Under your statutory rights your covered for 12months, and having looked at the website they now do accept paypal and credit/debit card, although at a surcharge of 3%, which is fair enough as they're a no-frills seller and can't absorb these charges ontop of their already cheap prices.

So long as I get what is advertised, ie. New and boxed, its inline with how much 2nd hand items of the same product go for on ebay/gumtree, whereby you wouldn't get any further warranty and potentially a used item.

I think you have to consider everything when making a purchase and whether its the right decision for you. If not, then pay the extra, get the service and the peace of mind. Don't grumble about someone who's offering a no-frills service and expect the same as if you were buying from a high street retailer.

This is all with the understanding that the seller is genuine, and it's not a case of making payment and never receiving anything or not what was advertised. These days you are well covered by paypal and your credit card companies.
 
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h4rsx said:
I guess when your going to save around £160 off the price compared to a well known UK distributor, it's unreasonable to expect the same level of service I think. ie. delivery times, maufacturer's warranty, as it's obvious these are grey market imports, hence they lose the VAT.
...
...they now do accept paypal and credit/debit card, although at a surcharge of 3%, which is fair enough as they're a no-frills seller and can't absorb these charges ontop of their already cheap prices.
...
Don't grumble about someone who's offering a no-frills service and expect the same as if you were buying from a high street retailer.
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Why do you think they're a "no frills" retailer? The ONLY reason grey/black market retailers like this can undercut regular stores is that they avoid VAT. They're probably making higher margins than the likes of Park Cameras and WEx, who are competing with other retailers who choose to operate legally. You should expect BETTER service from the grey/black market guys, not worse!
 
StewartR said:
Why do you think they're a "no frills" retailer? The ONLY reason grey/black market retailers like this can undercut regular stores is that they avoid VAT. They're probably making higher margins than the likes of Park Cameras and WEx, who are competing with other retailers who choose to operate legally. You should expect BETTER service from the grey/black market guys, not worse!
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I disagree. It's not just the VAT element, they are well over 20% cheaper than the retail price of some proper uk distributors. The bigger stores have larger overheads, more staff and certainly have to make larger margins. The grey import market guys are normally smaller outfits, smaller overheads and can afford to pass the saving on, it's not just about the VAT. It makes the difference between being able to afford new goods and having to buy 2nd hand. Therefore when presented with that choice, I would guess some people would rather have new goods and not be overly concerned with manufacture warranties.

For example, I purchased a lens from for £465 today by mail order. Wex and Park Camera sell the same lens for £699. If in the unlikely even it goes wrong within 12 months, i'll return it back to them and won't begrudge not being able to deal with Canon directly.

There's always a price to pay for buying cheaper, and as I said in my post it's not for everyone, you simply choose whats best for you.

What I do begrudge is the government raising VAT from 15% to 17.5% to 20%, and when things like that happen, people will naturally gravitate towards these markets.
 
Without being aware of the potential problems, I ordered a GX7 body at the end of December. I'll keep you posted.
 
Hi

I'm new to this site, although I have used resources from here before, I was asked to comment on here by Ben from Tip Top as he wants feedback from my dealings with his company.

Take this as you will, I'm not being payed to make this comment! I also have no affiliation with Tip Top other than buying something from them.

Anyway, Back in October I needed/wanted to get my hands on the Black Magic Pocket Cinema, as we do a lot of aerial video work the ability to shoot raw on our smaller crafts was very appealing. However in the UK it was impossible to get one from anywhere with long waiting lists everywhere.

Ben was very helpful and managed to get me the camera within 2 weeks(everyone else was quoting me months) The price was good as well.

Anyway that was my experience.

Thanks

Joel
 
Paul Richardson said:
Would just like to say that I received my new Sigma 150-500 sony fit lens today from Tip Top Electronics today as promised. There was a slight delay on delivery but Tip Top reassured me everything was ok.
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Paul Richardson said:
Is this Talk photography or is it the WI? If you lot want to run around with your head up each others arses that's up to you! I'm extremely happy with my purchase and Tip Top Electronics!
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S2TPW said:
Got to say I find you guys very "half empty". I've registered here specifically to comment

Tim
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Joel Craigs said:
Hi

I'm new to this site, although I have used resources from here before, I was asked to comment on here by Ben from Tip Top as he wants feedback from my dealings with his company.

Take this as you will, I'm not being payed to make this comment! I also have no affiliation with Tip Top other than buying something from them.

Thanks

Joel
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This must be a record, three brand new users all manage to find and sign up to the forum for the single reason of saying how good this company allegedly is....
 
Dave1 said:
This must be a record, three brand new users all manage to find and sign up to the forum for the single reason of saying how good this company allegedly is....
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Funny, I was thinking exactly the same thing.
Can you imagine a company asking you ( a customer ) to sign up to a forum to firefight bad press.
What a joke.

Ben, give up, we weren't born yesterday.

I guess the proof will be in the pudding when I purchase your accounts from companies house the next time you submit them.
 
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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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