A Response To Mr. Hall

mcastaldi

Mr. Hall,
I think it's outstanding that you posted a message to the PSA Forums regarding the WIWAG problem. It eases many minds and answered many questions. However, I feel some important questions remain unanswered -
- What plans does PSA have to make it harder to swich cards in the holder?
- Can you provide details regarding exactly which cards WIWAG fraudulently circulated? Barring that, how can a consumer best protect himself from acquiring a card fraudulently encapsulated by When It Was A Game? Obviously, PSA will stand behind any card found to be fraudulent. But from a collector's point of view, how can we best protect ourselves from buying those problem cards in the first place.

If these questions are answered in the transcripts of the trial, I apologize for any redundancy. I'll be glad to look for them there.


There was a general theme in your post that deeply concerns me. You gave several examples of people being removed from the forum for having an anti-PSA agenda. I fully agree that people who libel or slander PSA or spread information that they know to be false should be removed. However, over the last two-plus years, the trend of PSA's handling of their forums has been to remove many posts that address legitimate concerns - and this is nearly always done without any comment from anyone at PSA/CU. Also, people who have persisted in the asking of legitimate questions that perhaps make PSA/CU uncomfortable have been banned from the forums as well. As a result, the management of the PSA forums has seemed pretty heavy-handed. At what point does expressing legitimate questions and concerns translate to an anti-PSA agenda? I have significant concerns regarding PSA's level of grading consistency and the quality control systems in place to ensure that consistency. Right now, I feel PSA could do much more in both of these areas. I know many others who share these concerns. If PSA's forums are not the best place to voice these concerns, I would certainly be open to suggestions as to how to address them to PSA and get the answers/reassurance I need. I would think it much more efficient to address them in the forums where the question can be answered once for many people - as opposed to taking the time to answer each person individually.

Again, thank you for taking the time to post some details about the Real Legends/WIWAG issue. I hope this is a sign of PSA/CU management continuing to take collector concerns seriously.

Regards,
Mike Castaldi

dude

Mike -- David Hall answered a lot these questions yesterday on other threads, including that this was a card switching incident and not using stolen, sold, or fake holders. Do a search on "homerunhall" and you will find out a lot more about this and plus other prior offenses against CU.

mcastaldi

Thanks for the heads-up Dan. I didn't initially see the posts about the unsecured slabs vs. card switching or the one about the four attempts at compromising CU holders. I've editied my post so it doesn't ask questions which have already been answered on the CU forums (to my knowledge).

Mike

boggs301012

I like to see alist of serial #'s and how amany card are affected. Did wigwag have new holders?

sagard

<< <i> Obviously, PSA will stand behind any card found to be fraudulent. >>



The various stories involving cards being returned to people out of holders an in Card Saver 1's certainly put's this in doubt in my mind. A policy statement should be made concerning cards sent to PSA for review of fraudulant holders and what will occur if PSA deems the holder to have been tampered.

The bottom line is that one must know their seller and understand that seller's return policy. I certainly don't blame PSA for removing cards from fraudulent holders as long as the customer has the full understanding that this will occur.

I am far more likely to pressure a seller for a refund than send a card to PSA for review.

homerunhall

Mike and everybody,

I don't look at message boards too often, so you may want to email me direct at dh@collectors.com...or email PSA President Joe Orlando.

As for banning members, heavy-handedness, etc....I really don't think we are heavy handed and we actually do allow critical comments. In fact, we use them as a way to listen to our customers and improving our service. I believe the posts from the guys we have booted are different, and actually their agendas seem pretty obvious to me. They contiually harp on the same issues, even when we answer them. They make up stuff...pure fantasy stuff...they lie...they are self-righteous. I think it's very easy to tell the difference between the "professional basher" and a real customer. Just use common sense. If you have a concern, post it and discuss it, and criticize where you feel it's warranted. It's OK with us.

Thanks,

mudflap02

Thanks again for posting as much as you have been lately David. I agree that a little dissent in the ranks is not always a bad thing, but one thing that I've noticed, especially in the past couple of days, is how many people come forward with statements that aren't backed up, wich are in turn spun into bigger and bigger issues. It's hard for me to know who to believe with so many different opinions floating around. I honestly don't even know how big of an issue it is, but it's good to hear the view from the top.

rw2win

Mr. Hall,

Could you please answer the rest of Mike's questions. Thank you for your responses so far.

EvolASP

I have purchased thousands of dollars worth of PSA graded hockey cards. I believe that in the majority of grading cases, PSA’s grading is accurate. I was disappointed to see the thread on OPC hockey cut sheets disappear. The information that started the thread was factual. This is a major concern.

Concerned customer and member of Collector's Club.

RobE

Hi Mr.Hall, just a little fish here....

I look forward to tuning into your posts on the matters in question.

Ever since PSA was introduced to me 5 years ago,I think. Not only have I learned a ton of things from your customers who post here but every card owned by me since is most likely in a PSA holder. Bad experience with other product good experience with PSA and PSA's method of "Keeping it real" convinced me that this is the grading and authentication company I should shop for and trust in the hobby without any doubt.

I have not spent a lot of money directly with PSA but between dealers and submitters I have with PSA in general.I still will, but I hope that anything that does go wrong ( even for the best companies and individuals in the industry) that Mike's basic concerns speaking for the "Average" collector are worth your time to respond.He cares and so do we.From the little fish like myself to the most passionate collector with as deep of pockets as George Steinbrenner.

Signed,

Just a concerned hobbyist