Warning About Topping Products and the Seller HiFiGo

[Steve Rogers]

Some excellent comments here, thank you. Just to cover a few, good point, you can have an ESD event without even knowing it. However, I have never damaged any of my other equipment in that room so if it was ESD then the Topping D10 Balanced (sorry I did not mention the model before) is too sensitive.

Anyway, I think I have a resolution. I chatted with Amazon and they are going to contact the seller on my behalf and arrange a replacement. Amazon told me I will hear back from the seller (HiFiGo) within 48 hours to arrange shipping a replacement and to return my defective one. Once I ship my defective one then I email Amazon with my shipping cost receipt and they will re-reimburse me. So I will post my results once it actually happens.

So that is another option for everyone to consider if they need to return anything that was bought on Amazon.

AudioArchiTech, if Paypal isn't working maybe contacting Amazon will be less hassle for you?

Oh, and about them not posting your one star, Banggood.com is the same and I discovered how to get around that. Simply give it a five star and then type in your complaint. It seems they only decide by the number of stars, probably due to not knowing English very well.

This is cool, well done Amazon.

 

[Doodski]

I know it was not any type of discharge because I did not see/hear/feel anything. Also I do not have ESD issues.

Sorry, why do you defend it? ESD issue is a design issue, they have not used ESD protection components.

I meant to say that we all have static electricity issues wherever we are. Not seeing, feeling or hearing static electricity does not mean no static electricity.

 

[anmpr1]

If you buy international you pay less than local but when things go wrong it costs. Everyone has to make there choices and live with them.

Shipping used to be next to nothing. Not anymore. Time frames for delivery have extended, too.

If I was in the US, and looking at the lower to mid-end, I'd probably go with the Full of Schiit guys. For your dollar, they offer reasonable value. They give you two years on warranty claims. About what you'd expect for this sort of thing. You can get them on the horn during business hours, and talk. Sending anything back to their factory is going to be a lot cheaper than mailing overseas, or across borders where you never know what customs will be doing, that day. They charge a 15% 'restock fee' during the demo period, so that's a consideration.

At the higher end of 'reasonable cost for what you get', Benchmark supports you for five years. Ditto for shipping--upstate NY is not southern China. You can also interact with them over the phone, in a language both sides probably understand.

If I lived in Canada, and if my money was easy, I'd be looking at Bryston. Of course if you can afford Bryston you're in an altogether different ball park. You probably have a dealer to work with (I'm guessing). I don't know how it is now, what with dealers becoming scarce, but dealers used to act as the 'middle man'; working with the distributor/factory on behalf of customers, some offering demo units while yours was in the shop. I guess those days are mostly gone.

For high ticket items, mail order isn't the best situation to be in. For throw-away items, it might not be that big of a deal. But even the 'cheap' stuff from operations like Topping are not the 'bargains' they once were, price-wise..., with some of their products pushing the thousand dollar mark.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Learning lesson. Downside is Amazon will continue to monopolize, yikes.

I will never buy from Hifigo or similar seller again. I doubt I’ll ever buy Topping products again either.

 

[Zensō]

Both JDS Labs and Schiit have better follow up service than Topping.

 

[Steve Rogers]

I love this site and the scientific reviews but for sure there are reliability, support and usability issues that are not covered, thats left to us to consider and explore. Sometimes cheap purchases can work out as expensive investments

 

[Digby]

At the risk of being called a mean name, I think there can be problems with warranties when buying direct from China. I don't even know how much the concept exists over there. A lot of manufacturers (Behringer et al) go as far as setting up their own factories and scrutinising everyone employed, so that they can get consistency (after a fashion, it is Behringer after all).

Chinese products are cheap and they do make good products, but there is still something of the Wild uh...., East about doing business directly with China. One should try and bear this in mind when purchasing anything direct.

 

[Snoopy]

Just buy locally or through Amazon (shipping and handling by Amazon, with prime).

If something is not available there are probably alternatives.

