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My dealings with PSA at the National
eadams24
Posts: 139
A couple weeks ago I won a 1998 Bowman Chrome PSA 10 Peyton Manning card off of Ebay. When I received it, I noticed frayed edges along the top of the card and a scratch on the right side of the card. From reading these boards, I learned that PSA will make good on a card if they feel it was overgraded. So knowing that I was going to the National, I brought the card along and brought it over to the completely unorganized PSA booth. After waiting 15 minutes in some sort of line to talk to someone, finally I was helped. The man told me that I needed to submit the card to be regraded, and if it came back lower than a ten they would pay me the difference or buy back the card as a 10. So this man left me a submission form and dissappered. When I was finished completing the submission form, I waited another 10 minutes to talk to a girl. I explained what the man had told me, and she then told me that he must have been mistaken because PSA doesn't do that. So she brought him over and he told me he was wrong and if I was unhappy with the card I would have to contact the Ebay seller.
So I then asked to speak to somebody else who basically told me the same thing. He said that all grade disputes must be made within 5 days. I asked him who would ever make a dispute after receiving a 10. I then started to get pretty mad and he told me he would be right back and took the card back to the hidden graders. He came back and said the grader said there is no way this should be a ten so we will make an acception and buy it back from you. They couldn't do it right there so I am supposed to call on Monday and get it straightened out. Very frustrating overall. Basically, CLCT is a public company and that's who you are dealing with. Shareholders, bottom lines and profits come before the customer. I got some Star basketball cards graded at GAI and they were some of the most pleasant people to deal with.
So I then asked to speak to somebody else who basically told me the same thing. He said that all grade disputes must be made within 5 days. I asked him who would ever make a dispute after receiving a 10. I then started to get pretty mad and he told me he would be right back and took the card back to the hidden graders. He came back and said the grader said there is no way this should be a ten so we will make an acception and buy it back from you. They couldn't do it right there so I am supposed to call on Monday and get it straightened out. Very frustrating overall. Basically, CLCT is a public company and that's who you are dealing with. Shareholders, bottom lines and profits come before the customer. I got some Star basketball cards graded at GAI and they were some of the most pleasant people to deal with.
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Comments
<< <i>profits come before the customer >>
I wonder where they think the profits come from. Discouraging, overall. Personally, I think if faith is lost in the high grade PSA cards, submissions will become a mere trickle. Which is why I think PSA should be more aggressive about fake PSA holders. But, what do I know? Please let me know what happens in the end.
Minnie Minoso Master and Basic
1967 Topps PSA 8+
1960's Topps run Mega Set
"For me, playing baseball has been like a war and I was defending the uniform I wore, Every time I put on the uniform I respected it like the American flag. I wore it like I was representing every Latin country."--Minnie Minoso
My 1934 Goudey Set
Sorry to hear about this.
If you have the time, I would chronolog the events - time you waited etc. - write a nice letter to the CEO and rhetorically ask - with SGC and GAI making a run for my grading dollars, why should I take this type of treatment?
Plain and simple - if they didn't know the SOP for your request, then they weren't trained and this is truly a company making money in spite of itself!
I don't mind mistakes being made - with the grade etc. But customer service? The Hallmark of any company - it's what it is all about.
Perhaps if Mr. Orlando is reading this thread, he should contact you and explain what happened. And yes, he or his designated representatives OWE their clients an explanation for any breach is customer protocol.
Now, if you want to be cute - just write the letter and ask them: are you guys new?
Good luck, hope this turns out OK.
mike
I bought the card from 1stgumby. Here's the link
<< <i>Thanks Stoney, maybe I will write a letter.
I bought the card from 1stgumby. Here's the link >>
Did you scan the card to save?
It's hard to see the pic?
Real sorry to see this - but if they give you your money back? Alright!!!
mike
I wonder when this change in policy was made? I also had always heard that they had a buyback policy.
To be fair, beckett grading doesn't offer any kind of real guarantee on their cards either. I don't know about the other slabbers out there.
<< <i>To be fair, beckett grading doesn't offer any kind of real guarantee on their cards either. I don't know about the other slabbers out there. >>
SDavid - since you posed the question, here's is SGC's version from their website:
"SGC guarantees that all cards submitted shall be graded by SGC grading experts in accordance with SGC grading procedures. In the event the original submitter of an SGC card believes that the card has been overgraded with respect to such procedures, the original submitter may resubmit that card to SGC for a review of the assigned grade. THIS RESUBMISSION MUST BE REQUESTED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIPT FROM SGC.
If the grade determined under such review is lower than that originally assigned to the card, SGC shall, at SGC's option, either replace the card or pay the difference between the current fair market value of the card at the newly established grade and the current fair market value of the grade originally assigned to such card. Due to the volatile nature of the sportscard market and Internet auctions/sales, the selling prices in these auctions do not necessarily represent the current fair market value of any particular sportscard. SGC will determine the current fair market value of a card which is assigned a lower grade on review, based upon what SGC believes to be reliable current market information. Clerical errors with respect to the description or grade of the card(s) which would be obvious upon inspection shall not be subject to the SGC guarantee stated herein".
Now, I'm counting the moments before this post gets "poofed" !
"If PSA, in fact, concludes that the card in question no longer merits the PSA grade assigned or fails our authenticity standards, PSA will buy the card back from the submitter at the current market value. The current market value is determined by PSA, based in part on SMR values and/or recent prices realized from the marketplace. PSA has sole discretion in regards to the buyback price."
