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tile giant recognise this and our local tg manager is ex topps but has no silly rules to giving trade
Funny you should say that,,The manager of the tops in
Streatham London was just saying that to me today when I commented on how friendly the store was.Got a trade acc there no probs.Just required a few reciepts and a bussiness card.
If the poster was laminated then surly the coffee they spilt would not have damaged it and how can you spill coffee on a poster on a wall, they must have thrown coffee at it. I hate it when people don't tell the truth and just make up excuses :mad2:
If I had a shop I would put your poster up and leave it up
Discuss Anyone Dealing With Topps Tiles?? in the Tile Retail | Wholesale | Import / Export Tile area at TilersForums.com.
S
swindonbathroom
Hi sstiling ,
with any business relationships are key.
I knew the staff in Topps Swindon , I pointed my clients to them to buy tiles. I thought I was being a good contact for them. Sure my clients didn't buy the add ons but in this climate any sale must be better than no sale at all. I didn't ask anything in return.
In my opinion Topps got greedy and thought they could bully me into allowing MY clients to buy the add ons from them. I now just now my clients to either Tile Store Or Giant Tile who welcome any business they get.
A key business point is someone happy with your service will tell one or two people , someone feeling aggrieved with your service will tell twenty two people !!
with any business relationships are key.
I knew the staff in Topps Swindon , I pointed my clients to them to buy tiles. I thought I was being a good contact for them. Sure my clients didn't buy the add ons but in this climate any sale must be better than no sale at all. I didn't ask anything in return.
In my opinion Topps got greedy and thought they could bully me into allowing MY clients to buy the add ons from them. I now just now my clients to either Tile Store Or Giant Tile who welcome any business they get.
A key business point is someone happy with your service will tell one or two people , someone feeling aggrieved with your service will tell twenty two people !!
P
p4ulo
I've got a trade account with Topps down here, and I have always found them to be helpful and pretty cheap.
I don't buy tiles as they are always supplied for me by clients, (though since Pilkingtons went bust I send them all there and they use my trade acct to buy them!)
Trade trim and their own brand bagged addy is dirt cheap, but I recently used their Palace flexi and it was rather pricey....
There is a Tile Giant very nearby, I think I have to bin my "allegiance" and go check it out.......
I don't buy tiles as they are always supplied for me by clients, (though since Pilkingtons went bust I send them all there and they use my trade acct to buy them!)
Trade trim and their own brand bagged addy is dirt cheap, but I recently used their Palace flexi and it was rather pricey....
There is a Tile Giant very nearby, I think I have to bin my "allegiance" and go check it out.......
M
mikethetile
the manager you get in your local store can make a big difference to how you get on with dealing with them
tile giant recognise this and our local tg manager is ex topps but has no silly rules to giving trade
L
lady tiler
used topps twice i think,,discount on tiles is zero,actually had 1 customer who chose tiles from them so i called them to see if she cd pay over the phone and no was the answer? tiles were cancelled and she bought elsewhere not my kind of shop to be honest,,the lass in edin branch did give me a free bag o adhesive though a month ago to try out which was nice of her
C
Ceramico tiling
Funny you should say that,,The manager of the tops in
Streatham London was just saying that to me today when I commented on how friendly the store was.Got a trade acc there no probs.Just required a few reciepts and a bussiness card.
Been catching up after a week away - very interesting cross section of Topps Tiles Trade experience.
With a selection of tile retailers available to me within 15 miles (including Topps, Tileflair and Tile Giant) I gotta say Topps experiences are very bad. Overpriced adhesives/grouts, very poor discounts offered, little interest in cultivating trade custom, and supplying poor quality (damaged) tiles.
In comparison, both Tile Giant and Tileflair have been helpful, given great discounts - supplied adhesives and grouts at very competative prices, and genuinely seem to encourage and support trade custom.
Somebody told me that Topps Tiles shops vary according to managers. Could be true - in which case steer clear of my nearest Topps (Somerset) - thats where the most of the bad experiences happened!
With a selection of tile retailers available to me within 15 miles (including Topps, Tileflair and Tile Giant) I gotta say Topps experiences are very bad. Overpriced adhesives/grouts, very poor discounts offered, little interest in cultivating trade custom, and supplying poor quality (damaged) tiles.
