Uh-oh (Toptul)

[posaune]

http://www.wrenhandtools.com/ is "temporarily disabled."

I hope this is because the site is getting a much needed update and not because Mike is getting out of the business.

 

[SpiderGearsMan]

the asian invasion temp disabled ?

 

[mrholeshot]

maybe I should look into becoming a TopTul dealer.

 

[mrholeshot]

I sent TopTul a message about becoming a TopTul dealer and the cost involved. maybe I'll hear back

 

[ATTappman]

I hope this is because the site is getting a much needed update and not because Mike is getting out of the business.

He already can't or won't fill an order. There's no difference between "out of business" and the state he's already in.

 

[posaune]

He already can't or won't fill an order. There's no difference between "out of business" and the state he's already in.

Ha. While technically that is true, if everything is still there, in my mind there is *hope* that it will get better. Once the website gets taken down, I think all hope is lost.

I sent TopTul a message about becoming a TopTul dealer and the cost involved. maybe I'll hear back

I have a list for you if you go through with it!

 

[ATTappman]

I sent TopTul a message about becoming a TopTul dealer and the cost involved. maybe I'll hear back

There still is (at least) one dealer - ultimategarage.com. The owner is a member here, with username ultgar. He always had a working web site and up-to-date inventory info. The problem is that he got one shipment over a year ago and doesn't seem to have been resupplied since then.

There was a Toptul dealer with a web site called doubleglazetools.com. It's gone now.

 

[scott37300]

I would place an order right away. I was cruising around the toptool site last week and found lots of stuff I liked and have heard lots of good reviews. But didn't want to place an order due to all the posts about not hearing from mike and not being able to get tools. If you go threw with this I would like to place an order to try some of the tools out.

 

[benny27]

I have made 2 orders from mike and both times he was slow to get back to me or did not. And 25% of what I was looking for he did not have. plus having to call or email for prices at the time made me order less too.

from ultimategarage.com I got a set of extra long wrenches. They had them on the site press add to cart and they showed up to my house the way online orders should go.

If I do buy more toptul it will be from ultimategarage.com and not mike.

 

[jay50]

I wonder how many got $hitted when he pulled the plug?

 

[mikebramel]

I wonder how many got $hitted when he pulled the plug?

thats easy........0

He does toptul on the side with his own capital. That can be pretty hard nowadays

 

[mcdtommy23]

I was so ready to pull the trigger on some Toptul, but after this I'm sorry to say, there is just no way I will order from any of them.

 

[vette-kid]

I hope he is just getting the site fixed. I would not hesitate to buy from him again. In fact, Im ready to place an order here soon hopefully. Understand that Mike is trying to get this off the ground with his own capital. He is a great guy and is working VERY hard to pull this off. It just unfortunately seems to be alluding him at the moment. I hope he manages to pull it off though, as soon as he is ready, I will place another order.

 

[Bolster]

Somebody call him and ask! No need to speculate.

 

[Skin]

whats the difference between Toptul and gearwrench or any other tools stamped taiwan?

 

[ATTappman]

He is a great guy and is working VERY hard to pull this off.

You can be a great guy and a hard worker, but if you can't return email or phone calls, if you lose track of orders, if you promise to ship something and forget about it, if you're unable to hire somebody to design a web site yet make endless promises that it's almost there, etc., your likelihood of success is not high.

 

[ATTappman]

whats the difference between Toptul and gearwrench or any other tools stamped taiwan?

Assuming this question is not just an attempt to aggravate people, there's quite a bit of difference between Toptul and Gearwrench tools. The ratchets are about as different as Snap-on and Matco, say. The wenches have a different design. Toptul doesn't do all the gimmicky tools that Gearwrench does. You can buy Gearwrench tools in a store or from many online sellers. Toptul screwdrivers are much beefier than Gearwrench.

Toptul is more like Genius, in my opinion.

 

[babzog]

There's also www.thetoolchest.ca. Still around (at least, the website's still up, so I have no reason to believe they've departed). Have ordered from them before, great, fast service and prices are very good! Just my $0.00000000002 billion worth as a satisfied customer.

