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Disappointed by sloppy PCGS slabbing

Just got slabs back today no quibble with the grading, but the inside of the translucent windows are scratched or there are stray strands of glue all around and beyond the edge of the coins. I wish I had a camera with a macro function so I could share how awful this looks with everyone.

What are my options? If I send it back to PCGS that's what, $60 postage round trip plus reholdering fees?
Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
(Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)

Comments

  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,876 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Probably no re-holdering fees, and you'd only have to pay postage to get the coin(s) there if what you're describing is accurate. PCGS will make it right by you.

    peacockcoins

  • StuartStuart Posts: 9,831 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Perhaps the first thing you may wish to consider doing is to speak with PCGS Customer Servive to discuss this directly with them, to see if they might suggest resolving this to your mutual satisfaction. Good luck in getting this resolved.

    PCGS Customer Service lines are open Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

    In the U.S. call 800-447-8848
    Outside the U.S. call 011-949-833-0600
    E-mail: info@pcgs.com

    Stuart

    Collect 18th & 19th Century US Type Coins, Silver Dollars, $20 Gold Double Eagles and World Crowns & Talers with High Eye Appeal

    "Luck is what happens when Preparation meets Opportunity"
  • My bet is on PCGS customer service; they have exceeded all my expectations in my dealings.image
  • coinguy1coinguy1 Posts: 13,484 ✭✭✭


    << <i>Perhaps the first thing you may wish to consider doing is to speak with PCGS Customer Servive to discuss this directly with them, to see if they might suggest resolving this to your mutual satisfaction. Good luck in getting this resolved.

    PCGS Customer Service lines are open Monday - Friday 7:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

    In the U.S. call 800-447-8848
    Outside the U.S. call 011-949-833-0600
    E-mail: info@pcgs.com >>

    I'm not surprised to see the above post, considering that it seems as if Stuart is always pleasant, polite and helpful. But wouldn't it be nice if more posters were that way?!
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,492 ✭✭✭✭
    I'll bet you're looking at the squeeze from the insert PCGS uses since they do not use "glue" on their slabs.

    I'd also bet that unless it's really bad that you'll be looking at postage both ways plus a reholdering fee of $10.00 each coin.

    Photo's would be more helpful.
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • Well, it'll have to wait until Monday, but even if PCGS picks up the whole tab, it's always a big schlep to prepare the shipment and a pain to do without my coins for 2 months.

    On the reverse of one of the slabs it looks like some plastic melted to cover the edges of the coin - it looks at first glance like some sort of edge damage to the coin itself, and since the grade is PR69DC someone might quickly conclude that the entire slab is a fake! Not good stuff here, and I haven't found slabs so sloppy-looking for any of my other PCGS coins.
    Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
    (Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)
  • braddickbraddick Posts: 24,876 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>Well, it'll have to wait until Monday, but even if PCGS picks up the whole tab, it's always a big schlep to prepare the shipment and a pain to do without my coins for 2 months.

    On the reverse of one of the slabs it looks like some plastic melted to cover the edges of the coin - it looks at first glance like some sort of edge damage to the coin itself, and since the grade is PR69DC someone might quickly conclude that the entire slab is a fake! Not good stuff here, and I haven't found slabs so sloppy-looking for any of my other PCGS coins. >>



    It won't take nearly two months for PCGS to fix your problem.
    Even with that stated, I do understand your grief. It's no fun to have to return a mistake that isn't your fault.

    peacockcoins

  • adamlaneusadamlaneus Posts: 6,969 ✭✭✭
    This Thread Is Worthless Without Pictures
  • GoldbullyGoldbully Posts: 17,990 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>This Thread Is Worthless Without Pictures >>



    image
  • drwstr123drwstr123 Posts: 7,049 ✭✭✭✭✭
    PCGS possibly announced that they no longer guaranty the quality control of their slabs?
  • I just came across a Morgan with a huge half bubble covering the reverse area of the coin.

    Funny how they can make 'errors'.
  • derrybderryb Posts: 37,704 ✭✭✭✭✭
    How about this one!

    image

    No Way Out: Stimulus and Money Printing Are the Only Path Left

  • WinPitcherWinPitcher Posts: 27,726 ✭✭✭
    Yeah I often wonder how they are the only people in the entire world that make errors.


