Is this unusual for a PCGS submittal?
Herb_T
Posts: 1,755 ✭✭✭✭✭
I sent some coins to PCGS to be graded. The coins arrived August 4th. They have a status of RECEIVED. It hasn’t changed. Meanwhile I have had coins received by them that have long ago moved onto grading. I have asked customer service and the answer I got was to a question I didn’t ask. They didn’t answer my question!
Question I asked and the answer I got back.
Xxxxx xxxxxx (Collectors Universe)
Sep 7, 2021, 11:05 PDT
Thank you for contacting PCGS Customer Service!
The Service Level you picked, Modern Value is estimated at around 25 business days. This order is currently at 23 business days. You will be notified via email once your order ships.
Kind regards,
Xxxxx
PCGS Customer Service
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htmiata99 (null)
Sep 6, 2021, 20:22 PDT
Maybe my coins are moving through your process, but they still show as received. Other coins I have sent you have been moving through the grading process. These seem to be stuck for a month now. Can you please look into this order and advise.
Best regards, Herb
I responded with a reply and highlighted what I was asking……crickets!
I still don’t know what they are doing with them received so long…..anyone have an experience like this before?
Comments
Yes. They will update on day 26.
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update to what? they are past 26 days.
anyway ... times are estimates and are not guaranteed.
I see 3 orders 8/4 with the same tier. I would call and start with the status of the other two. "when was it received?" "what status?" then land on the "received" and let them know you are concerned that it's been in "received for more than 26 days" and only marked "received" unlike the other two"
I am currently only able to communicate with them via email as we are in Europe right now. When I get home September 14th I will call. Nothing irritates me more than someone answering my question for something I didn’t ask. If I knew who to contact via email up the chain, I would.
I have learned that emailing customer support is a waste of time with PCGS. Calling is about the only way to get a good answer. For whatever reason they just don’t do emails like any other company does. They tend to all be formulaic things like what you got that don’t address anything.
It is hard to figure out and generally doesn't make much sense.
Modern department is probably slammed grading US mint new releases.
I have an economy and regular submission both received the same date (7/16) and the economy is in encapsulation, the regular still says "grading". good thing I paid up for the faster submission times!
The new guys seem really salty lately
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I waited more than 3-1/2 months for the last economy order submission. Don't expect miracles.
My US Mint Commemorative Medal Set
Never had them lose anything in all these years. Be patient, the system works.
I am patient, but by having the progress of your order tracked by them they have created an expectation.
I should add that I contacted the new President via Linked In. If someone contacted the president of the company I retired from, 14B market cap, they for sure would get an answer. I will let you know if I get a reply.
Chill.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
I never was any good at chilling….
She’s probably got more important things to do- chillax- I have an economy order submission from 7/16 still pending so I’m nearly 60 days in. If I needed faster service I would have selected a higher level of service. But I don’t- it’s a hobby……
I never kept track when I submitted coins, they have a job to do and they never lost anything. I got the coins when I got them.
sometimes even that doesn't work
I can think of roughly 208 million things that irritate me more.
Especially as they did answer your question. You asked "Can you please look into this order and advise." They looked into your order and reported the estimated grading time you selected and the current number of days. It seems like you meant to ask why different coins are listed at different states, but you did not ask that.
And if you expect a response on LinkedIn to a random customer, because that customer used to work at a company with a large market cap, you will likely be disappointed. Anything is possible, but I wouldn't hold my breath. Companies set up support channels for a reason. One of those reasons is to not do customer support through an executive's personal social media account.
"is this unusual" ... not answered directly.
no.
I’m not too sure the never lost anything. Remember the platinum/palladium to gold coin fiasco thread not long ago. There was never a public resolution to that one.
At times a company’s process breaks down. Maybe they need more people in customer support but some managers don’t raise the issue. Maybe they don’t have internal metrics that they track, but should. As good as the company I retired from was, there was always room for improvement. When you don’t improve and rest on your laurels you are prime to be picked off by a competitor.
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Bad transactions with : nobody to date
Too bad. I guess I had higher expectations of the organization that I led and thought PCGS did as well. Expectations are driven from the top down, and when it isn’t it needs to be looked at and fixed.
PCGS and NGC are essentially a duopoly on grading the nicest coins. Duopolies don't have the competitive pressures your company likely faced. Adjust your expectations.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
Put it this way "They never lost anything for me. "
Not saying the system is perfect. Nothing is. However, IIRC, this particular situation was successfully resolved.
PCGS acknowledged a "data entry error" on their end, and corrected it.
Link
A data entry error that took 30+ days to resolve is unacceptable in my opinion. That aside I don’t think the comment that they have never lost anything would be accurate. The fact that you find something that was lost doesn’t undo the fact that for some period of time it was unaccounted for meaning lost.
what's the hurry? be patient, we all have to put up with employees that don't come in and other internal problems, that's why it's an ESTIMATE.
bob
PS: I waited way longer than this in years past. This is QUICK.
I agree with this. During its existence, PCGS has graded over 40 million 'coins/medals/tokens'. It is inevitable that a loss would have occurred. In fact, section #4 of the 'PCGS Grading Terms & Conditions' exists, in part, because presumably rare losses can, and do, occur.
The service that PCGS provides is a process. Any process will produce defects. Examples in this case include, but are not limited to: label errors, coins placed in the wrong slab, 'damage/loss' while in PCGS possession, etc. The goal of any rational organization is the minimization of these defects, especially the more costly ones.
For the record, I fall into the never lost any of mine group, either temporarily or permanently.
TPGs are slammed with all types of ASEs, blame the mint and the flippers.
Repetition of ignorance is ignorance raised to the power two.
That was a lot of writing to confirm what I said which was that the statement that they have NEVER lost anything is inaccurate.
The ones who tell you to chill and call you impatient..
Are the same ones who will piggyback and make your regular submission drop an anchor while their minor varieties are attributed!
Many different people participate in this forum (e.g., teen vs. retired, newbie collectors vs. experienced dealers, etc.). Given this diversity, you are going to encounter different communication styles. For example, as you astutely pointed out, I have a tendency to include a lot of details in my posts.
IMHO, it is important to be 'accepting/tolerant' of these style differences. While you clearly feel that my last post was not value-added, perhaps another forumite learned something from it. And maybe, someday, you will glean some wisdom from a 'lengthy/detailed' post that another member considers superfluous.
Emailing customer service has never been an effective communication in my experience.
And that is proving to be true!
You totally misinterpreted my response to your post. My simple point was pointing out the fact that the statement they never lose anything. No emotion, no animosity, no attitude of non-acceptance, just a simple statement of fact. Yes, some people need repetition to learn something. That at times includes me.
My mistake. I apologize for the misunderstanding.
Excellent point about repetition. It helps me at times, as well.
"It's like God, Family, Country, except Sticker, Plastic, Coin."
This is what I got tonight (Switzerland)…..
My order took 45 business days to progress past the "grading" phase. Things are just backed up right now.
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"Numismatic categorizations, if left unconstrained, will increase spontaneously over time." -me
Yup!
I heard from Ms. Sabin…..I told her thank you but that I was able after several more emails to-get things moving.
All is good including her reply!
Did you get photos? TrueViews add time to orders.
Squeaky wheels get grease. They received my coins on the 27th of July. They're not showing in the system, yet. Will you write an email for me, too ?
That wasn’t the problem. It sat in “received” state for 4 weeks. I had other coins that arrived that went to grading in a week. They have a process, it just has pieces that fall off of it from time to time.
You are a big boy….you can take care of your own mess! There are only so many bullets in my revolver and there are no reloads.
First thing I thought of...
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