Top lids = Top Notch

Richard baker · Mar 8, 2024

I did a small build recently and wanted a custom lid and was recommended by some big names in the hobby to go with top lids . I have seen the bad reviews and I kinda wanna help clear the air for these guys because they truly make a spectacular product and yes they have had some hiccups and delays recently but they are extremely busy and in the process of expanding. I’m not trying to make excuses for the guys nor am I affiliated with them in anyway . I to at first grew flustered with the poor communication as soon as Tyler found this was a trend recently he literally did a complete overhaul of the way they handled communication and went above and beyond to correct the issues . I recently read a tread about a customer calling them scammers which I can’t agree with these are young men making a business out of custom lids and want all the details about the tank to insure your lid is perfect. You have to watch the videos and take the measurements the detail it step by step and yes if you go with a custom lid it takes some time at first I to grew impatient but I am telling you guys it’s well worth the small wait and give these guys a chance . They are not scammers they are 100% in my book a extremely professional company and I will be using them again and recommend them to my clients.
Sorry for the crummy pics lol they do the tank and lid no justice

Troylee · Mar 8, 2024

4 months is crazy for anything! Custom or not! I remember your thread, you placed an order on Nov 4th lol

BeanAnimal · Mar 8, 2024

Reading the the other thread, they used their fine print to bilk a customer after they failed to communicate properly. Given the circumstances, good customer service would have been to provide the full refund. My opinion, they sound disorganized, slow and less than upstanding. There are too many first class vendors for me to deal with nonsense and fine print like that.

Richard baker · Mar 9, 2024

It did take a while and there were some hiccups, I just feel in my case they went above and beyond to make things right . So it’s hard not to give them credit for a really incredible product. I agree with the fine print stuff they should have just issued a full refund and moved on .

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

Richard baker said:
I did a small build recently and wanted a custom lid and was recommended by some big names in the hobby to go with top lids . I have seen the bad reviews and I kinda wanna help clear the air for these guys because they truly make a spectacular product and yes they have had some hiccups and delays recently but they are extremely busy and in the process of expanding. I’m not trying to make excuses for the guys nor am I affiliated with them in anyway . I to at first grew flustered with the poor communication as soon as Tyler found this was a trend recently he literally did a complete overhaul of the way they handled communication and went above and beyond to correct the issues . I recently read a tread about a customer calling them scammers which I can’t agree with these are young men making a business out of custom lids and want all the details about the tank to insure your lid is perfect. You have to watch the videos and take the measurements the detail it step by step and yes if you go with a custom lid it takes some time at first I to grew impatient but I am telling you guys it’s well worth the small wait and give these guys a chance . They are not scammers they are 100% in my book a extremely professional company and I will be using them again and recommend them to my clients.
Sorry for the crummy pics lol they do the tank and lid no justice

They are scammers. Keeping 30% after 24 hours and pretending they actually do anything in 24 is a scam. They took all my measurements and diagrams made it sound like they were making my lid then after me asking what was taking so long for the proof email they sent me an email for measurements for the wrong style tank. Then refused to give me my money back eventually, after a fight, keeping their 30%. They play games from the beginning and then keep your money. Gross disgusting practices. DO NOT BUY FROM ANY COMPANY THAT KEEPS MONEY FOR NOTHING. 24 hours...pffft I should have read the site first. Oh but they accept payment through email and that email doesn't have the policy on it. SMH lesson learned. I hope they fail.

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

I went to their website and saw they had a chat option. That option asked for my phone number. I gave it to them. Five minutes later I got a text message.

I think at this point he says we will make up a mock up and send it to you. I think what we are talking about right now will be determined to create the lid. The next text he tells me what to expect.

The next texts are just photos of the tank top. I'm going to leave those out.

I mention one I saw on his site, and they he says we need measurements. So I send them, at this point I think we are actually working on this lid. No money has been exchanged but I still believe these measurements and this conversation will be used in the making of my lid.

