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9.8 cracked for pressing that wasn't supposed to be
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36 posts in this topic

Hi all,

I wasn't sure of the best place to toss this posting so put in here. It's a bit more of an "advice needed" post than a noob post but at the same time, I've never been in this situation before. 

I use my LCS for CGC submissions. I live in Toronto, CA and shipping/duties can be costly so having a LCS that accepts submissions and saves you on those costs can be very beneficial. I submitted about 20 books for various services (cross over, new Marvel labels and reholdering). 

In that pile of books was an Ultimate Fallout #4 variant CGC 9.8. In my instructions to the comic store owner I requested only a reholdering with a custom label on this book. It was simply one book listed among another 9 books for custom labels. However, after he dropped all the books off to CGC at NYCC and provided my invoices it was noted that this specific book was receiving pressing and grading service (with the new label). You can imagine my immediate concern being that this is quite an expensive book in 9.8 and that this could end up being a costly mistake should the book return at a grade lower than 9.8.

The moment he handed me the invoice with this error on it I brought it to his attention. He acknowledged the error and wrote on his invoice copy a little reminder to follow up as the books were only dropped off at NYCC 2 days earlier. At this moment he was also distracted by multiple customers trying to chit chat about their favorite comics they picked up and I reminded him once more before leaving to make sure he was on top of it.

Not to say I didn't trust him, but I wanted to make sure my book was safe. I followed up by email to CGC a few weeks later asking to make sure this book was not pressed or graded as it was an error. The response was that the books hadn't been processed in the system yet and to call back once we get the confirmation email. Unfortunately the emails are going directly to the store owner so I had to continue a guessing game. I tried again a few weeks later and received the same email response from CGC. 

I waited another 3 or 4 weeks this time and called CGC directly. A customer service rep confirmed that the books were processed and that this book was already in the pressing stages and nothing could be done to prevent it at this point. I was livid as you would expect. My assumption was that the comic store never followed up at all. I emailed him right away (to ensure I had a paper trail) to remind him of our past conversation, the error on the invoice and that we now have a potential problem. He replied back that he would call CGC the next day.

2 days past and no reply email back with an update so I followed up again. He asked me to call him directly at the store. He advised me he called CGC and that they also said it was too late. He said they messed up and it was on his instructions (invoice) that no pressing was to be done. He texted me the same copy of the invoice he already provided me prior with a scribble on it beside the listed book about pressing and said "See? I had the instructions right there.". Not sure if he forgets I watched him write that note when I was with him in the store.

He proceeded to say the blame now is on CGC and that if the book comes back lower than 9.8 they will have to find a way to compensate me or provide me the same book. 

Does this sound right to anyone? And how would you proceed in this case should the book actually come back lower than 9.8?

 

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ouch that sucks... I hope it comes back as a 9.8 if not they said they could compensate you some how for it I would hope they dont charge you for the pressing fees too.. sorry this happened. 

 

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1 hour ago, Lundon44 said:

Hi all,

I wasn't sure of the best place to toss this posting so put in here. It's a bit more of an "advice needed" post than a noob post but at the same time, I've never been in this situation before. 

I use my LCS for CGC submissions. I live in Toronto, CA and shipping/duties can be costly so having a LCS that accepts submissions and saves you on those costs can be very beneficial. I submitted about 20 books for various services (cross over, new Marvel labels and reholdering). 

In that pile of books was an Ultimate Fallout #4 variant CGC 9.8. In my instructions to the comic store owner I requested only a reholdering with a custom label on this book. It was simply one book listed among another 9 books for custom labels. However, after he dropped all the books off to CGC at NYCC and provided my invoices it was noted that this specific book was receiving pressing and grading service (with the new label). You can imagine my immediate concern being that this is quite an expensive book in 9.8 and that this could end up being a costly mistake should the book return at a grade lower than 9.8.

The moment he handed me the invoice with this error on it I brought it to his attention. He acknowledged the error and wrote on his invoice copy a little reminder to follow up as the books were only dropped off at NYCC 2 days earlier. At this moment he was also distracted by multiple customers trying to chit chat about their favorite comics they picked up and I reminded him once more before leaving to make sure he was on top of it.

Not to say I didn't trust him, but I wanted to make sure my book was safe. I followed up by email to CGC a few weeks later asking to make sure this book was not pressed or graded as it was an error. The response was that the books hadn't been processed in the system yet and to call back once we get the confirmation email. Unfortunately the emails are going directly to the store owner so I had to continue a guessing game. I tried again a few weeks later and received the same email response from CGC. 

I waited another 3 or 4 weeks this time and called CGC directly. A customer service rep confirmed that the books were processed and that this book was already in the pressing stages and nothing could be done to prevent it at this point. I was livid as you would expect. My assumption was that the comic store never followed up at all. I emailed him right away (to ensure I had a paper trail) to remind him of our past conversation, the error on the invoice and that we now have a potential problem. He replied back that he would call CGC the next day.