In comparison, both Tile Giant and Tileflair have been helpful, given great discounts - supplied adhesives and grouts at very competative prices, and genuinely seem to encourage and support trade custom.
Somebody told me that Topps Tiles shops vary according to managers. Could be true - in which case steer clear of my nearest Topps (Somerset) - thats where the most of the bad experiences happened!
DJS
TF
What wrong with MAPEI bags Mike - not colourful enough for ya? :lol:
I'll use TOPPS, but only if I'm in urgent need of something and I know my local tile shop won't be able to get it in for a few days. Rolls Royce must be a topps saying they promote nationally - the guy in Manchester said it to me when I picked up my card.
I get a reasonable discount on the add-on's, but I don't like the quality of the tiles most of all.
I try to steer customers towards my local independant shop, but I also have to accept (from experience) that some people feel re-assured by a big brand name like TOPPS!! I feel dirty saying that :lol: I take time to explain the differences in manufacture and quality, but the £££'s are all the customer care's about at the end of the day. I am more than happy to leave it as their decision, and just advise them accordingly.
I wish Tile Giant was nearer to me, is the only one in Manchester/Stockport area way out in Ashton, East Manchester?
I'll use TOPPS, but only if I'm in urgent need of something and I know my local tile shop won't be able to get it in for a few days. Rolls Royce must be a topps saying they promote nationally - the guy in Manchester said it to me when I picked up my card.
I get a reasonable discount on the add-on's, but I don't like the quality of the tiles most of all.
I try to steer customers towards my local independant shop, but I also have to accept (from experience) that some people feel re-assured by a big brand name like TOPPS!! I feel dirty saying that :lol: I take time to explain the differences in manufacture and quality, but the £££'s are all the customer care's about at the end of the day. I am more than happy to leave it as their decision, and just advise them accordingly.
I wish Tile Giant was nearer to me, is the only one in Manchester/Stockport area way out in Ashton, East Manchester?
S
swindonbathroom
Topps Tiles Swindon obviously didn't like my review of my experiences with them. It appears that anyone not using "Bal" is using inferior products and only doing so to make a quick buck at the expense of the customer. Anyone who questions the cost is also trying to bully their staff.
Seems like I've hit a nerve!!
Seems like I've hit a nerve!!
Last edited by a moderator:
poynton phil
TF
M
mikethetile
poynton phil
TF
I have been told by a mate that if a store is a big earner then you dont get this sort of thing happening, but the stores that struggle to meet sales targets to try to push sales a lot more. although i dont know what sort of sales figures swindon has. I do know the store i use in cheadle is a big earner for topps.
DJS
TF
poynton phil
TF
U
user123
I must admit I am not impressed with Topps Tiles.. very promising when they first opened with enthusiastic staff, now there seems to be new staff everytime I have to go in, but the sky high prices, even with the trade account, well, uninspiring. Got given a price of £40 something for 4, or was it 5 l of latex primer, got the equivalent in the neigbouring MKM for £18, and little things like tiling accessory tools, like the silicone finger, or sponges etc, are much cheaper in dare I say it B&Q...
Put in a laminated poster about my mosaic work at their request, with cards, next time I come in it's not there, I say, where is it? Oh we spilled coffee over it andhad to throw it out... that can happen, ok, but a quick pohonecall wouldn't have gone amiss to ask me for another one. Then I was in a rush for epoxy, went in, got the Bal stuff, got home, ready to work, opened the lid and it had gone off, stone hard, saw the sell by date, it was last years!! Took it back in disgust the next day, noone there seemed to have any idea what it is supposed to look like and I got my money back, but no replacement, as all the others were out of date, too!! Good grief...at the same time I grabbed some corner tanking tape I had not needed in the end, their price still on and unopened, with the trade account it should be easy to check when I bought it, expecting some good will after the epoxy fiasco and they tell me they can't take it back with out the receipt... Jeez... not impressed, not impressed at all.
