Topping's disrespectful customer service denounce (sorry if it's off topic guys)

[Andre Fontenele]

(Sorry for my mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker).

Hi, everyone.

My name is André, I'm a brazilian math teacher recording my first online course and struggling to achieve a better audio quality in my videoclasses.

I bought a @TOPPING E2x2 audio interface on 11/28. As Topping didn't fill the proper form with detailed informatin about the product, when it arrived in Brazil the customhouse sent it back to China and since then my life became a nightmare. Topping alternates between not answering me or giving me vague-protocol-robotic-bullshit answers that don't answer anything.

Their channel on YT has 3 vídeos and almost no views, I didn't find IG profile as well, it seems the guys hide themselves, I don't know.

I'm here in desperate, trying any possible way to find and talk to a person who can represent Topping and that has a bit of kindness in his/her heart.

I paid 140 dollars, which for me is a lot of money, to be humiliated. I almost bought the SSL MKII, but E2x2 was 60 dollars less and I read an article here at ASR comparing them and finally chose E2x2, and now I regret a lot. A friend told me exactly this, "it's a chinese company, if you have any issue it's going to be more difficult to solve" and here I am... =(

 

[Sokel]

I'm sorry for your experience but at some point we have to learn that "cheap" reflects many aspects.
Your friend is right, dealing with companies from afar and with different market mentality is hard if things go south.

I don't want to blame you, you just did what many people do but since you did your research here about performance you should also search about issues.
It would then be easy to follow the advice of many members to buy from a rep near you who would honor its commitment, warranty, shipping issues, etc.

I'm sure @TOPPING will read your post, and I hope everything will be resolved as it should.

 

[Ropeburn]

Lesson to learn: don't buy directly from China, buy from a local importer/shop. It can be difficult with availability sometimes, but at least you're dealing with a local business. Makes it much easier to sort out problems. That's what you're paying the higher prices for.

 

[Nay16]

Lesson to learn: don't buy directly from China, buy from a local importer/shop. It can be difficult with availability sometimes, but at least you're dealing with a local business. Makes it much easier to sort out problems. That's what you're paying the higher prices for.

Coming from someone outside the US, I'd rather buy off from Amazon directly than from China. I know I'm paying more but I get reliability if something goes wrong, I've been lucky with my purchases but my friend got a returning label + refund no questions asked for his defective unit.

 

[Lambda]

If you have not bought over a big platform and have Buyer protection over Paypal or similar they some company's don't care about one guy complaining...

 

[Andre Fontenele]

After 12 days, @TOPPING said: "Brazilian customs are very strict"

Don't put the blame on us! How dare you? Here is what YOU GUYS - YOU - did wrong:

RETURN - INSUFFICIENT DESCRIPTION Dear Taxpayer, The international shipment was returned to the sender because the bill of lading did not contain a CONTENT DESCRIPTION or contained a CONTENT DESCRIPTION WITH INSUFFICIENT INFORMATION, making it impossible to CORRECTLY IDENTIFY and consequently treat the goods for tax purposes in the Import Declaration of Shipment (DIR), in violation of the provisions of Articles RC 122, Item 2 and RC 146, Item 1, both of the Postal Parcels Regulations combined with art. 56, §1º, c of COANA Ordinance No. 82/2017. Postal Parcel Regulations Art. RC 122 - Item 2 2. A customs declaration CN 23 is attached to each parcel, either as a single form or as part of a CP 72 form bundle. The contents of the parcel must be indicated in detail therein, and general statements are not permitted. and Art. RC 146 - Item 1 1. (...) The preparation of customs declarations is the sole responsibility of the sender. However, designated operators must take all necessary measures to inform their clients about the procedures for fulfilling customs formalities and, in particular, ensure the complete filling out of customs declarations CN 23, in order to facilitate the rapid customs clearance of the items. c/c Coana Ordinance No. 82/2017 - art. 56, § 1º, c §1º The RFB (Brazilian Federal Revenue Service) may, ex officio, order the return of a shipment arriving in the country if: c) it is accompanied by a customs declaration form whose content description is blank or contains insufficient information for the correct identification of the goods in the DIR (Import Declaration). To prevent future imports from being returned to the country of origin or seized, the recipient must inform the sender of the obligation to include in the bill of lading a DETAILED description of the goods with their commercial or scientific name, brand, model, quantity, unit and total REAL value of the goods and freight, necessarily in English, Spanish, or the language of the destination country, DETAILED identification of the RECIPIENT and the SENDER, in addition to the other complete information required in the aforementioned form. This guidance also applies to goods sent as gifts by individuals, such as clothing, food, toys, etc. For more information, please visit: Brazilian Federal Revenue Service's International Remittances Manual: https://www.gov.br/receitafederal/p...o-exterior/manuais/remessas-postal-e-expressa

 

[phofman]

That's an interesting customs methodology. In my country (Czech, EU) when a device like this arrives, the shipping company contacts the local recipient (of course the contact data must be correct - email, phone) and requests all the information required for the customs declaration (and collects the customs charges from the buyer, if applicable). It charges for the customs service the buyer, but the process is not "blindly" dependent solely on information provided up-front by the seller (which is almost always incomplete/insufficient/often plain incorrect).