 

[cwlo]

I just placed an order form toolchest Canada. Its my second order, and I've been very pleased. They give a tracking number, ship quickly, and offer a fixed shipping cost to the States. ( I think they recently raised it from $5 to $10.00)

Chris

 

[Infidel]

I just placed an order form toolchest Canada. Its my second order, and I've been very pleased. They give a tracking number, ship quickly, and offer a fixed shipping cost to the States. ( I think they recently raised it from $5 to $10.00)

Chris

hell yes, but we still need more US dealers.

never mind, I got over excited and forgot to click the individual drives, but it's still a great price.

http://www.thetoolchest.ca/products/Reversible-Swivel%252dHead-Ratchet.html

 

[3 at 8]

This *****... I was worried this would happen; it means I will probably never have matching sockets in my hansen trays. I needed about a dozen open stock deep wells. These were from my first order placed in 2008. I must admit I kinda gave up just a few days ago and placed my first order from ultimate garage.com some of my original requests from Mike that I could not get. They should arrive tommorow or the next. It is a shame if Mikes site went down so close to being user freindly. I told him I was so looking forward to his site having checkout capabilities and I can garentee that more money would have been spent. Well see how it goes.

 

[Skin]

Assuming this question is not just an attempt to aggravate people, there's quite a bit of difference between Toptul and Gearwrench tools. The ratchets are about as different as Snap-on and Matco, say. The wenches have a different design. Toptul doesn't do all the gimmicky tools that Gearwrench does. You can buy Gearwrench tools in a store or from many online sellers. Toptul screwdrivers are much beefier than Gearwrench.

Toptul is more like Genius, in my opinion.

not trying to stir the pot i was actually curious, seems to be one of the few brands that people dont hop all over about COO. Their stuff seemed kinda expensive to me as well. Anyone done a side by side with pics?

 

[rhastings80]

There is still a banner add on the front page of http://www.garagejournal.com/ for Wren Hand Tools. As you know the site doesn't work.

 

[back2class]

not trying to stir the pot i was actually curious, seems to be one of the few brands that people dont hop all over about COO. Their stuff seemed kinda expensive to me as well. Anyone done a side by side with pics?

yes, I don't get it all either. With so many quite decent offshore brands with much better distribution, service and established presence I simply never got even the slightest idea why anyone would buy toptul. Seemed like typical higher quality offshore stuff like Titan, blackhawk, better stanley and so on. Now I know there are some guys who just have to have "new" stuff. But if you have to buy new, buy something you can handle and get support on. Prices did not seem all that great either.

 

[american lockpicker]

There still is (at least) one dealer - ultimategarage.com. The owner is a member here, with username ultgar. He always had a working web site and up-to-date inventory info. The problem is that he got one shipment over a year ago and doesn't seem to have been resupplied since then.

Interesting I'm planning on buying some Facom tools off his site.

 

[mspecperformance]

wow I didn't realize TopTul had such nice looking tools. So lets get this straight, there are not distributors in the US that carry a full line and can warranty these tools? They are almost cheap enough to take a chance.

 

[Bolster]

yes, I don't get it all either. ...

I bought some Toptul a year ago or more, and I think it's definitely superior to any GearWrench finishes I've seen. Reminds me most of Japanese tools in terms of finish quality.

 

[vette-kid]

Just got an email from Mike, he is still in business and plans to be for a while. Just a technical glitch. Hes working on it

FYI, mike will warranty tools.

 

[supertooljunkie]

I bought a set of 1/2" Torx sockets from Mike in April of this year. I needed a T-55 to do the head bolts in a Ford Explorer. I looked at Snap on. They wanted $45 for the one socket. I bought a 9 piece set from T-20 to T-60, delivered, for $40. The tools came in a metal box, and a nicely printed cardboard box. The finish is excellent. Placed the order over the phone and the tools arrived in a week. I would have liked Snappy, but for a possible one time use, I went for the set. I would not have a problem using them daily.

I ordered a long, flex head 1/2" soft handled ratchet at the same time. It was out of stock and needed to be ordered. Never did hear back on it, emailed and never got an answer. He would not let me pay until the tool came in and was ready to ship.
Nice guy. Hope it all works out for him.

 

[scott37300]

Just got an email from Mike, he is still in business and plans to be for a while. Just a technical glitch. Hes working on it

FYI, mike will warranty tools.

Glad it's just a glitch but there is still a lot of complaints with him not getting back to people, returning phone calls and emails. Also seems like some stock issues.

I would really like to order some of toptool stuff from all the good reviews and the prices seemed really good when I was looking at them. But still a little worried about the lack of customer service and worried about warranty issues and not having tools in stock.

 

[Skin]

I bought some Toptul a year ago or more, and I think it's definitely superior to any GearWrench finishes I've seen. Reminds me most of Japanese tools in terms of finish quality.

so anyone done a side by side? Comparing combos, sockets, ratchets and the like?

