OOAK Table Tennis Forum

So, are they any good TT shops in the UK?

The ones I know of;

Tees Sports
Bribar TT
customtabletennis


Any others?

_________________
Oh my gawd. I haven't been on here since Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:52am
Stiga NCT Allround Wood : FH Tenergy 05 2.1 BH Bryce Speed 1.9

Nittaku Shellshock : Sriver FX 1.7/Feint Long II 0.5~~Darker 3Mai Gouban : Mark V 1.8/Solcion 1.9
Unused : Tenergy 64 1.9, Flextra 1.7, Micro 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Reforma 2.0

Table tennis direct
Speedy bat sports

Speedy bat sports is kinda cool.

There is another store although I'm currently in 'negotiations' with them regarding a failed delivery which has disappeared in the postal system.

Bribar is good.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

Thanks!

Bribar is ok but. Wow, things don't come cheaply!

_________________
Oh my gawd. I haven't been on here since Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:52am
Stiga NCT Allround Wood : FH Tenergy 05 2.1 BH Bryce Speed 1.9

Nittaku Shellshock : Sriver FX 1.7/Feint Long II 0.5~~Darker 3Mai Gouban : Mark V 1.8/Solcion 1.9
Unused : Tenergy 64 1.9, Flextra 1.7, Micro 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Reforma 2.0

Bribar is an excellent company in the UK because of their customer orientated flexibility. The discount (yes do not pay list price*) isn't as great as another supplier, but its not that much more. They do act as a staging post for international sales.

I really like this because I don't do PayPal stuff and its such a hassle buying overseas - OOAK excepting of course!

* UK tt stuff is really expensive. The mark up on Chinese kit in the UK is really crazy, OOAK purchasers would be shocked.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

If you are buying Chinese then use OOAK. For Euro stuff expect 10 - 15 or even 20% discount in the UK. The discount will depend on whether a given company is the registered distributor for the UK..

Bribar - Joola
Another company ... Yasaka and Donic
Tees Sports .. Butterfly
TTdirect .. Andro perhaps another
Hallmark .. go to Hallmark directly

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

I believe it's Jarvis sports that does donic in the uk. Bribar sent to them for some alligator def.

_________________
Equipment Review Index
Joola Turbo: FH: Joola Peking (2mm) , BH: Joola Peking (2mm)
Another one bites the dust.

They also get extremely defensive if not pointedly obstructive when things don't turn up and when its an £80 bat its not cool. I was disappointed.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

Since antipip just pm'd me I'll go through what happened. Normally I don't do this sort of thing but its pretty obvious that I am critical of Jarvis and was trying to avoid naming them.

My Problem with Jarvis
Missing delivery first call: I ordered a complete bat which disappeared into the post after a failed delivery. I reported I had a missing delivery to Jarvis (made up bat) just as a course of routine and was pretty surprised when they immediately started to snarl at me 'Well its not here', 'We definately haven't had anything returned.', basically they were shouting. I'd been dealing with them for some time and this turn of character was really weird.

Second telephone call I then contacted the postal service and they explained to me what the procedure would be, basically there was a formal procedure and the supplier had to initiate inquiries with the postal service to retrieve the item. Bribar independently confirmed this procedure instantly when gave a one line explanation of the situation, they didn't pull their punches - they were critical of Jarvis. It was very surprising that when I explained the procedure to Jarvis they hadn't a clue what it was about. It was strange, normally they are clued up and here they were clueless. They only thing they were certain about was 'I have more experience with the Royal Mail [UK postal service] than you' [snarling].

Jarvis then worked into a diatribe during the course of the conversation
'Its not our responsibility' they kept saying 'its yours'. Even when I said 'bye bye' they kept saying 'its your responsibility not ours' - they wouldn't let me put the phone down. At this point I said unless this adequately resolved I would discontinue using them as a supplier. They responded 'We are disappointed' ... are you crazy? you expect me to write off an entire order and continue custom when they can't be bothered to lift a finger to help?

Conclusion
My suspicion is that Jarvis are fully aware of the state of play in a missing order and try and be as aggressive and intimidatory as possible. I suspect it is a routine they are going through, particularly if 'I have more experience of the Royal Mail than you' - this sort of thing has happened to them before. It would appear they are attempting to slow the system down and make you give up the chase.

I'd give them a second chance, but they really need to prove their metal and that is going to take some doing. I suppose in the end I'm going to have to threaten a small claims court - its a complete waste of time but I suppose thats their plan.
-----------

ps.
Please don't turn this into a general complaints thread. I'm just explaining why I didn't recommend Jarvis as a UK supplier. I've never had a problem with any other supplier and I've dealt with all of them pretty extensively.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

thorntons table tennis
shoes and shirts cheap as chips in the sale section
have not used them yet though as my jap and chinese rubbers are ordered from here and cost less on postage too might i add and almost as quick to arrive as some of the uk shops which is amazing really
WELL DONE OOAK TOP NOTCH

Table Tennis Direct have have given me great service over 20 years. The lady on the phone has a "cool" voice and helpful with TT advice. The online website is fine.

There are 2 - one whose a bit of a bruiser and 'the voice'. Both are helpful but just go about helping in different ways. It is strange that one tends to be called a 'woman' and the other a 'lady'.

I wonder who wins most business

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

So Mathias are you still trying to get your bat, or was this not long ago? I see no reason to hold back on letting people know what happened. I hate it when suppliers (of anything) give bad service and then don't get held accountable and they think that they won't get affected by it, because they have lots of customers and so if we lose you it doesn't matter. If you get bad service, let the whole world know. There are always suppliers who will be willing to take their place and do a better job!

_________________
I'm always in the dark, but the Dark sheds lights upon everything!! Beauty is only pimple deep! Beauty is in the eye of the pipholder!
S/U 1: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Andro Rasant 2.1 . BH Red Tibhar Grass Dtecs
S/U 2: Blade: Bty Gergely . FH Black Hexer+ 2.1 . BH Red GD Talon
S/U 3: Blade: Bty Gergely . No rubbers...thinking of adding Red Dtecs and Black Rasant
Aussie Table Tennis Shop / Aussie Table Tennis Facebook Page / Equipment Review Index / Read my Reb Report Blog: click here.

I've typically used Bribar in the UK and their service is great. They answer emails and give technical help very well.

I've used a number of the others mentioned above with no complaints but they don't stand out to me in the same was as Bribar.

_________________
Tango Ultra 2mm black, DMS Storkraft 1.6mm red, DMS Invictus
Well done bat!

It was just recently - I'll send them a letter this week. Agreed Bribar is good.

_________________
Tibhar Grass D.techs OX | Donic BigSlam 2.0mm .
Re-Impact Medusa (balsa / 1-ply cherry wood)
Frictionless strokes | Attacking pip strokes | Greggy's advice | Bollsbrother | Sebastian Sauer . . . . . .

Bribar is really good IME, just wondered if there were some other places. I go there if I need something quick.

I'm still sticking to iruiru or KokusaiTakkyuu though

_________________
Oh my gawd. I haven't been on here since Sun Oct 18, 2009 6:52am
Stiga NCT Allround Wood : FH Tenergy 05 2.1 BH Bryce Speed 1.9

Nittaku Shellshock : Sriver FX 1.7/Feint Long II 0.5~~Darker 3Mai Gouban : Mark V 1.8/Solcion 1.9
Unused : Tenergy 64 1.9, Flextra 1.7, Micro 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Mambo H 2.0, Reforma 2.0