Great he says, I think he is writing this down. He even explains they have measurements for most Auto feeders, he has NOT corrected me yet that this whole convo WILL NOT be used in the making of my tank. He never says, oh hey I just need basics for quote, this conversation is not going to be for creating your lid. So at this point I think we are working on the quote and all these measurements will be my final product.

I cut out my email. As you can see I still think we are actually working on my lid. Notice no corrections or explanation on how it really works.

So notice how he says when you receive your model. I am thinking all these measurements and the conversation is him working on the lid. I am expecting the next step to be a model for approval. So I send him a drawing my REAL ENGINEER made for me. We sell windows and window coverings, we measure for a living. There is a typo in the next text but I meant to say, so I pay "then" get a model? Oh and foreshadowing of what a real karen I would become. You all think Karen is a bad word, it's my MF'n motto.

The next texts are boring, asking what they accept as payment. I ask again about the model, stuff like that. Shortly after I get an email. It had a pay button on it. This is it right here. The pay button took me to pay pal. Which is what ended up costing me. Pay pal is hard to start a dispute with I found out.

2/9 they got my money. The clock, at this point I don't know this, is ticking on the 24 hours of the 30%. This is the end of the text after they got my payment. So I had not received ANYTHING from these scam artists at this point. I was expecting a model based on my measurements within a few days. On 2/15 I emailed asking what was going on. I received no response until I got on their live chat through the website. I explained I received no response and was wondering where my model was for approval. He said, and they all claim to be different people but I am almost 100% sure the dude in the live chat is this Raphel dude here. If not, it makes them look even more stupid that they have no communication between them. After these two correspondence I finally received an email right at 5pm that same day that I assumed was my model to approve. I was wrong. It was two emails. One was a real basic how to measure and read a tape measure with 4 youtube videos. The second email contained a link of a form they wanted me to fill out. These instructions and the form were for a non euro braced aquarium. In my mind I sent them the measurements and a diagram, where is my model??? I was not willing to take pictures of a tape measure that seems so ridiculous. Hold a phone and try to measure? I decided right then and there I did not want to go forward. It was obvious to me they have NOT done anything other than take my money. I thought I was doing the right thing asking for a refund. I didn't want to waste their time nor mine.

Here is where I realized I have been scammed. Karen powers unite!

Now all the sudden this whole time they could have used my measurements??? So are they playing games right now or what. As you can see I was upset and confused.

Oh it's just a generic email we send everyone else so we JUST WASTE YOUR TIME and DO NOTHING. Now he has to chat with his CEO. That is the most hilarious poo I have ever heard. CEO, you mean your buddy in your garage hobby business. ****. I am super charged p'oed at this point. The CEO remark made me feel real stupid, these clowns are straight up playing some garbage game. Because this policy is clearly on the website which, honestly I didn't check, I have no recourse. None and these clowns know it.

We go back and forth for a few texts. I explain I am stuck with them because I don't want to lose the $140-$150 whatever. He claims now we can use the measurements...and there is one email in here too. In the email I explain the form does not have a Eurobrace in it so I could not give them accurate measurements. I received a generic email in return from someone else who said they were the engineer. So we got Raf here, a CEO, and now and engineer. Give me a break.

So then we got back and forth some more. Each model they send is wrong. Doors in the wrong place, notches cut. They could NOT understand this was Eurobraced. These so called engineers, like they have multitudes of people, could NOT get it! I wanted two panels, so on. We were on model 4 I think. It was clear the "engineers" did not have any of the information from the original texts or my emails. Each email I sent would be replied with a generic, no communication with this engineer, RAF was the go between. Frustrating to say the least. So at this point I decided to start a dispute with my CC company, PayPal, wrote about them here, on their Facebook, and started a BBB complaint which was never answered. I begged repeatedly through texts and elsewhere including here for my money back. It was when I got a hold of them on facebook and spammed a bit they finally agreed to give me back my money sans the 30%. Tyler or Raf I forget who now, to me they are the same person, said well we made you all these models and it took 2 hours so blah blah blah. I asked for a refund BEFORE anything was done. The only reason I allowed a model was because I didn't want to be out 30%. Then all the models are wrong because you are all so painfully stupid. 2 hours for a model? No wonder you guys suck so bad.