 

[LutinBleu]

Thanks for the warning. A fellow Canadian here. I am shopping around for a DAC, was considering buying one from Topping. But I am ready to spend more for something made in the US or Europe, just to avoid this kind of headache.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Gashelli Labs and Schiit are worth a look. The Gashelli J2 gets great reviews, seems like good value. I now have a PecanPi Streamer (with Balanced DAC). I like it, but sometimes glitchy, still trying to sort out the issue. Seems like it's picky about which SD card or maybe a Volumio issue. Great sound. Orchard Audio is USA. edit: they sell a PecanPi DAC too.

edit:
I had a Topping E30 DAC at one point, it worked fine. Luckily mine didn't have the reverse polarity issue on 1 input that a bunch of people had. I think another issue some had with E30 was that it didn't work with some CD players but I never tested that. Sold it and bought a PecanPi Streamer, hooked up PA5 Balanced to it.

 

[Stevedread]

Just an update, I have my Topping D10B packed up and ready to be shipped. Once done, I send my shipping cost receipt to Amazon where they say they will refund the full amount. I guess I will see what happens, I have saved my discussion where they said that.

Another note, I did get a private email from HiFiGo (they actively monitor this forum) and have I need to clear up two things:
One, they did say is "Maybe there is a date mistake in your article because the correct purchase date is 28th Aug 2021, not January 2022." and they are absolutely correct, this is my mistake so it is older than I indicated above.
The other thing is they seem to be stuck on the fact that it is out of warranttee and they do not seem to understand my point which is that Topping acknowledge my unit is defective, so why should I have to pay anything when they shipped me a defective product?

Oh, and Soyabeaner I don't think the link you provided above is my issue. That thread sounds like a firmware issue where it will not connect properly, in other words it works it is just finicky. My issue is different, it connects perfectly and even shows the bit format on the display just no sound comes out.

And thank you AudioArchitech, you saved me some work as I will simply go to the post office.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Ya, same here. Sounds to me like there are many defective units and they should issue a return or and/or cover shipping costs. I contacted Hifigo and Topping soon after receiving my PA5 saying that I suspected issues, that the sound was off at times... I even asked Topping to verify my PA5 was authentic, sent pics, serial number... and neither of them wanted to help investigate further. They just ignored it. Then later the static noise issues started, they kept asking me to do all sorts of test, some repetitive. When I contacted Topping to see if they could help, they just said that I had to deal with Hifigo. It's been months of bad service.

 

[Doodski]

Ya, same here. Sounds to me like there are many defective units and they should issue a return or and/or cover shipping costs. I contacted Hifigo and Topping soon after receiving my PA5 saying that I suspected issues, that the sound was off at times... I even asked Topping to verify my PA5 was authentic, sent pics, serial number... and neither of them wanted to help investigate further. They just ignored it. Then later the static noise issues started, they kept asking me to do all sorts of test, some repetitive. When I contacted Topping to see if they could help, they just said that I had to deal with Hifigo. It's been months of bad service.

There's a time when a formal letter should be composed and faxed/sent registered mail to the bad business. Most judges will accept a fax confirmation. From your description the time is now. Not sure how this works in your country but in Canada if I get a file number from the local court house and a judge accepts the file number from the clerks then the defendant must come to the court house that I have the file at. This is regarding small claims court. I've threatened this 3 times and 2 times I had answer and resolution for the issue at hand within 2 business days and the other time I had to go to court and plead my case to the judge; I won judgement. If one is going to threaten legal action they must mean it and they need to have a idea how the system works in their area so they can threaten the bad business properly for the purpose of closing the file and getting resolution. I would go after HiFiGo and see what their final answer is. If you fax HiFiGo on Friday then say that you will go to the court house on Tuesday to file a claim then you must mean it and say it/write it clearly in no uncertain terms otherwise they won't take you seriously.

 

[AudioArchitech]

Maybe some confusion here. They have agreed to Warranty it. I'm just upset that they didn't help out at the beginning, stalled till I missed return window. I already went through Paypal resolution to get them to do refund.. I'm just upset that I have to pay expensive shipping to China for return, for a defective product that imo should have been recalled and they should bear the costs, not us. I don't think I could take them to small clams for that.

Silly of them if you ask me. I went from promoting Topping products personally and online to now warning everyone I can about Topping products. You'd think that with their shipping accounts, they could help us deal with the shipping costs in this situation. Instead I feel like they may be using our high shipping costs to deter us from sending back for Warranty.