    Steve



    image
    Good for you.
  • We all get shoved some crap in life from time to time. I guess it was just your turn. Besides PCGS is not perfect all the time, just most of the time.
    Winner of the "You Suck!" award March 17, 2010 by LanLord, doh, 123cents and Bear.

  • I have never had a problem with any of my slabs from pcgs, although on some of them it is difficult to read FBL...........imagebut thats ok I know it's there.....image
  • BroadstruckBroadstruck Posts: 30,497 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I've never seen so much Whining Whoopi posted on the forum as within the last month!

    All these minor problems can be easily remedied with either a phone call or an email.

    Is getting a mob of pitch forked town folk gonna solve your issue image

    image
    To Err Is Human.... To Collect Err's Is Just Too Much Darn Tootin Fun!
  • TwoSides2aCoinTwoSides2aCoin Posts: 44,624 ✭✭✭✭✭
    Sloppy slabs slide a slippery slope , Sylvester.

    ~a tongue twister, by golly~
  • FoxerFoxer Posts: 164 ✭✭
    I got my CC Special back a couple weeks ago and there is a 2" long scratch on the reverse of the slab.

    The whole point of this is the plastic slab..... and it comes back damaged.

    Uhm?!

    At least it's too the far right of the coin so it doesn't affect the view at all... but still..........
  • mkman123mkman123 Posts: 6,849 ✭✭✭✭
    It would be retarded if this guy had to pay for the shipping and any other fees to have it reholdered. This is PCGS fault, they need to foot the bill and take care of it.
    Successful Buying and Selling transactions with:

    Many members on this forum that now it cannot fit in my signature. Please ask for entire list.
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭
    Before people here jump on the PCGS-bashing bandwagon, there needs to be pictures or other evidence of this alleged sloppiness so we can know for sure what the OP is referring to. I know for a fact that glue is never used to holder a coin and the "scratches" are likely just normal rubber marks.

    Although we don't know for sure until we see pictures, I'm guessing everything is in fact normal and there isn't a gross case of sloppiness. Unless it is a mistake that is completely at the fault of PCGS (incorrect information on the insert, cracked holder, water seepage, etc.) it is the submitter's obligation to pay for shipping and reholdering fees on their own dime.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
  • FWIW, scratches and other imperfections on PCGS plastic can easily be buffed out (2000 grit sandpaper, then Dremel, felt wheel, Simichrome or PlastX)---it'll look like new.

    Save you the trouble of all the hassle and expense and risk of resending, etc. My dos centavos on the subject.
    "Gem EOR toners are tangible evidence that the Eighth Dimension does indeed exist."
    ---Ambrose Bierce, while attending a Heritage Auction at the 1907 Long Beach show
  • BUFFNIXXBUFFNIXX Posts: 2,727 ✭✭✭✭✭
    There has been a problem for years over the translucent oval pcgs insert that raps around the coin. Some of these things are of hidious quality. If anyone cares to check, go into the Heritage Rare Coin Galleries Auction archives and checkout the 1927 special strike sp65 bufflalo nickel proof that sold within the past year. Look at how the rim is covered by this ragged insert. If this were my coin I would have complained long and loud. And I have seen it on other pcgs coins. Bet there have been more than a few collectors complain that there coin was rapped in an inferior product. NGC dispite what you may think of them has never had this problem. Their holder is of superior quality and BETTER than the pcgs holder right now ( love the four prongs that hold onto the coin )buffnixx
    Collector of Buffalo Nickels and other 20th century United States Coinage
    a.k.a "The BUFFINATOR"
  • PerryHallPerryHall Posts: 46,898 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>PCGS possibly announced that they no longer guaranty the quality control of their slabs? >>



    That's only for slabs made after Jan 1, 2010.image

    Worry is the interest you pay on a debt you may not owe.
    "Paper money eventually returns to its intrinsic value---zero."----Voltaire
    "Everything you say should be true, but not everything true should be said."----Voltaire

  • rld14rld14 Posts: 2,390 ✭✭✭


    << <i>I've never seen so much Whining Whoopi posted on the forum as within the last month!

