D.I.S.G.U.S.T.E.D WITH CGC SERVICE & PRODUCT 1 1

[PBruce]

Brand new CGC member. Not new to collecting and not new to professional grading. Collecting 35 years. Dealing fulltime 29 years. Ebay 19 years consistent. It is important CGC members know what I am going through. 

Sent in two waves of magazines. 25 magazines in each wave. 49 Playboys and an issue of Devilina. Service was "Modern Magazine" with a 40 day turn-around. First package was received by CGC 2/23 and the second on 2/26. 

These were to be the first two waves of more than 400 issues of Playboys I was preparing to send in.

3/19 Both invoices went to "graded" status. 

4/16 I called CGC to touch bases as the 40 business day timeline was approaching with no updates since 3/19. I was told my items were being encapsulated and that they would be shipped by the end of the week. I was fine with that and very happy.

4/19 No status update stating they were in the encapsulating process so I called back. I gave the customer service rep. the invoice numbers and her words were, "wow, let me check on this for you." 
She told me the magazines were being encapsulated and that they would be completed 4/20 and shipped 4/23 at the latest. I was fine with that.

4/23 I called back as there were no updates and I immediately asked to speak to a supervisor from a guy named Dean. Dean refused to transfer me and provoked me to the point I began to drop F-bombs then proceded to try to force me to acknowlendge my f-bombs or he wan't going to transfer me. I did this with SIX of their employees after calling back 6 times before getting into direct contact with Harshen Patel, the Director of Operations. 
When a customer asks to speak to a supervisor TRANSFER THEM TO A SUPERVISOR.
These entry level customer service employees aren't equipped to handle basic customer requests.
One of those 6 phone calls the service rep. thought she hung up without provocation just so she could be part of the party going on in the customer service rep. room. What she did was put me on speaker phone which allowed me to hear all the nice things they say about CGC customers. I called her out on it very loudly so the entire customer service room could here me.
I wish CGC members reading this could hear the things they say about us when they think we aren't listening. 

4/23 received the email below from Harshen Patel after we spoke on the phone.
"Hi Bruce….
I have personally checked on this and I will have this shipped out no later than Wed of this week…I am pushing for it to get done tomorrow but the latest will certainly be Wed. I will keep my eye on it and make sure this happens.
Thanks,
Harshen Patel"

4/24 tracking is uploaded for the package I sent in 2/26.

4/25 tracking is uploaded for the package I send in 2/23.

4/30 I received two packages containing 24 Playboys and 1 Devilina that were shipped 4/25. 

Packages sent 4/24 are lost in Colorado despite them being sent USPS Priority before the packages I received today. 

I opened the packages I received today immediately. NOTE: There is no damage to either boxes these were used to ship in. This will come into play later when we end up in court.

Many of the holders are not sealed all the way around and at least two exterior cases are cracked which could not have been from shipping. The Madonna is garbage now as you can see. 

The interior linings are defective. They were not molded correctly. Picture 1 shows this. They failed to seal the holders as corner dowels are completely loose on several as pictured. Compression was not used on several resulting in further damage including the 9.0 October 1978 issue with Dolly Pardon where the spine ripped at a staple. Compression was not used on the September 1985 issue with Madonna in 8.5 and the result is the magazine is now feathered inside the holder. This CGC site claims they use compression to keep the magazines in place but they can't stay in place when the dowels are loose and the interior linings literally shatter. My pictures also show two different sized holders used for the exact same magazine sent in the exact same invoice. 

I have received half of my magazines. The other half that I have yet to receive include some of the heaviest Playboys every published (SEVEN December 1978 issues with Farrah Fawcett which they boast on their page can be encapsulated safely). That package is lost in Colorado.
Nothing but problems with CGC.

[1950's war comics]

[newshane]

27 minutes ago, PBruce said:

Dean refused to transfer me and provoked me to the point I began to drop F-bombs then proceded to try to force me to acknowlendge my f-bombs or he wan't going to transfer me. I did this with SIX of their employees after calling back 6 times before getting into direct contact with Harshen Patel, the Director of Operations. 
 

[comicdonna]

31 minutes ago, 1950's war comics said:

Yep!

[Yorick]

Those box cases are awful.  I have one and plan on cracking out the book and recycling the plastic.

This story scares the heck out of me.

[aardvark88]

2 minutes ago, Yorick said:

Those box cases are awful.  This story scares the heck out of me.

Were those Cgc slabs shipped to Canada? Thanks for being  honest about the mag damage.

[DjMartini]

1 hour ago, 1950's war comics said:

 I have some playboys done as well. Thankfully they were done with the old slabs. I actually just did submit one that will utilizing the new slabs. Seeing this, I am weary to see how it come out...

Edited May 1, 2018 by DjMartini
comments

[ThothAmon]

I got as far as the f bombs then I stopped reading. 

