Having read all the negative info on this company on the various rip off sites and the MANY forums (do a Google search on "california tops scam jeep", or "tim taylor scam jeep" and you;'ll see what I mean!), I decided to try his top anyway.
I tried to reach the store by email and phone and it took about a week before I was finally able to speak with someone.
After some trouble paid $850 using his payment service Allied Wallet (PayPal has banned him for fraud and he has also been banned from eBay for the same reason) and he proceeded to make my top.
A week later I noticed an odd $25.50 foreign service charge on my credit card statement and found out that it was related to the $850 purchase. My bank charges 3% foreign conversion fee on purchases made from foreign companies. That seemed odd, because with a name like californiatops you'd expect them to be in California, right? Not so. He's in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.
I sent a complaint email to Tim Taylor, the owner of the place and got a rambling, non-coherent email back stating it wasn't his fault, he'd had a very bad summer, was evicted from his house and slept on a park bench (I am NOT kidding you!) and that he was very sorry yada yada yada. Bottom line, he blamed Allied Wallet and vowed he'd return that charge to me. Guess he did not get the part where I said it was MY BANK who charged the fee. My complaint was that he should have made it clear on his site that he's in CANADA, not the US. After a few more rambling email detailing his woes and how people were ripping HIM off, he conceded that he could not return just that fee, so he returned the entire payment! I felt very lucky because at that point I was already both suspicious and worried about this whole deal. He claimed he "fired" Allied Wallet, removed them from his website and from then on would only take Money Orders.
So he wanted me to send a check or Money Order...
I let it sit a bit until the top was ready yesterday.
Knowing about all the negative info about him I felt uncomfortable doing that and told him I really wanted to pay by credit card because by yesterday Allied Wallet re-appeared in his site. Later yesterday he sent me an email that he felt bad for me and all the hassle and that he'd offer the top at a mere $500, if only I would send him a check.
This nearly 50% discount while I never even asked for one raised big red flags for me and I insisted once again that I'd only pay by credit card. He never relented, sent a few more rambling and non-coherent email messages and we simply parted ways.
So while I was not ripped off here (it did not cost me anything but time), I clearly dodged a bullet. Upon further investigation I also found plenty of info about the fact his tops are not as good as they are. One particular buyer in Florida had to replace his tops after a few months because it did not stand up against the sun and the rain down there.
Bottomline: I have no idea how this guy can stay in business. EBay and PayPal have banned him, forum after forum contain warngins about him and his products, he sends out non-coherent and rambling messages full of foul language to his customers... It's a miracle anyone trusts this guy.
Oh well. Glad I wasn't out my money and did get it back. I'll give him that.
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