    All these minor problems can be easily remedied with either a phone call or an email.

    Is getting a mob of pitch forked town folk gonna solve your issue image

    image >>



    Yeah no s**t.

    I had something happen with a submission that I didn't agree with and PCGS handled it instantly. Anytime I have ever had to talk to them regarding customer service they have bent over backwards. I don't always agree with the grades or results, but these people are a real pleasure to deal with.

    And I'm not kissing their butts because it's their forum, they genuinely bend overbackwards to help.
    Bear's "Growl of Approval" award 10/09 & 3/10 | "YOU SUCK" - PonyExpress8|"F the doctors!" - homerunhall | I hate my car
  • fcloudfcloud Posts: 12,133 ✭✭✭✭


    Yes we all make mistakes; it is how those mistakes are handled that is the key, and apparently they handle some better than others. And then I suppose their are some people you can't make happy no matter what you do.

    My last one was handled wonderfully! image

    President, Racine Numismatic Society 2013-2014; Variety Resource Dimes; See 6/8/12 CDN for my article on Winged Liberty Dimes; Ebay

  • Since the complaints about lack of pics are quite just, I've done my best to create some even though I don't have a good scanner or digicam with a macro mode. These pics were taken by a phonecam through a 10x Leuchtturm Stand Magnifier, Model LU 21:
    image
    Look off the edge of the coin. Those scratch marks are neither surface dust nor photo artifacts; they are quite real and inside the slab. (The triangular one between the "50" and ".999" is easiest to make out. There are more on the reverse which I couldn't image.


    image
    Note the white mark around the "50", where the plastic looks like it melted.
    image
    This last pic does the best job of showing scratches near the edge, especially around the "PY"
    Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
    (Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)
  • rickoricko Posts: 98,724 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I have never seen, in any other medium or forum, such a bunch of whiners over issues of little or no consequence. My, don't you coin weenies get your panties in a bunch. If it is not ebay, or the U.S. Mint, or PCGS or TV hucksters, then it is something equally as miniscule that everyone it bi*ching about. Life is a bi*ch and then you die. Get over it. Just manage your lives. Cheers, RickO
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,492 ✭✭✭✭
    Thanks for the pictures! image

    My opinion is that what you see above the "5" is part of the insert. Some of these inserts are quite snug yet quite pliable.

    As for scratches? I don't really see anything to cause such concern and IMO, if you send it (them) back, you'll be eating $10 per slab plus shipping both ways.
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • MsMorrisineMsMorrisine Posts: 36,070 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>I have never seen, in any other medium or forum, such a bunch of whiners over issues of little or no consequence. My, don't you coin weenies get your panties in a bunch. If it is not ebay, or the U.S. Mint, or PCGS or TV hucksters, then it is something equally as miniscule that everyone it bi*ching about. Life is a bi*ch and then you die. Get over it. Just manage your lives. Cheers, RickO >>




    I am going to -complain- about the use of the word retarded.

    please keep in mind that these people were born this way and feel the pain when this word is used the way it was. they are quite sensitive to it and view it on the same level as hateful speech.

    Current maintainer of Stone's Master List of Favorite Websites // My BST transactions
  • We have complainers and people who complain about the complainers. Where does it end? Oh this is not a complaint! image
  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,875 ✭✭✭✭✭
    When PCGS slabbed my 1772 8 Reales, they trapped a loose piece of plastic on top of the coin. The were great at having it reholdered, however I had to pay shipping cost to get it back to them.

    image
  • PCGS contaminated the slab but didn't refund your shipping? That's pretty bad.
    Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
    (Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)
  • BochimanBochiman Posts: 25,556 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>PCGS contaminated the slab but didn't refund your shipping? That's pretty bad. >>



    I agree...imho, if something is not right (such as foreign material in the slab, or even "mechanical" errors on the labels), then PCGS should pay all costs (shipping both ways and reholdering).
    Did you ask them on that?