So I will let you all decide what you think of them. I was mislead, then scammed. A real business with real customer service would have said, yeah sorry we mislead you and gave me the dang refund complete.

anthonymckay · Mar 25, 2024

I had a great experience with them. We went back and forth on the customizations. I would give them feedback, then they would send me an updated CAD drawing after a few days. We did that back and forth a few times to get everything correct. Then they told me 8 weeks for the build (which they also stated on their website). I got weekly updates from them on progress. I was just told it's finished and will ship out this week!

Had no idea people consider them "a scam"? lol

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

anthonymckay said:
I had a great experience with them. We went back and forth on the customizations. I would give them feedback, they would send me an update after a few days. We did that a few times to everything correct. Then they told me 8 weeks for the build (which they also state on their website). I got weekly updates from them on progress. Just was told it's finished and will ship out this week Had no idea people consider them "a scam"? lol

Keeping payment for services never rendered. Yeah it's a scam. I'm glad you got what you paid for. I posted the receipts so people can make their own judgement.

merkmerk73 · Mar 25, 2024

Sucks hearing about this

I used them and didn't have any issues

In fact, they replaced my lid completely when I found out it wasn't cut to the right measurements

They did accidentally send me someone elses lid at one point, and forgot to send me the overflow box cover. I shipped their lid back to them.

JTP424 · Mar 25, 2024

Richard baker said:
I did a small build recently and wanted a custom lid and was recommended by some big names in the hobby to go with top lids . I have seen the bad reviews and I kinda wanna help clear the air for these guys because they truly make a spectacular product and yes they have had some hiccups and delays recently but they are extremely busy and in the process of expanding. I’m not trying to make excuses for the guys nor am I affiliated with them in anyway . I to at first grew flustered with the poor communication as soon as Tyler found this was a trend recently he literally did a complete overhaul of the way they handled communication and went above and beyond to correct the issues . I recently read a tread about a customer calling them scammers which I can’t agree with these are young men making a business out of custom lids and want all the details about the tank to insure your lid is perfect. You have to watch the videos and take the measurements the detail it step by step and yes if you go with a custom lid it takes some time at first I to grew impatient but I am telling you guys it’s well worth the small wait and give these guys a chance . They are not scammers they are 100% in my book a extremely professional company and I will be using them again and recommend them to my clients.
Sorry for the crummy pics lol they do the tank and lid no justice

Can you elaborate on the lid they made? Is that for a biocube with the rim removed?

shakacuz · Mar 25, 2024

Devisissy said:
Keeping payment for services never rendered. Yeah it's a scam. I'm glad you got what you paid for. I posted the receipts so people can make their own judgement.

thank you for that. seems i may end up going with kraken reef lids, or clearview lids for my upcoming 60g cube build.

Matt2939 · Mar 25, 2024

Devisissy said:
I went to their website and saw they had a chat option. That option asked for my phone number. I gave it to them. Five minutes later I got a text message.

I think at this point he says we will make up a mock up and send it to you. I think what we are talking about right now will be determined to create the lid. The next text he tells me what to expect.

The next texts are just photos of the tank top. I'm going to leave those out.

I mention one I saw on his site, and they he says we need measurements. So I send them, at this point I think we are actually working on this lid. No money has been exchanged but I still believe these measurements and this conversation will be used in the making of my lid.

Great he says, I think he is writing this down. He even explains they have measurements for most Auto feeders, he has NOT corrected me yet that this whole convo WILL NOT be used in the making of my tank. He never says, oh hey I just need basics for quote, this conversation is not going to be for creating your lid. So at this point I think we are working on the quote and all these measurements will be my final product.

I cut out my email. As you can see I still think we are actually working on my lid. Notice no corrections or explanation on how it really works.

