Does PSA wait to charge CC until day of grading?

Charlie9

Just getting impatient waiting for the September FB special returns so I thought I'd ask... I received the confirmation email that they received my submission about a month ago but my CC has not been charged yet. Do they generally charge the card the day they are starting the actual grading process? This would be an indicator that when I see the charge that I should soon see results. Or do they normally charge as soon as they receive the sub and I should be worried that something may be wrong??

jmbkb4

No, No, No.

In my experience, they charge your CC ASAP...

goose3

Carew29

artistlost

I find that once my card is charged i usually get the grades with in a day or two.

mathew

drewsef

impatient for the September special, get to the back of the line pal, I and several others are waiting on June specials.

Charlie9

I know I know...I have no business expecting anything anytime soon...but I just want to know if the lack of a charge could be an indication something is wrong with the sub. This is a large vintage 240 card sub (large for me anyway) that I am going to open live without knowledge of the grades so I don't even have the sub number (I wouldn't be able to withstand not checking for it on-line daily) so I gave the copy of the sub to my wife with instructions to only give me the info if there was a problem with the order. I just want to make sure that's not the case and this is normal procedure by PSA.

mbothner

My cc was charged July 16 and am still waiting on my grades.

drewsef

yours still might pop before the June special folks, there can't be a FIFO system in place at PSA

Charlie9

Yeah, I've had unusually good luck with specials in the past where I have received them within 2-3 weeks instead of the 2-3 months I have been seeing others wait... but this is larger than my normal submission so I wonder if those sit on the shelf a bit longer than the smaller subs.

saucywombat

I don't think there is any correlation between when you are charged and when you receive your grades.

Charlie9

Apparently a "never mind" is in order. When I rechecked I found I used my other CC and it was indeed charged pretty soon after PSA received the subs (one on Sep 17 and another Sep 24).... so the wait continues.

jrinck

Accepting money for services without giving ANY indication of when services will be rendered is a mark of a poorly run and greedy business.

Think of any other business you patronize that you give money to and have NO inkling of when you'll get your service or product. It's just a poor, poor tactic that they get away with because they realize they can.

PSA customers should demand realistic turnaround dates, or that their credit cards will not be charged until the service has been performed.

That's not a lot to ask for, and that what's makes it all the more sad that they don't provide it.

cravetopps

<<<PSA customers should demand realistic turnaround dates, or that their credit cards will not be charged until the service has been performed.>>>

seems like a reasonable request.

Tabe

<< <i><<<PSA customers should demand realistic turnaround dates, or that their credit cards will not be charged until the service has been performed.>>>

seems like a reasonable request. >>


If I'm not mistaken, that's also the law.

Tabe

mtcards

I doubt its the law, but it is verrrrrrrry bad business. I order labels for my items from US Label and Supply and they charged my company CC almost 5 weeks before shipping. I asked them not to do it again or I would take my business elsewhere and to this date they have never charged my card until a day or so before shipping my product out. Although, since PSA has little competition in the same field, they can pretty much bend you over until that day comes.

earlycalguy

when you are waiting 2-4 months for something your chargeback time from the credit card company has usually expired.

jrinck

<< <i>when you are waiting 2-4 months for something your chargeback time from the credit card company has usually expired. >>



I really try to picture PSA as NOT such a greedy company, and I don't think they are. The policy for charging first, then performing service "whenever" is most likely a holdover from when some fresh MBA put together the business plan. I doubt anybody high up at PSA really knows one way or another when the credit cards are charged. But if any of them are reading this, it's a shady and sneaky tactic that one would expect from a shady and sneaky company, not an industry leader.

Just an FYI.

cravetopps

PSA's policy clearly states that your credit card will be charged at the time of submission. I would imagine they do this because they don't want to spend the time grading cards for a customer and then find out the credit card charge is refused. What might help improve their customer satisfaction (and make these threads go away) are two things:

1. state a realistic turnaround time for non-guaranteed services; obviously this is where most of the issues are from what I can tell and/or
2. charge some percentage (say 50%) of the total fee upfront and the rest once the cards are graded. This way you only get hit for 50% of the charge, PSA has enough to cover the cost of grading and PSA also has collateral in case the remaining charge is denied.

Of course this has an impact on their cash flow, which I am sure is somewhat meaningful to their bottom line, but hopefully the offset in terms of customer satisfaction makes up for the mild "hit" to their financials.

jrinck

<< <i>What might help improve their customer satisfaction (and make these threads go away) are two things:

1. state a realistic turnaround time for non-guaranteed services; obviously this is where most of the issues are from what I can tell and/or
>>



This is ALL they need to do. I don't mind paying up front for something, but I dang well sure better be told an approximate (or definite) time that the work will be completed.

Taking my money and saying it will be done "whenever" doesn't fly with me.

PasadenaMudSlide

Sometimes PSA doesn't even charge my credit card.

Depending solely upon who grades my cards, of course.