    I've been told I tolerate fools poorly...that may explain things if I have a problem with you. Current ebay items - Nothing at the moment

  • TwoKopeikiTwoKopeiki Posts: 9,875 ✭✭✭✭✭
    I didn't ask them to cover my shipping charge since they didn't mention it when giving me instructions on how to send the coin back. It's not a big deal to me, more of an FYI for Fountainhead that he might have to pick-up the cost of shipping it back.

    I also would like to see mechanical errors treated with highest priority. These are the coins that should be reholdered immediately and shipped back using expedited or express shipping. Just my 2 cents.
  • WTCGWTCG Posts: 8,940 ✭✭✭
    Considering the pictures the OP provided, there are no significant problems with the way the coins are holdered. To me everything looks normal.

    Regarding where the coin meets the rubber washer, that is just a very minor part of the washer that holds the coin in place and it happens to portrude slightly past the rim. There is no evidence of any "melting". This is an example of making a big issue out of nothing.
    Follow me on Twitter @wtcgroup
    Authorized dealer for PCGS, PCGS Currency, NGC, NCS, PMG, CAC. Member of the PNG, ANA. Member dealer of CoinPlex and CCE/FACTS as "CH5"
  • Looks like just about every other coin I've ever seen.


  • << <i>Looks like just about every other coin I've ever seen. >>


    The pics are not as focused as they should be. I've seen dozens of slabs, but never scratched ones like these. What causes this? Is it some sort of difficulty putting the coin in the insert? Does that mean the edges of the coin are slightly worn as a result?
    Salute the automobile: The greatest anti-pollution device in human history!
    (Just think of city streets clogged with a hundred thousand horses each generating 15 lbs of manure every day...)
  • littlebearlittlebear Posts: 1,562 ✭✭✭✭✭


    << <i>
    I am going to -complain- about the use of the word retarded.

    please keep in mind that these people were born this way and feel the pain when this word is used the way it was. they are quite sensitive to it and view it on the same level as hateful speech. >>




    I will second this. I wish nobody any ill will, but if they should ever find themselves in an unfortunate situation and asking "why me?", may they remember their insensitive remarks and may it bring them much comfort.


    Larry L.image
    Autism Awareness: There is no limit to the good you can do, if you don't care who gets the credit.
  • Be nice people!
  • 19Lyds19Lyds Posts: 26,492 ✭✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>Looks like just about every other coin I've ever seen. >>


    The pics are not as focused as they should be. I've seen dozens of slabs, but never scratched ones like these. What causes this? Is it some sort of difficulty putting the coin in the insert? Does that mean the edges of the coin are slightly worn as a result? >>



    The inserts very pliable but are snug around the coin. Some "squish" does occur depending upon the coin.

    As for scratches, clear plastic with a glossy finish will magnify even the most insignificant of scratches which can be produced by the slab coming in contact with anything. Sometimes even wiping dust or impurities off the slab will produce minor scuffs.

    As for "wear" on the edge? No more wear than what would be produced handling the coin by the edge or even inserting it into a 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 Mylar flip.
    I decided to change calling the bathroom the John and renamed it the Jim. I feel so much better saying I went to the Jim this morning.



    The name is LEE!
  • IrishMikeIrishMike Posts: 7,737 ✭✭✭


    << <i>

    << <i>I have never seen, in any other medium or forum, such a bunch of whiners over issues of little or no consequence. My, don't you coin weenies get your panties in a bunch. If it is not ebay, or the U.S. Mint, or PCGS or TV hucksters, then it is something equally as miniscule that everyone it bi*ching about. Life is a bi*ch and then you die. Get over it. Just manage your lives. Cheers, RickO >>




    I am going to -complain- about the use of the word retarded.

    please keep in mind that these people were born this way and feel the pain when this word is used the way it was. they are quite sensitive to it and view it on the same level as hateful speech. >>



    While I don't like this word either, it's definition isn't inclusive as to folks with mental needs, so I don't criticize its general use. Oh and since I retired I have gone back into the educational system and primarily work with special needs children. I can tell you nothing is more rewarding for me than the time I spend with them. They are truly treasures.

    Now back to the topic, I give up I've looked and stared at those slabs and I agree with CCU.

    One last thing I agree with Ken. image

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