So notice how he says when you receive your model. I am thinking all these measurements and the conversation is him working on the lid. I am expecting the next step to be a model for approval. So I send him a drawing my REAL ENGINEER made for me. We sell windows and window coverings, we measure for a living. There is a typo in the next text but I meant to say, so I pay "then" get a model? Oh and foreshadowing of what a real karen I would become. You all think Karen is a bad word, it's my MF'n motto.

The next texts are boring, asking what they accept as payment. I ask again about the model, stuff like that. Shortly after I get an email. It had a pay button on it. This is it right here. The pay button took me to pay pal. Which is what ended up costing me. Pay pal is hard to start a dispute with I found out.

2/9 they got my money. The clock, at this point I don't know this, is ticking on the 24 hours of the 30%. This is the end of the text after they got my payment. So I had not received ANYTHING from these scam artists at this point. I was expecting a model based on my measurements within a few days. On 2/15 I emailed asking what was going on. I received no response until I got on their live chat through the website. I explained I received no response and was wondering where my model was for approval. He said, and they all claim to be different people but I am almost 100% sure the dude in the live chat is this Raphel dude here. If not, it makes them look even more stupid that they have no communication between them. After these two correspondence I finally received an email right at 5pm that same day that I assumed was my model to approve. I was wrong. It was two emails. One was a real basic how to measure and read a tape measure with 4 youtube videos. The second email contained a link of a form they wanted me to fill out. These instructions and the form were for a non euro braced aquarium. In my mind I sent them the measurements and a diagram, where is my model??? I was not willing to take pictures of a tape measure that seems so ridiculous. Hold a phone and try to measure? I decided right then and there I did not want to go forward. It was obvious to me they have NOT done anything other than take my money. I thought I was doing the right thing asking for a refund. I didn't want to waste their time nor mine.

Here is where I realized I have been scammed. Karen powers unite!

Now all the sudden this whole time they could have used my measurements??? So are they playing games right now or what. As you can see I was upset and confused.

Oh it's just a generic email we send everyone else so we JUST WASTE YOUR TIME and DO NOTHING. Now he has to chat with his CEO. That is the most hilarious poo I have ever heard. CEO, you mean your buddy in your garage hobby business. ****. I am super charged p'oed at this point. The CEO remark made me feel real stupid, these clowns are straight up playing some garbage game. Because this policy is clearly on the website which, honestly I didn't check, I have no recourse. None and these clowns know it.

We go back and forth for a few texts. I explain I am stuck with them because I don't want to lose the $140-$150 whatever. He claims now we can use the measurements...and there is one email in here too. In the email I explain the form does not have a Eurobrace in it so I could not give them accurate measurements. I received a generic email in return from someone else who said they were the engineer. So we got Raf here, a CEO, and now and engineer. Give me a break.

So then we got back and forth some more. Each model they send is wrong. Doors in the wrong place, notches cut. They could NOT understand this was Eurobraced. These so called engineers, like they have multitudes of people, could NOT get it! I wanted two panels, so on. We were on model 4 I think. It was clear the "engineers" did not have any of the information from the original texts or my emails. Each email I sent would be replied with a generic, no communication with this engineer, RAF was the go between. Frustrating to say the least. So at this point I decided to start a dispute with my CC company, PayPal, wrote about them here, on their Facebook, and started a BBB complaint which was never answered. I begged repeatedly through texts and elsewhere including here for my money back. It was when I got a hold of them on facebook and spammed a bit they finally agreed to give me back my money sans the 30%. Tyler or Raf I forget who now, to me they are the same person, said well we made you all these models and it took 2 hours so blah blah blah. I asked for a refund BEFORE anything was done. The only reason I allowed a model was because I didn't want to be out 30%. Then all the models are wrong because you are all so painfully stupid. 2 hours for a model? No wonder you guys suck so bad.

So I will let you all decide what you think of them. I was mislead, then scammed. A real business with real customer service would have said, yeah sorry we mislead you and gave me the dang refund complete.

This company sounds horrible to deal with, thank you for the feedback. Glad I went a different route!