2 days past and no reply email back with an update so I followed up again. He asked me to call him directly at the store. He advised me he called CGC and that they also said it was too late. He said they messed up and it was on his instructions (invoice) that no pressing was to be done. He texted me the same copy of the invoice he already provided me prior with a scribble on it beside the listed book about pressing and said "See? I had the instructions right there.". Not sure if he forgets I watched him write that note when I was with him in the store.

He proceeded to say the blame now is on CGC and that if the book comes back lower than 9.8 they will have to find a way to compensate me or provide me the same book. 

Does this sound right to anyone? And how would you proceed in this case should the book actually come back lower than 9.8?

 

This is a nightmare.

And agreed, it's a deflection of responsibility 

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12 hours ago, Catwomancomics said:

Curiosity question.  Did you ask for any of your other books to be pressed and graded? This is very unfortunate in any case.

I submitted about 20 books in total. Half were for custom labels. 5 were for pressing and grading. The others were for cross over service. 

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11 hours ago, nochips said:

Next time do it yourself. You saved nothing here, in fact this whole event cost you time and time is money.

True, I may end up in a worst case scenario where the book grade drops and my LCS passes the buck to CGC and CGC says we only did as instructed. I'd like to think that the chances of this happening are less than 30% at this point. 

My original logic was saving on the shipping costs of 20 books and possible duty fees on these books as well. I have a few cases now where I've been hit with duty fees for some reason on my own books returning to me. And FedEx/UPS or whoever they use make you jump through ridiculous hoops to get that reimbursed. 

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12 minutes ago, Lundon44 said:

True, I may end up in a worst case scenario where the book grade drops and my LCS passes the buck to CGC and CGC says we only did as instructed. I'd like to think that the chances of this happening are less than 30% at this point. 

My original logic was saving on the shipping costs of 20 books and possible duty fees on these books as well. I have a few cases now where I've been hit with duty fees for some reason on my own books returning to me. And FedEx/UPS or whoever they use make you jump through ridiculous hoops to get that reimbursed. 

yeah shipping back to Canada sucks.. :( CGC please do something similar to Can't Buy Can't Sell that helps Canadians with shipping.. 

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They use Universal distribution to help with the submission process for Canadians. We need something similar for CGC.. I think it would boost a ton of CGC business north of the border.

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1 hour ago, Lundon44 said:

I submitted about 20 books in total. Half were for custom labels. 5 were for pressing and grading. The others were for cross over service. 

I would suggest getting a membership that allows you to fill out all CGC invoices online for your submissions and printing it out yourself.  And then drop off to your LCS to take to NYCC.  You will still have to trust your LCS to properly transport the books to NYCC.  This would help everyone involved and make things easier at NYCC for your LCS and CGC.  Things can get crazy at a con and doing the computer/paperwork at home is much easier and less stressful.  

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Lundon, which store in Ontario is this?  Reason I ask is that I recall a recent thread here about problems sending books through Paradise Comics.

Based on your initial post the LCS made a mistake and if it leads to a downgrade they should fix it.  Getting them to admit they made a mistake may be a problem as it appears they're already rewriting history.  Even if it does come back 9.8 do you want to continue submitting through a third party who makes mistakes AND passes on the blame?

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The Torch has the Gist of it. Win ,Lose or Draw you now know the character of the LCS owner perhaps saving you even worse grief and cost in the future. should events end poorly, then of course the owner should "Do the right thing" and offer compensation. will he???  :makepoint::makepoint:Should they do otherwise it sounds like you have enough for a small claims case. :makepoint::makepoint:which would be terribly unfortunate to have to resort to. I really hate saying that in today's litigious society. I am pulling for you and hope it works out AND that while costly....lesson learned ...right?:makepoint::makepoint:

 

Edited by Arak Zantara
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@Jose SantiagoPressing won't necessarily drop grade. It's purpose is the opposite. But cracking any book at any grade for re-grading runs a risk of dropping in grade. Hopefully those chances are lower being the book was already 9.8 but the risk still exists. 

@thehumantorch it wasn't Paradise. But just as reputable. I'm confident if I have to battle it out on this that I will get zero compensation from anyone. Just mentally preparing. But not saying that this is what I'm willing to accept. I definitely don't expect to be using them again unless maybe I'm there as they are inputting everything online so I can check everything is correct.

Hoping that this LCS store wouldn't want to risk hurting their reputation over this. If things turn out horribly the best way to handle things would be taking accountability and proper compensation. If that happened the most I can say is they messed up. But fair compensation at least helps redeem their reputation. 

 

Edited by Lundon44
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great point about the grading ...If I bring you a blue ball today.. sat it will still be a blue ball

But the chance that a grade changes signifies a flawed system at the mercy of an individuals mood, if they are hung over, did their spouse leave them
I know these are near blasphemous statements, but what a hypocrite I would be after fighting so long to insure the freedom of speech for me and my country to suddenly censor my own silly :pullhair:

Having said that I don't think I know a finer group of people ....and no Jon I have not been drinking     :censored:rantrant:tink:

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