Sourcing decent parts - Has anyone used tapsuk.com?

[johnagall]

They seem to have wash bowls and taps at much more reasonable prices and whilst I'm trying to keep the budget manageable for my bathroom refurb, I want to make sure I balance cost with reliability.

Any experiences good and bad with these guys? Or perhaps some suggestions on trusted retailers at reasonable prices?

Many thanks

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I have used tapsuk once, it's along time ago, Can't remember exactly what I purchased. Think it was kitchen mixer tap, recall having a few problems with it. That's if it was that tap, that's most likely why I have never used them since. If it's an online shop you are looking for?
I have used betterbathrooms in the past.
The prices are not bad and the products I have ordered, have been value for money.
The customer service is very good to, they call you to arrange delivery and the driver will call you when he is not so far away. So your not tied up hanging about for 7am-6pm delivery
also some of the taps at toolstation are value.

 

[johnagall]

Online isn't that important but value is. Here is the item in question http://www.tapsuk.com/v999aweb-dream-tall-waterfall-bathroom-basin-mixer-tap-v999a.html

Loads cheaper than anywhere else I can find. At first I thought it was a scam website but it's not.

I just don't want to have any problems with them if people on here have experience. What problems did you have?

 

[PrenticeBoyofDerry]

I could not comment on the price of the tap, my search either lead to Astini or tapsuk, so they could be a brand model exclusive to them.

 

[johnagall]

Sorry I really should be more clear in my posts. I want this style of tap or similar.

The main point I am making is that this company is very cheap and I wonder if that's for a reason. Something along then lines of, "if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is"

Or am I just being a cynical so and so?

 

[mcmoby69]

the company i use are nationwide, and, do sell direct to the public via ebay and have their own websites too. believe me, they can afford to sell at prices that you see.

looking at the link i know i cant get those taps direct, so suspect they are from a different distributor, not mine.

when i negotiated my discount with my distributor i was gutted. i have been paying over the odds for 20 odd years!

obviously showrooms etc have bigger overheads than your average Joe Bloggs bathroom supplier, so need a bigger profit margin.

i used to sell the cheap 'builder's' bathrooms on ebay for £175 with taps and panel including free delivery, and still made a decent profit!


the taps in the picture look fine, tho just make sure they are suitable for the water system in your house. is it gravity hot water or do you have a combi?

 

[moggridgeplumbing]

Tapsuk - If you have a problem don't expect help. That's all I can say.

 

[johnagall]

I have a combi boiler.

Why do you say that Maggs? Personal experience?

Is there much that can go wrong with buying a ceramic wash bowl and tap?

 

[johnagall]

Sorry if bumping is bad form

 

[mantrid91]

tapsuk.com are absolutely disgraceful. My wife ordered a part for a tap, a shower-head and some sealant that specifically matches the new worktop. A week later, my wife wants to know where it is. Person on the phone number insts he knows nothing, and can only place orders, not look at existing ones. Only option is, phone the premium rate...£1.53 per minute customer service line or email/use online service form. Days later, certainly not quickly, the response is that the shower-head is out of stock. My wife replies and says to just send the sealant, as we need it urgently for our carpenter to fit the worktop. The following reply from tapsuk c.service said "ok, we will send both items together.".....WTF!!! So now its Friday, 2.5 weeks on from placing the order, and the carpenter is coming Monday morning....we're screwed, and tapsuk customer services stopped responding to my wife, and are not paying any attention. Their premium rate number won't dial through right now, for some dumb reason, and I have been forced to email to them cancelling my order.....I very much doubt they will ever refund the money.

I first tried calling the sales line, to the same dumb response my wife got. So I said i want to speak to the salesman's supervisor. He says, conveniently, "I am the sales manager, the most senior guy"....BULLSHIT!!! I said, "I didn't ask what your title was, I asked to speak with whoever YOUR boss is." He then claims that his boss is not situated in that building/location, and claims he has no direct/vocal contact with his own employers or supervisor....how very convenient. Says that the best he can do is send the support team an email, to ask them to email me back...not phone.....FFS!!!! what part of "URGENT" do these people not understand. Disgusting scam if you ask me. I wouldn't be surprised if most orders fail to show up. I suspect they just take orders and money from people, never deliver the goods, until you finally give in to spend a **** load of money...perhaps more than the product you bought is worth, calling their premium rate line. DO NOT EVER BUY FROM THIS COMPANY

 

[gillyg59]

We have been waiting for weeks for the balance of the items we ordered. The kitchen is a shambles because the vital parts we paid for long since have not materialised. What should have been a simple job has dragged on for weeks becuase of them. God knows how much we have spent phoning their premium rate line to try to get an answer from them.

Do not touch them with a barge pole! Once they have your money they could not care less. They must make a fortune out of their customer service line. It is worth them selling products cheaply as they must more than make up for it with the money they make this way. The delivery times promised by the sales team are fairy tales. They are a nightmare.

 

[MJN]

I bought some chrome towel radiator TRVs from them a couple of years back and, as mentioned by another poster, they seemed to be unique to TapsUK so whilst the price was low it was not possible to make any direct comparisons with other retailers.

One of the TRVs sprung a leak soon after installation, and further inspection revealed it to be a failure of an internal o-ring. Hard to tell what the cause was, whether it was a poor quality o-ring (hard to imagine how quality could be skimped on there for any real gain) or perhaps inadequate care during construction.

Anyway, there didn’t appear to be a contact number at the time – even a premium rate one – and e-mails were going unanswered. Fortunately I’d bought through eBay and so I at least the feedback mechanism to make my last plea for help and this worked – no sooner had I put some negative (but fair) feedback up did they get in touch to resolve the issue. To their credit they resolved it without drama and seemed very apologetic about the trouble getting hold of. They sounded positively attentive to my concerns – it’s just a shame it only occurred once I’d publicly called them out on it and so it was too late to determine how genuine it was. They later asked me to remove my feedback however I instead followed it up with confirmation that it got sorted in the end because I’m not going to let someone buy my silence.

Would I use them again? Probably; it depends on the circumstances of the product and price and whether it is worth the ‘risk’ because I’m sure there cannot be issues with every product they sell. I'd certainly purchase via their eBay presence though as they can at least be called to account through the feedback mechanism (and potentially Paypal protection too).

Mathew