Best Of

I believe @oldsmagnet response covered it but he left out the problem with CACs not being added to the database

In fairness, that's not one I've had to fight with personally, so I don't have much to bring to the table on it - but definitely falls into that "other 25%" range of PCGS's helpless communication system.

@oldsmagnet said:

@wondercoin said:
So, if the OP has registry sets that are “unworkable”, let’s hear the details. I care much more about the details of “unworkable” Registry sets that hearing what Collector X or Collector Y plans to do after they obtain 2 more coins.

The entire front page of this web forum is filled with reports of how unworkable the Set Registry has become. The vast majority of it is the near-impossibility of adding 'locked' coins into inventory or submitting slot requests. Members are still waiting for their 2023 registry award pins, and there are various other complaints that just aren't getting resolved, but by-and-large, slot requests and release requests cover 75% of the frustration - with the other 25% landing on the abysmal communications failures within the PCGS ecosystem. IF you get a response to an email or "contact us" form submission, it'll almost certainly be weeks, if not MONTHS later.

I've got 28 sets - most of them do not cause headaches. As long as I don't need to add new coins that are locked to someone else's inventory, they probably won't cause headaches. Those that require me to add new coins every year, however, do - and those that are incompletely programmed, where new coins are found periodically, also cause headaches. The slot request function is broken, a failure they've been aware of and fighting with since... November? I think? So you have to email the request instead, which the best I can tell goes straight into their spam folders. I've got one set that has a nightmare coin, a silver-only set, with a PCGS # that's supposed to be a silver-only coin, with several instances of cupro-nickel coins in those holders. I've been bounced back and forth between I think 4 different entities within the PCGS ecosystem, with no resolution or clarification in sight. I've got a large submission sitting here waiting on that clarification, because I have two more of those coins, in correct silver, to grade. And I DON'T want to send 'em off, to get 'em back in the same PCGS#, just to have to send 'em all back again as a mechanical error. (I've got 5 slabs in that PCGS number, 2 silver MS69s, 3 clad MS70s. Total pop shows 6 MS70s. How many are silver? Any? Does 69 deserve top-pop status? Who knows?)

Understand that much of the contempt shown on these forums (and with me for sure) is an attempt to get PCGS to understand that their incompetence and apathy is actively chasing their paying customers away. I've been an Elite Platinum member for, I don't know how long, and I've made it known that these failures are the sole reason I've asked them to drop me to silver. They said they weren't able to do that, all they could do is 'program' the system to not automatically renew my Platinum membership when it comes due. Well, yeah, that'll work too. I've got two months to make up my mind on whether to renew at all. I have a very hard time rewarding professional incompetence, and, well, the ONLY power I have is my wallet. If they don't want my business, there's no reason to give it to them! I know I'm not alone in that belief, and I feel pretty strongly that that same sentiment is what's fueling so many complaints from so many different members. A company is not judged on how well they do the easy things -- a company is judged on how they handle the problems. And right now, this company is absolutely failing miserably. You have my envy, for not having any reasons to see this firsthand yet.

Well said.
Wayne

@wondercoin said:
So, if the OP has registry sets that are “unworkable”, let’s hear the details. I care much more about the details of “unworkable” Registry sets that hearing what Collector X or Collector Y plans to do after they obtain 2 more coins.

The entire front page of this web forum is filled with reports of how unworkable the Set Registry has become. The vast majority of it is the near-impossibility of adding 'locked' coins into inventory or submitting slot requests. Members are still waiting for their 2023 registry award pins, and there are various other complaints that just aren't getting resolved, but by-and-large, slot requests and release requests cover 75% of the frustration - with the other 25% landing on the abysmal communications failures within the PCGS ecosystem. IF you get a response to an email or "contact us" form submission, it'll almost certainly be weeks, if not MONTHS later.

I've got 28 sets - most of them do not cause headaches. As long as I don't need to add new coins that are locked to someone else's inventory, they probably won't cause headaches. Those that require me to add new coins every year, however, do - and those that are incompletely programmed, where new coins are found periodically, also cause headaches. The slot request function is broken, a failure they've been aware of and fighting with since... November? I think? So you have to email the request instead, which the best I can tell goes straight into their spam folders. I've got one set that has a nightmare coin, a silver-only set, with a PCGS # that's supposed to be a silver-only coin, with several instances of cupro-nickel coins in those holders. I've been bounced back and forth between I think 4 different entities within the PCGS ecosystem, with no resolution or clarification in sight. I've got a large submission sitting here waiting on that clarification, because I have two more of those coins, in correct silver, to grade. And I DON'T want to send 'em off, to get 'em back in the same PCGS#, just to have to send 'em all back again as a mechanical error. (I've got 5 slabs in that PCGS number, 2 silver MS69s, 3 clad MS70s. Total pop shows 6 MS70s. How many are silver? Any? Does 69 deserve top-pop status? Who knows?)

Understand that much of the contempt shown on these forums (and with me for sure) is an attempt to get PCGS to understand that their incompetence and apathy is actively chasing their paying customers away. I've been an Elite Platinum member for, I don't know how long, and I've made it known that these failures are the sole reason I've asked them to drop me to silver. They said they weren't able to do that, all they could do is 'program' the system to not automatically renew my Platinum membership when it comes due. Well, yeah, that'll work too. I've got two months to make up my mind on whether to renew at all. I have a very hard time rewarding professional incompetence, and, well, the ONLY power I have is my wallet. If they don't want my business, there's no reason to give it to them! I know I'm not alone in that belief, and I feel pretty strongly that that same sentiment is what's fueling so many complaints from so many different members. A company is not judged on how well they do the easy things -- a company is judged on how they handle the problems. And right now, this company is absolutely failing miserably. You have my envy, for not having any reasons to see this firsthand yet.

For things like obscure variety attributions, I guess that's their advertised way, if you don't specify exactly what they're supposed to look for, they won't look (that Ike dollar is still an Ike dollar whether it's an RPM or not) But in terms of general identification, that absolutely is what they're supposed to be verifying and authenticating. When they rolled out their revamped online submission portal, I'd watched a video review from some professional coin dealer (don't remember who it was, was more concerned that they were trying to fix one of the few things that wasn't really all that broken -- apart from the tendency for the drop-down coin-finder function resetting itself when you weren't paying attention...) The review emphasized that if you weren't really sure, don't worry too much about it, these guys are professionals, they KNOW what they're looking at, they'll make sure it's right" --- that should really go without saying... however... [sigh]

It's never been admitted, but I suspect Covid really did a number on PCGS, that seems like when things really started to go downhill - and, for the most part, that's understandable. The fact that there's been virtually no recovery in the years since, though, is hard to forgive. I really think they spread themselves too thin when they decided to branch out into paper currency. I wouldn't be surprised if they decided to start grading cryptocurrency before actually fixing things over here