You would think they would be smart enough to look at the bigger picture, and ripping a customer off for $150 seems so trivial in the long run. Just give the refund and move on, if they haven’t started cutting raw materials there shouldn’t be any reason not to refund.

They’ll learn when they don’t have any business.

Sisterlimonpot · Mar 25, 2024

The sad thing about all this is that they aren't offering anything unique. Anyone with some CAD experience and a cnc can produce these in their garage. I don't understated the long wait time; nor do I understand the 30% cancelation fee after 24h of payment.

Sounds to me if payment was the last step of the customer approval process, I can understand, but it sounds like payment needs to me made before you even begin the design process.

Troylee · Mar 25, 2024

Sisterlimonpot said:
The sad thing about all this is that they aren't offering anything unique. Anyone with some CAD experience and a cnc can produce these in their garage. I don't understated the long wait time; nor do I understand the 30% cancelation fee after 24h of payment.

Sounds to me if payment was the last step of the customer approval process, I can understand, but it sounds like payment needs to me made before you even begin the design process.

That’s what I’m trying to wrap my head around… the wait time… I can do this by hand with my hand router in 2 hours a lid easily! No cnc involved lol.. unless they have thousands of people lined up I dont quiet get the time frame on these..

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

Troylee said:
That’s what I’m trying to wrap my head around… the wait time… I can do this by hand with my hand router in 2 hours a lid easily! No cnc involved lol.. unless they have thousands of people lined up I dont quiet get the time frame on these..

That's where I messed up. It's on their website, but I didn't look for it. The email had the pay button. That's on me for not doing my due diligence. I assumed like you say here, no cancellations after drawings. When I asked for that refund it was after waiting a little over a week for this model. That never came until I complained it was taking forever. They know they already have my 30% so they play their little games. How anyone can't see the scam then Lord help them. That's the scam. They got you. What are you supposed to do, go "OK I guess I let you make my model because you'll keep 30% anyway", then jerk you around and mess up every model, then refuse to refund anything until you raise all hell.

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

Sisterlimonpot said:
The sad thing about all this is that they aren't offering anything unique. Anyone with some CAD experience and a cnc can produce these in their garage. I don't understated the long wait time; nor do I understand the 30% cancelation fee after 24h of payment.

Sounds to me if payment was the last step of the customer approval process, I can understand, but it sounds like payment needs to me made before you even begin the design process.

I think they are. They pretend to have engineers and CEO's and all this, but that's expensive considering they just make lids. I think they are literally full of donkey dung. I reckon it is two guys in a garage. Which is fine! More than fine, but why the fake BS? Oh so we can pass the buck off to a fake employee.

Devisissy · Mar 25, 2024

OMG check this out! Sounds identical to my story.

VintageReefer · Mar 25, 2024

FYI I have lids I’m very happy with, custom made by a guy on Etsy. I gave him precise measurements, customizations, details, and he delivered me a mirrored pair of lids for my aqueon 75g tank, for 90$

The fit perfect, better than the oem glass lids. My feeding cut outs are 2” diameter and I am getting feeding cups made from another person that will drop in

merkmerk73 · Mar 25, 2024

Sounds like a nightmare

I dealt with Tyler and a couple of brazilian guys

They took a long time but they got what I wanted and the lids are great quality

I wasn't able to find anything else like this but maybe there are other options available

One thing I would say, though, is that there is a cool neon green trim that the lids ship with which gets nuked by your LEDs over the course of a few months - sad to see that doesn't last.

VintageReefer · Mar 25, 2024

merkmerk73 said:
I wasn't able to find anything else like this but maybe there are other options available

I’ve learned. Always check Etsy. Tons of small businesses and shops for custom reef items.

I actually just bought an entire 83 gallon custom reef ready aquarium combo from Etsy. Low iron glass, rimless, ghost overflow, hand made cabinet, sump, acrylic ato, plumbing kit.

My lids came from Etsy. My frag racks and shelves. Etsy is awesome