PCGS Quality Control?

dakra

I just received 11 coins back from PCGS... allow me to spout off...
1-$10 Gold Eagle-Finger Prints on the outside of the holder. Holder has a scratch.
2-$1 West Point- Appears to be a finger print or other smutz right under the date.
3-$1 West Point- Appears to be small specs of dust inside the holder. Also has a small thing of white smutz between "1802" and "West" and a white speck of smutz next to "One Dollar"
4- I just realized that my Georgia 1999-S ((Proof)) came back as a ((Silver)) Proof (First order)
5- Virginia Silver- Looks like part of a fingerprint at the end of "Quadicentral" (MS68)
6- New Hampshire looks like it has two fingerprints on the reverse....(MS68)
7- Massachusetts- Appears spotted around the "Mass"

I have a few with a few specs of dust, Most of the holders came back with finger prints on them. I took a cloth and cleaned the finger prints off the holders, no big deal but I have been getting picky and meticulous about the coins I send in and even posted that I almost went crazy about one of the coins I just shipped them but a dip in acetone took out a finger print (us mint). I will say this, if I am being meticulous about the coins I send in and then I receive them back with some sort of smutz on them, I'm going to feel I received an MS68 instead of an MS69 due to their handling of the coins.

It is a simple thing. Do Not eat by the coins, do not handle the coins with your bare hands, wear white gloves from start to finish, even when placing the coins in the holders! Someone who just spent $100...$200 or as I just did with my most recent order $260... take extra care of the coins. I mean for the standard 30 day service, they turned my coins around in 14 days... take the extra 16 days! :-)

I swear from now on, I'm going to scan or take pictures of each and every coin I send in.

-David

dragon

dakra,

That's really awful, looks like the phrase "PCGS quality control" is an oxymoron.


Dragon

prooflike

You beat me Dragon, I was going to say PCGS Quality Control is similiar to Army Intelligence...

EVillageProwler

Is PCGS grading similar to PCGS quality control? How 'bout PCGS customer service?



EVP

TRADERBOBZ

PCGS Quality Control "HAS" declined,i have heard and not so much from this loyal group(message boards) but locally in my coin club and other connections,people are starting to second guess the managment,of not only quality control,but customer service as well which is in my mind the #1 key to success,even though your coin(s) may come back with problems...scratches ect ect ect,if your cusomer service is handle(OLD SCHOOL STYLE) the customer is always right attitude,you will retain profits and increase net income
moral to the story is"i dont mind getting spanked every now and then as all companies will take your tempature,(to see if your paying attention to qaulity ect) but when i do catch them in the wrong,it should be handled quickly,with no questions asked!

merz2

Didn't you know there isn't any?

BAJJERFAN

If any of the graders, execs or customer service reps are reading this: fingerprints, scratched slabs or dirt or other foreign objects in or on the slabs or on the coins is simply inexcusable. There seems to be an inordinately large number of complaints from a relatively small albeit vocal group.

dakra

I have to admit, I have not called them but I did email them in hopes for a resolution. I just sent 22 coins in on Saturday. I have another batch of 20 to 30 coins that I was going to send in but I'm going to hold off to see if they make good on my issues.

I mean.. an PR68 is great in many opinions but when I just received the coin in the mail from the mint, didn't touch the coins with exception to putting them in the flip and then I receive the coin back as an MS68 with fingerprints on it ( or other junk) I really have to wonder if someone unpacked the coins, got their stinkin' fingerprints on them prior to them being graded, the grader see's the fingerprints and says to himself "the friggin guy didn't even take his fingerprints off the coin".... Whatever the case might be.

I shipped one coin back with my last 22 coins because I saw no flaw in the coin, I received another coin today that I sent without a flaw and it came back with dust on it and a fingerprint on it...which coincidentally received a PR68... I am just left to wonder if they graded it before the fingerprint or after the finger print.

My friggin wife (Sorry Sue) saw me crack out my Gold Eagle, look at it with my magnifying glass while it was still in half the plastic, put the other part of the plastic on, flip it over and then look at it again with the magnifying glass and then...without touching the coin, I placed it on the flip, used my fingers to open one side of the flip and carefully slide it in, put the sticker on it, fold it over and place it in the box that I was shipping in...which was bubble wrapped... This is how meticulous I am being with these coins.

I don't expect all MS/PR70's but when my coins grade an MS/PR 68 and have fingerprints on it or when an MS or PR 69 coin comes back with crap on it... I am only left to wonder if they were graded with or without the crap on it or if it was done after the fact.

If I ran a coin company... when in doubt, I would clean the coin, especially a brand spanking new coin. I would verify that it left a clean coin. Any plastic container that had scratches on it, I would return to the manufacturer! Any Plastic Container that had DUST in it, I would have them repackage and....and... If there was a finger print on the coin, I would crack it out and clean it. You NEVER ship a customer a coin in worse condition than when it was received by your company!

You know and I know that I am new at this, I am a newbie in every stage of the coin collecting game but I'm smart enough to know not to touch a coin, put my finger prints or some other goo on a coin that will be encapsulated for the next 100 years....