 

[Andre Fontenele]

Thanks for the advice, guys.

@TOPPING customer service is a JOKE. High-end products, ridiculously amateurish inhuman heartless service.

To sum up, if you're not from China, think twice, think it over.

 

[Guddu]

I burned my hands too…. with highly rated PA7…. eventually gave it away to someone try fixing and keep it if works.
I bought from Amazon which had safety for 30 days and after that you are asked to send it to China to troubleshoot. I don’t know what would you call it but some would call it a JOKE.

 

[Mocie]

Yeah unfortunately Topping has had pretty terrible CS dating back to when L30s were exploding and they weren't particularly interested in helping anyone until users here put on enough pressure. If you read the DX5II thread it's just people reporting fast breakages or ongoing firmware issues which Topping seem very hands-off with.

Bit disappointing people here are saying "should have done x" when the brand is pushed as a gold standard and trusted by Amir on here, which should be enough of a vote of confidence to buy worry-free. Tough lesson to learn, sorry you're going through this.

 

[JSmith]

the brand is pushed as a gold standard and trusted by Amir on here

The reviews on ASR are technical measurement reviews only... nothing to do with their customer service or QC. So when Amir recommends a product, it's simply based on the measured performance only.

I find it's best to pay a little more and order such devices from a local seller, so there is some recourse and no need to deal direct with the manufacturer in another Country.

That said, it's not a good look for a company to not have good customer service and sticks in peoples minds.


JSmith

 

[Guddu]

Bit disappointing people here are saying "should have done x" when the brand is pushed as a gold standard and trusted by Amir on here, which should be enough of a vote of confidence to buy worry-free. Tough lesson to learn, sorry you're going through this.

Yes but the product gets recommended for its measurements (I won’t say performance), not the company. Company, however, gets Kudos.

 

[Mocie]

I find it's best to pay a little more and order such devices from a local seller, so there is some recourse and no need to deal direct with the manufacturer in another Country.

Agreed without a doubt, unfortunately in OP's case I'm not sure Brazil have too many options like most of us in Western nations do.

 

[wwenze]

Money already taken, any further action is accounting loss

That's why the world needs PayPal to hold the funds from the seller first.

 

[amirm]

Here is what YOU GUYS - YOU - did wrong:

That doesn't say what is wrong. It is just the regulation. Did you actually get a copy of said declaration and found it insufficient as your customs is claiming? I get products from Topping all the time and declarations are always there. Further, the carrier won't accept it from them if forms are missing or left blank.

And what is it that you want Topping to do? Send you a second product without having the first one back?

 

[Chrispy]

(Sorry for my mistakes, I'm not a native english speaker).

Hi, everyone.

My name is André, I'm a brazilian math teacher recording my first online course and struggling to achieve a better audio quality in my videoclasses.

I bought a @TOPPING E2x2 audio interface on 11/28. As Topping didn't fill the proper form with detailed informatin about the product, when it arrived in Brazil the customhouse sent it back to China and since then my life became a nightmare. Topping alternates between not answering me or giving me vague-protocol-robotic-bullshit answers that don't answer anything.

Their channel on YT has 3 vídeos and almost no views, I didn't find IG profile as well, it seems the guys hide themselves, I don't know.

I'm here in desperate, trying any possible way to find and talk to a person who can represent Topping and that has a bit of kindness in his/her heart.

I paid 140 dollars, which for me is a lot of money, to be humiliated. I almost bought the SSL MKII, but E2x2 was 60 dollars less and I read an article here at ASR comparing them and finally chose E2x2, and now I regret a lot. A friend told me exactly this, "it's a chinese company, if you have any issue it's going to be more difficult to solve" and here I am... =(

Without looking at further responses. I used to export to Brazil and a major part was the bribing of officials (fairly large transactions, tho, but the system is quite corrupt).

 

[RexrothPigeon]

High-end products

High performance products at value-oriented budget prices is Topping's lane

 

[antcollinet]

And what is it that you want Topping to do? Send you a second product without having the first one back?

Actually I would expect them to to that - or at least a refund. Topping have failed to do what is necessary to deliver the product to the customer - this is their responsibility, not the customers. The customer should not be left out of pocket for this failure.

This level of customer service (see also the PA5 disaster, and the many reports of people being left with broken units with inadequate support) is why I will avoid buying any @TOPPING product if there are alternatives.

 

[amirm]

Actually I would expect them to to that - or at least a refund. Topping have failed to do what is necessary to deliver the product to the customer - this is their responsibility, not the customers. The customer should not be left out of pocket for this failure.

And how would Topping distinguish between a fraud and this scenario?

This level of customer service (see also the PA5 disaster, and the many reports of people being left with broken units with inadequate support) is why I will avoid buying any @TOPPING product if there are alternatives.

This has nothing to do with that. There are no product issues in this scenario. For all we know, it is a domestic problem in Brazil. There are plenty of companies who would not resend a product to Brazil just for asking.

 

[FERCSA]

Shipping anything to brasil is problematic and it's a long known fact. Corruption, regulation etc.. you name it. As a small maker I would not post any of my product for sure. Topping did so they had a good faith in the system.

OP is angry I can relate to that but he should have known the risks.