Put in a laminated poster about my mosaic work at their request, with cards, next time I come in it's not there, I say, where is it? Oh we spilled coffee over it andhad to throw it out... that can happen, ok, but a quick pohonecall wouldn't have gone amiss to ask me for another one. Then I was in a rush for epoxy, went in, got the Bal stuff, got home, ready to work, opened the lid and it had gone off, stone hard, saw the sell by date, it was last years!! Took it back in disgust the next day, noone there seemed to have any idea what it is supposed to look like and I got my money back, but no replacement, as all the others were out of date, too!! Good grief...at the same time I grabbed some corner tanking tape I had not needed in the end, their price still on and unopened, with the trade account it should be easy to check when I bought it, expecting some good will after the epoxy fiasco and they tell me they can't take it back with out the receipt... Jeez... not impressed, not impressed at all.
U
united
I must admit I am not impressed with Topps Tiles.. very promising when they first opened with enthusiastic staff, now there seems to be new staff everytime I have to go in, but the sky high prices, even with the trade account, well, uninspiring. Got given a price of £40 something for 4, or was it 5 l of latex primer, got the equivalent in the neigbouring MKM for £18, and little things like tiling accessory tools, like the silicone finger, or sponges etc, are much cheaper in dare I say it B&Q...
Put in a laminated poster about my mosaic work at their request, with cards, next time I come in it's not there, I say, where is it? Oh we spilled coffee over it andhad to throw it out... that can happen, ok, but a quick pohonecall wouldn't have gone amiss to ask me for another one. Then I was in a rush for epoxy, went in, got the Bal stuff, got home, ready to work, opened the lid and it had gone off, stone hard, saw the sell by date, it was last years!! Took it back in disgust the next day, noone there seemed to have any idea what it is supposed to look like and I got my money back, but no replacement, as all the others were out of date, too!! Good grief...at the same time I grabbed some corner tanking tape I had not needed in the end, their price still on and unopened, with the trade account it should be easy to check when I bought it, expecting some good will after the epoxy fiasco and they tell me they can't take it back with out the receipt... Jeez... not impressed, not impressed at all.
If the poster was laminated then surly the coffee they spilt would not have damaged it and how can you spill coffee on a poster on a wall, they must have thrown coffee at it. I hate it when people don't tell the truth and just make up excuses :mad2:
If I had a shop I would put your poster up and leave it up
B
Billy1973
Ok i have read most the post on here about Topps and can understand alot where tilers are coming from, I work for topps, and will be happy to answer most questions.
1 thing i dont understand is that trade feel that there prices are high, are you looking at retail or registered trade prices?
1 thing i dont understand is that trade feel that there prices are high, are you looking at retail or registered trade prices?
M
mikethetile
your prices are a lot higher than we pay for mapei, this is because bal is dearer to start with so even comparing trade on bal to trade on mapei your still very dear, you do have the backroom but thats palace addy , theres nothing wrong with palace but again we could find it cheaper
the main issue is topps treatment of trade
rather than give you a tirade I suggest you pop into a tilegiant and watch their customer service particulary how they treat their trade customers
the main issue is topps treatment of trade
rather than give you a tirade I suggest you pop into a tilegiant and watch their customer service particulary how they treat their trade customers
B
Billy1973
topps offer a price match, if you are a registered trader and can show that you can get something else cheaper we will beat that price by 5%.
If the manager there will not do this then as a TT employee he/she is not doing the company justice. I for one run a store in the south and have a 70/30 split trade/retail.
yes we are under pressure to maintain a higher gross profit but as i see it "mr & mrs smith will spend £1000 once in 10 years" but " mr trade will spend that each and every week" So both will get my up most attention yet I will build up a re-pore with mr trade.
Our toppstrade products along with some extras have gone over a big price reduction as late along with some new toppstrade lines that have come in these are going down very well with my trade
If the manager there will not do this then as a TT employee he/she is not doing the company justice. I for one run a store in the south and have a 70/30 split trade/retail.
yes we are under pressure to maintain a higher gross profit but as i see it "mr & mrs smith will spend £1000 once in 10 years" but " mr trade will spend that each and every week" So both will get my up most attention yet I will build up a re-pore with mr trade.
Our toppstrade products along with some extras have gone over a big price reduction as late along with some new toppstrade lines that have come in these are going down very well with my trade
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