.... yet....I'm also a nice guy. I don't want to continue to bash PCGS for the way they returned my coins, I just want a resolution. I want to know who to speak to when I have a problem but most of all, I want them to take steps to improve their quality control. Instead of having a dozen customers complain about fingerprints, spend the money on buying white cloth gloves and distribute them to every single worker that is going to handle the coins and the slabs!

I am a brand spanking new customer! I admire them for being the top grading company! That's why I went with the best.... but I could always submit my coins to NGC and hope for a star What's it going to be PCGS?

....Sorry folks but I'm a bit bent out of shape. I may be a rookie but I'm aiming to be rookie of the year of coin grading this year *lol* :-) ...gosh, this sucks, I can't even be angry without making a joke. One day I will fill you guys in on why I am so hell bent on learning and the reason why I find myself with this hobby.

-David

tradedollarnut

I cannot imagine PCGS standing by and not rectifying the repeated complaints on this subject. But if they are doing something about it, shouldn't they be letting people know so as to instill confidence in their product? Charlie should be on here posting a blow by blow so that people are not hesitant to send in their coins!

EVillageProwler

TDN,

Have you ever considered that the arrogance of PCGS, CU, DH, et al, know no bounds?

EVP

jamesfsm

Agreed. Don't want to get into NGC v. PCGS but at least NGC has somebody on their Forum who says something. Even saying (if true) "we had a careless guy in the sealing room and he's been transferred to shipping" would help.

IrishMike

It does seem odd to me that they don't address these issues publicly, if you have nothing to hide why not do it. Low stock prices, bleeding earnings, and if the comments in here are indicative of their problems with slabs and quality control I wonder out loud where they are headed. I used to finance companies and all of these problems are symptomatic of a company with a dismal future. I'd like to hear some good grading opinions and about some positive experiences. Maybe if everyone would just sit on their coins for a while and not have them slabbed, it might get their attention. (yeah I know a pipedream)

Edited to add: Do you think these guys really know how to run a company or not?

JOsborne

What's a synonym for anal retentive?

psxchelly

Not that this might relate... but I think PCGS puts something on the coins before they holder them and are very careless with the coins...ONLY because these reasons.

I was looking at my modern gold commem collection.. and I noticed that they are all developing dark orange SPOTS. now... I know these coins did not have these spots when they were sent in. They had to have developed in the holder. If anyone wants pics, I would be glad to provide them.

Also one of my IKEs was returned to me with a hugh smuge on the obverse right side. the coin i ruined now.

michelle

itsnotjustme

Note that I'm selling a gold commem "With a small bit of debris inside the holder"

I also received my 1979-S T2 SBA PR69DCAM back with a hair inside the slab.

Placid

Has anyone not gotten spots,debris or cootie's on their coins?
These posts are scaring me

misterR

Thought I'd throw in my two cents worth. Sent in 15 modern coins, grades were about what I expected but what I didn't expect was the smear across Ikes' head on my 1971-D MS 66(cert. #30012758), light fingerprint in the hair on a 1988-P Kennedy MS 67 (cert.#30012766), and a faint print in the obv. field on a 79-S SBA MS 67 (cert. # 30012769). The person responsible needs to lose his job! I use a coin rinse, not a cleaner, on these coins before I send them in and do not touch them afterwards.

FrattLaw

I had repeatedily raised this issue with BJ during my numerous emails concerning the free grading submissions. She has never once even commented on the "fingerprint" issue.

The interesting thing about this is that she swore up and down that Rick Montgomery, Charlie and herself had a meeting as to the free grading and decided for solely customer service reasons they would change the policy and allow the free grading.

I wonder if this issue was discussed? For all that it is worth, I sent her another email today with a link to this forum thread and a request that she read these [posts.

I am starting to wonder, is there anything someone could do legally if a coin was ruined or at least devalued by their negligence? Hmmmmm

Michael



____________________

MW Fattorosi Collection -- Proof Ikes & Sacs (SBAs on the Way!)

dragon

I would also add to this topic: Just think about all of the coins that were probably mishandled and fingerprinted but the prints aren't showing up on the coins yet.........but they will in time.


Dragon

KAJ1

PCGS needs to get ISO certification.
This might help.

dakra

Frattlaw (Michael),
I appreciate you pointing out this thread. My first reaction on inspecting the coins was "It's happened a great deal...not that anything is going to get done about this" but I have two reasons I'm getting my coins graded. The biggest reason is that I am a stay at home Dad, I lost my job because my company decided to outsource. The second reason is that I want my son to have a collection of his own. As I thought about it yesterday, some of these coins are going to be bread money, so when I looked at the coins again and tried to get an understanding of why some coins graded less than what I expected and found fingerprints on them or some other item I nearly flipped! and flip on this message board I did.

As previously stated, my wife has acted as my "secretary" when I send a submission in. She has witnessed how I inspect and handle the coins prior to submitting them. I even posted here a few weeks ago how I am being overly critical of the coins I'm sending in.

I do not want to rip into PCGS and appologize for doing so in the open forum. I believe there are some coin handling issues and hope they get addressed internally. I emailed them when I should have called them and if the issue does not get resolved via email, I will most likely follow up with a phone call. Personally, having them clean up the coins and re-evaluate them would make me happy and trust them more than I do right now..... I just sent 22 coins in and have another 20 or so that I have planned to send I'm holding off on the new batch to see how/if this gets resolved.

Thanks for letting me spout off.

-David