I didn't notice anything about 5 days, but I do notice that in both cases, the companies offer the buyback to the submitter, not the person who purchases the card from the submitter. Which, in the case of overgraded cards, makes the guarantee pretty meaningless to those of us who purchase aftermarket rather than submitting ourselves.
That's disappointing; I'd kind of thought this kind of guarantee offered some level of consumer protection in case a card slipped through the cracks at PSA/SGC/wherever. Guess not.
<< <i>
"In the event the original submitter of an SGC card believes that the card has been overgraded with respect to such procedures, the original submitter may resubmit that card to SGC for a review of the assigned grade. THIS RESUBMISSION MUST BE REQUESTED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIPT FROM SGC.
>>
So, in other words, SGC is saying you have to contact the guy you bought it from on eBay
and have him take it up with SGC, and if it's been more than 30 days since he had it graded, forgot about it altogether ?
"How about a little fire Scarecrow ?"
I just think it should be done is a classy way.
Heck, tell the customer - "we're sorry, but....." and then turn around and give them a stack of vouchers for future gradings.
That's what I do to stir "internal" marketing and to "patch" up an error - just my take on customer service - the PROCESS - rather than the specifics.
I don't like seeing anyone mishandled.
It's far cheaper to keep the customers you have than do go out and recruit new ones.
mike
<< <i>eadams
Sorry to hear about this.
If you have the time, I would chronolog the events - time you waited etc. - write a nice letter to the CEO and rhetorically ask - with SGC and GAI making a run for my grading dollars, why should I take this type of treatment?
Plain and simple - if they didn't know the SOP for your request, then they weren't trained and this is truly a company making money in spite of itself!
I don't mind mistakes being made - with the grade etc. But customer service? The Hallmark of any company - it's what it is all about.
Perhaps if Mr. Orlando is reading this thread, he should contact you and explain what happened. And yes, he or his designated representatives OWE their clients an explanation for any breach is customer protocol.
Now, if you want to be cute - just write the letter and ask them: are you guys new?
Good luck, hope this turns out OK.
I was at the National and heard several dealers complain about the service at PSA, and the comments were a lot more positive about GAI - for the record I do not own a single GAI card and all of mine are in PSA slabs.
I thought that the editorial piece in the front of the latest SMR written by Joe was childish and petty, and it only lends support that other companies are out there by his comments. If SGC and GAI do not pose a threat to PSA and if they are less reputable companies whose grades are not worth the piece of paper they are on why write an entire piece on them in the SMR?
"
" Go ahead and get your fancy barely visible cell phones that get the internet, play DVD's, and can speak 5 languages. As for me and my Atari cell phone it works, it weighs 7 pounds, it is 14 inches long, and it looks like I could call in an airstrike from a remote desert it is so large!"
As far as the CSR, as a beginning submitter, I had personal contact with BGS people who called me to rectify a problem that I had caused when filling out the submission form. I felt that was pretty good and with my first submission to PSA, it was a 45 day submission that took nearly 5 months to ship back. I realized that this was due to the graded card explosion that happened a few years back, but PSA offered no apology, no free submissions or anything to say "Hey, we're sorry you spent $400 submitting cards that it took us almost 3 months longer than we said it would take". Ever since then, I am wary of their CS area, but still feel that they are the better of the grading companies.
<< <i>
<< <i>
"In the event the original submitter of an SGC card believes that the card has been overgraded with respect to such procedures, the original submitter may resubmit that card to SGC for a review of the assigned grade. THIS RESUBMISSION MUST BE REQUESTED WITHIN 30 DAYS OF RECEIPT FROM SGC.
>>
So, in other words, SGC is saying you have to contact the guy you bought it from on eBay
and have him take it up with SGC, and if it's been more than 30 days since he had it graded, forgot about it altogether ? >>
To the contrary, SGC's written policy is much stricter than reality. There are several published examples of them buying back cards many years and many different owners after they were graded. They were the first and only with a guarantee for some time. I believe they take pride in this and I do not think any company can equal SGC's customer service in this aspect.
PSA hired some people to work the booth anticipating (and apparently getting) a big turnout with lots of people. I can't help but think that 15 minutes isn't that long of a wait time for being able to speak directly with PSA.
You had a couple of people who had conflicting information (the first rep was correct, though), and the second rep was the one in the wrong.
Though you did have that conflict, I'm not really sure why you found it so frustrating? I don't suppose they want to be buying cards back right there on the floor, and I am sure they will reimburse you for shipping the card to them.
I understand you're frustrated that you spent over $100 on a card and feel you got the short end of the stick...but PSA is willing to make good on an error on their part.
GAI is (obviously) a much smaller company so they have to do whatever they can to win over customers. It's the same in any business. And yes, because PSA is publicly traded, they have a responsibility to be profitiable. But to say they put profits before customers is misleading at best. People make mistakes, but to think that PSA is intentionally slighting people to remain profitable is just erroneous.
The only non-PSA holders I own are waiting to be submitted to PSA when I list a registry set. PSA is the leader in vintage grading in my opinion.
I once had an issue with a card and sent it back addressed to Joe Orlando. In return I received a call from him explaining their opinion. My shipping costs were worth the personal service.
For the record I have less than 50 total PSA submissions so any preferential treatment is out of the question.
Keith