[Yorick]

1 minute ago, aardvark88 said:

Were those Cgc slabs shipped to Canada? Thanks for being  honest about the mag damage.

 

I have not received any of the MONSTER cases directly from CGC (yet).  I was unfortunate in winning one in a ComicConnect auction.  I may just call CGC and ask if they can reholder it into a smaller case, but if the pages and corners get folded and bent during the process... I may just keep my books in a bag and board. 

He wrote that the first package was lost in Colorado.  I'm guessing that's where this bad batch was shipped.

[aardvark88]

4 minutes ago, Yorick said:

 

 I may just keep my books in a bag and board. 

He wrote that the first package was lost in Colorado.  I'm guessing that's where this bad batch was shipped.

The reason I mentioned Canada was that Fed Ex once routed a large Cgc box from Florida to District of Columbia, USA  then Fed Ex realized I was in British Columbia, Canada.

[AJD]

4 hours ago, PBruce said:

Dean refused to transfer me and provoked me to the point I began to drop F-bombs then proceded to try to force me to acknowlendge my f-bombs or he wan't going to transfer me. I did this with SIX of their employees after calling back 6 times before getting into direct contact with Harshen Patel, the Director of Operations.

After that, you deserve anything bad that happens. Keeping it civil isn't that hard.

[BeholdersEye]

I thought that CGC would bounce back (reject) any magazines or publications that were too thick to fit into their encapsulation system.  It seems ridiculous to grade an item, charge a fee, and not be able to do the very thing a customer wants, which is an archival quality tamper proof slab.

I heard that CGC simply sends your ungradable/unslabable publications back with your order, not charging the grading fee since there's no evaluation nor encapsulation, and it's as simple as that. 

[James J Johnson]

10 hours ago, PBruce said:

I wish CGC members reading this could hear the things they say about us when they think we aren't listening. 

Sound more to me like you were accidentally switched into the campaign headquarters party line of one of our Congressional candidates currently running for midterm election!

Edited May 1, 2018 by James J Johnson

[James J Johnson]

10 hours ago, PBruce said:

 

I have received half of my magazines. The other half that I have yet to receive include some of the heaviest Playboys every published (SEVEN December 1978 issues with Farrah Fawcett which they boast on their page can be encapsulated safely). That package is lost in Colorado.
Nothing but problems with CGC.

These look to be very heavy. A stack of Playboys is already heavy, compared to comics. What would a box of these encased Playboys weigh? About the same as the average wrecking ball? There's got to be a better way. This looks to me like if wooden or cement shoes were the norm. I have every confidence that the CGC could work with their manufacturer to come up with a less cumbersome, better designed product. What works for comics and thin magazines simply made larger won't necessarily be the best choice for encapsulating something of this nature. I have to take out my old drawing board and see if I can come up with a suggestion.

[bababooey]

Those slabs wouldn't have kept a 13 year old bababooey from doing some research on Dolly Pardon's funbags. 

 

[lizards2]

You go, f-girl!  

[Old Fashion PB and J]

@PBruce your story is absolutely terrible and you should be embarrassed. Who the hell are you sit there and start cursing these people out. You have no right to speak to people like that when they are doing their job. We all get upset, sometimes TAT's are fast and sometimes they aren't, but you have to be a real sorry sack to call up and start cursing people out. Unacceptable. You sound like a 50 year old child who never got rounded out well enough to be humble in your old age. Start treating people better, I would have told you to eff off and moved your books further back in line. Grow up

[lizards2]

19 minutes ago, The Resurrection said:

@PBruce your story is absolutely terrible and you should be embarrassed. Who the hell are you sit there and start cursing these people out. You have no right to speak to people like that when they are doing their job. We all get upset, sometimes TAT's are fast and sometimes they aren't, but you have to be a real sorry sack to call up and start cursing people out. Unacceptable. You sound like a 50 year old child who never got rounded out well enough to be humble in your old age. Start treating people better, I would have told you to eff off and moved your books further back in line. Grow up

And that's exactly why we need a thumbs-down reactor rating graemlin.  Either that or a middle thumbs-up..., 

[1Cool]

He is definitely not a Canadian.  They are willing to wait a year before getting pissed about books not coming back.

[WoWitHurts]

31 minutes ago, The Resurrection said:

@PBruce your story is absolutely terrible and you should be embarrassed. Who the hell are you sit there and start cursing these people out. You have no right to speak to people like that when they are doing their job. We all get upset, sometimes TAT's are fast and sometimes they aren't, but you have to be a real sorry sack to call up and start cursing people out. Unacceptable. You sound like a 50 year old child who never got rounded out well enough to be humble in your old age. Start treating people better, I would have told you to eff off and moved your books further back in line. Grow up

Grown up words aside, those slabs are really messed up.