 

[Doodski]

Maybe some confusion here. They have agreed to Warranty it. I'm just upset that they didn't help out at the beginning, stalled till I missed return window. I already went through Paypal resolution to get them to do refund.. I'm just upset that I have to pay expensive shipping to China for return, for a defective product that imo should have been recalled and they should bear the costs, not us. I don't think I could take them to small clams for that.

Yes, small claims court for shipping charges would probably not be accepted for the courts time and expense in your case. I do agree that shipping should not be your responsibility in this specific case. Topping released bad product. Perhaps look to more local product that can be shipped at reasonable expense and possibly so they are also subject to local laws too.

 

[Stevedread]

Another update... I am still waiting...

So HiFiGo received it about two weeks ago and when I asked them for an update they said it has been sent to Topping. Now, two weeks later I have heard nothing. This is becoming a horrendously long process. Thankfully I have another system to use otherwise I don't know what I would do without my music?

I have provided HiFiGo two options which involve replacing it with the unbalanced version. Both options I believe are fair because I never saw the unbalanced claim when I bought it. I clearly see it now, and if it was there when I bought it then it was well hidden in the fine print because as a hardware technologist I know better and would never have purchased it.

However, if they continue to insist in not taking any responsibility and just return the same model then I stuck with something I cannot use because my system is unbalanced. Too bad because I felt that it sounded better than my STR Preamp by Anthem (my other system). Are you reading this Topping? I said it sounds better then my Anthem STR Preamplifier at a list price of $5,249.99 CAD.

Well, to be concise, I was impressed for many months until it blew up and stopped working.

Stay tuned for my final post which won't be for some time yet. I have already written it and will post it depending on what they decide to return to me.

Let's see if Topping and HiFiGo do the right thing!

 

[antcollinet]

There's a time when a formal letter should be composed and faxed/sent registered mail to the bad business. Most judges will accept a fax confirmation. From your description the time is now. Not sure how this works in your country but in Canada if I get a file number from the local court house and a judge accepts the file number from the clerks then the defendant must come to the court house that I have the file at. This is regarding small claims court. I've threatened this 3 times and 2 times I had answer and resolution for the issue at hand within 2 business days and the other time I had to go to court and plead my case to the judge; I won judgement. If one is going to threaten legal action they must mean it and they need to have a idea how the system works in their area so they can threaten the bad business properly for the purpose of closing the file and getting resolution. I would go after HiFiGo and see what their final answer is. If you fax HiFiGo on Friday then say that you will go to the court house on Tuesday to file a claim then you must mean it and say it/write it clearly in no uncertain terms otherwise they won't take you seriously.

He's purchased from a supplier in a different country - local consumer protection regs are unlikely to apply. And how is he going to take someone from China to court in Canada?

 

[amper42]

Don't purchase Topping product if you expect reasonable customer service. Repair, defect or warranty claims can be a significant problem. Shipping to China is expensive and most customers simply trash the product. I would suggest not buying from them. If you must, buy through Amazon so you have a company that cares about customer service helping you through the maze called Topping (lack of) service.

 

[Kael]

I too have bought a defective Topping PA5 from Hifigo. I can say that after two emails and a video of the static noise problem they agreed there’s a defect that the manufacturer knows about and are willing to take it back.

But of course I have to pay the return shipping.

Honestly this is the first broken product from China I’ve ever bought, I probably won’t be buying anything expensive and electronic from there again just to avoid this potential hassle.

I’ll need to look up the shipping cost but I imagine it’ll make my eyes water. Yes, HifiGo are clear about their returns policy, however it’s not exactly a good one.

 

[anmpr1]

I’ll need to look up the shipping cost but I imagine it’ll make my eyes water. Yes, HifiGo are clear about their returns policy, however it’s not exactly a good one.

I've frequently shipped back and forth from China, not usually for audio related reasons. Delivery times (back and forth from the US) for small packages have been all over the place. Sometimes a couple of weeks, sometimes a month or more. All prior to current supply chain issues, and the recent inflation. I've used regular 'ground', and FedEx quick express (or whatever they call it). Fed Ex arrived next day. Might have been two days. A three page document--the cost was $75.00. Obviously that's not the way to go.

If other (political) factors manifest, you can probably forget the entire thing. Who can say?

Please keep us posted on the return. Hopefully shipping will be a lot less than the value of the item, in which case it's zero-sum throw-away.