 

[3 at 8]

Excellente!!! Hang in there mike. You definatly have a fan base around here. Unfortunatly with players, there are also going to be the haters. Don't let the new tool haters get you down, sombodys gotta supply the world with wonderfull new shiny tools so it might as well be you, and, sombodys gotta buy the new shiny tools and that might as well be me. Glad to hear your all right. Let me know when your up and running and I'll have you stuff me a box full of shiny polished chromed ****, plastic wrapped and sealed for a King. As allways, throw in just a hint of the funk for flavour.

Hope to be in touch in the near future.

 

[mspecperformance]

what a shame. I am reading old reviews and it looks like Mike Wren used to be very on point with his customer service.

 

[Sick Puppy]

Toptul has just started coming out here in NZ- they don't have the blow-mould cases for the socket sets that they have in the states, but what I've sen of them, they look good. The satin chrome coating looks very nice.

Ratchets feel good too- better than the budget ones, and certainly comparable to other Taiwanese makes. If they get their marketing and distribution right in the US, they'll be golden. If.

 

[kythri]

Unfortunatly with players, there are also going to be the haters.

I'd hesitate to call people waiting months for orders to be filled "haters".

I'd also hesitate to apply the same label to people who are wary of ordering from one of maybe two or three independant one-man-operation suppliers of a line that has virtually no market penetration, and which those one-man-operations have an extremely limited supply of the product.

But that's just me. Haters gonna hate, I suppose.

If you're willing to order from a catalog of which supply is questionable, willing to wait months for that order with little-to-no contact as has been reported, willing to trust that you won't have issue with the tool (because, really, what good is a warranty if the replacement supply is in question?) and willing to pay about the same as any other comparable tool, then by all means, Toptul sounds like a great product and a great deal.

 

[3 at 8]

No. Not haters of the service, Mike, or COO. Haters of "new tools".
Sorry I wasn’t clear. Wasn’t worth mentioning in the first place. If only tools came out of the factory used I guess we wouldn’t be idiots to buy them.

 

[supertooljunkie]

No. Not haters of the service, Mike, or COO. Haters of "new tools".
Sorry I wasn’t clear. Wasn’t worth mentioning in the first place. If only tools came out of the factory used I guess we wouldn’t be idiots to buy them.

I don't think there is a hater of "new tools" on this forum. What there are, are a lot of people that like the history, the feel, the quality, the American made, of used tools. When I was younger, I wanted "new" tools. I didn't care for used stuff, unless it was my Dad's, Granddad's, Uncle's, etc. As the price of tools have gone up and manufacturing has gone overseas, many people, like myself, have come to the realization that older, quality, American tools are worth more than some of the "new" off shore junk that are being called tools today.
I had rather pay less for a used American made wrench that has a history, that is a quality product, that is a cheaper price than some "new", Chiwanese POS.
Don't get me wrong. I love new tools. Getting on the tool truck, or leaving the hardware, or building supply house, with latest, shiny, new, geegaw is wonderful, and I like it. Last night though, I spent going through a C-man tool box from the mid 60's with all kinds of "goodies", cleaning and oiling older, American made ratchets, sockets, wrenches, and the like, that blow away 90% of the "****" you can buy "new" at Harbour Freight.
I think most of the older guys on the forum feel like I do, and many of the younger ones will to, after being here a while.
I get more of a thrill leaving the pawn shop with a handful of old Proto, P&C, Bonney, older C-man, than leaving Home Depot, or HF, with a bunch of "new" stuff that is **** now and will always be ****.

 

[vette-kid]

Kythri, its a product comparable to those costing MUCH more. Thats what makes it a great deal. My experience has been that at times Mike can be difficult to get ahold of. But once I do and place my order with him, his communication has been excellent and he always ships right away. On my first one he would let me pay until I actually received the tools, so I could actually hold them in hand before buying! How many places would be willing to ship you $200 worth of tools before you pay them!

 

[Bull]

I have only one Toptul ratchet, purchased from a member here. That's a very limited sample to draw conclusions from. But, I know that the ratchet is of excellent quality, from finish to feel to fit to features. I looked at the price it would have cost me new, and it was significantly less than any comparable tools. Toptul seems not be be just another Taiwainese offering akin to all the rest, but to be better.

 

[mspecperformance]

yeah looks like great stuff. I will be ordering a few small things from ultimategarage to test out the quality. Those wrench sets look so pimp for so little money.