CGC should get rid of fast track 0

[Martian Manhunter]

My title is what it says. I've had comics sitting in receiving for over a month, and with fast track. Just seems to me that CGC can't handle the high volume of traffic that they obviously have. Time to either get rid of the "fast track" option,  or, how about another building? One for the east coast, and one for the west coast? Fast track is the biggest rip-off about CGC honestly. This whole process is just so archaic....

[comicquant]

I will say fast track will definitely be faster than the default.  The issue isn't with fast track, the issue is with CGC not updating their turnaround times as often as they should.  I just sent in a few economy fast track thinking it would be a 2 week turnaround and a month later they're still in received state.  I called CGC and they said the TAT for economy fast track is now 25 biz days.

 

[KCOComics]

11 minutes ago, comicquant said:

I will say fast track will definitely be faster than the default.  The issue isn't with fast track, the issue is with CGC not updating their turnaround times as often as they should.  I just sent in a few economy fast track thinking it would be a 2 week turnaround and a month later they're still in received state.  I called CGC and they said the TAT for economy fast track is now 25 biz days.

 

Agreed! I've been waiting on a few fast track books for at least 6 weeks. It feels like a year. 

[revat]

What else would you call a service when you pay extra to get something done 3-4x faster than it otherwise would be.  
 

‘Fast’ is relative to begin with, and since they’re only comparing to themselves, what should they call it?

note:  they should be more transparent, and probably faster.  But I don’t think actually having fast track service is the problem. 
 

[bobotski]

Fast track should be standard for all submissions, IMO.

I wonder what their algorithm is to queue fast track with non-fast track. I imagine the ride operator on a theme park merging the fast pass with the ordinary lane.

[Ryan.]

Fast Track incentivizes CGC to keep slow track tiers as slow as possible. 

Having a Fast Track option creates an obvious moral hazard for CGC. 

[MatterEaterLad]

Curious...does anyone have the record for the longest submission time?

You could compound that with pressing (at CGC or elsewhere) and get even longer. Six months? Eight?

[Jeffro.]

On 9/3/2020 at 7:30 PM, Ryan. said:

Fast Track incentivizes CGC to keep slow track tiers as slow as possible. 

 

Pretty much, and the addicts keep ponying up to get their next fix and then complain that fast track isn't fast enough. 

Edited September 22, 2020 by Jeffro.

[walclark]

1 hour ago, MatterEaterLad said:

Curious...does anyone have the record for the longest submission time?

You could compound that with pressing (at CGC or elsewhere) and get even longer. Six months? Eight?

Sent a Golden Age Timely to a well known presser (no name since he is an active Boardie) in late June 2019 and received the book back from CGC in early June 2020.  TAT = 11 months plus.  All for a 0.5 grade bump. 

[seanfingh]

15 hours ago, Ryan. said:

Fast Track incentivizes CGC to keep slow track tiers as slow as possible. 

Having a Fast Track option creates an obvious moral hazard for CGC. 

What does morality have to do with it? They are pretty clear - pay more money and your stuff will be done faster. Don't and it will be done slower.  There is no moral ambiguity there.

[William-James88]

20 hours ago, revat said:

Fast’ is relative to begin with

 

What did the snail say when it road on the turtle’s back?

“Wheeeeee!”

 

[MatterEaterLad]

1 hour ago, walclark said:

Sent a Golden Age Timely to a well known presser (no name since he is an active Boardie) in late June 2019 and received the book back from CGC in early June 2020.  TAT = 11 months plus.  All for a 0.5 grade bump. 

Good lord. I have books in that I don't expect to see until early next year. I tell myself that's okay because they will have increased in value while waiting. Maybe. 

[CGCFred]

First post for me 🙋‍♂️

I've always used fast track because I'm impatient. Late last month a batch of all modern shipped 6 days after receipt. Yay! 

Just sent another batch all modern not fast track which was received yesterday. 

After reading posts in this thread wondering when it'll be shipped 🤔 

Also wondering if can change to fast track after receipt? 

[William-James88]

1 hour ago, MatterEaterLad said:

Good lord. I have books in that I don't expect to see until early next year. I tell myself that's okay because they will have increased in value while waiting. Maybe. 

Same. I sent them to a third party pressing service first who will then handle the CGC submissions. So I don't think I will those books in a while. 

[Randall Ries]

On 9/4/2020 at 11:28 AM, seanfingh said:

What does morality have to do with it? They are pretty clear - pay more money and your stuff will be done faster. Don't and it will be done slower.  There is no moral ambiguity there.

Exactly. When I pay Fed-Ex for o/n shipping, I expect o/n. Because that's what I want. Not a day or to or three later.

[Randall Ries]

If there is such a demand for grading, why not begin opening satellite facilities? Open one here in VT. My small business got shot in the male organ because of COVID. I could use the work and love comic books. Heck, I should open a grading facility myself? Can't do any worse than CGC.

[revat]

5 hours ago, Randall Ries said:

If there is such a demand for grading, why not begin opening satellite facilities? Open one here in VT. My small business got shot in the male organ because of COVID. I could use the work and love comic books. Heck, I should open a grading facility myself? Can't do any worse than CGC.

They just opened their second facility last year.  If that goes well they may expand, but it probably makes sense to take it very slowly

[Randall Ries]

5 minutes ago, revat said:

They just opened their second facility last year.  If that goes well they may expand, but it probably makes sense to take it very slowly

Only two in how many years? Is there a reason the facilities have to be huge? I am amazed at the number of modern books that get subbed. Must be thousands. Seen many virtually worthless books encapsulated. How can they possibly accurately grade with that amount of books coming at them? And the turn around time is becoming increasingly longer.

[Math Teacher]

51 minutes ago, Randall Ries said:

Only two in how many years? Is there a reason the facilities have to be huge? I am amazed at the number of modern books that get subbed. Must be thousands. Seen many virtually worthless books encapsulated. How can they possibly accurately grade with that amount of books coming at them? And the turn around time is becoming increasingly longer.

If you think the turnaround times are long now, they would be even longer if CGC was able to go to cons. If you need the book back faster, bump it up to the next tier. If you go from Economy to Standard, you turnaround time gets reduced by more than half, but the amount you pay goes up by $27.

I don't understand why people get their knickers in a twist about turnaround times, unless this is their first submission. You know that there is going to be a significant waiting period, even if you use the WalkThrough tier. There will be an unspecified amount of time between when your books actually arrive at CGC and when your books are marked as received. Even if your books are graded in one day, there will probably be a short period of time between grading and shipment. And then there will be an unspecified amount of time before your books arrive at your home. When you get them will depend on when CGC dropped them off to FedEx. At drop-off stations around here, there is a deadline for submitting a package for shipment. If you drop your package off at 11:00 PM, I seriously doubt that the package will arrive at its destination on the very next day.

I am now on my 3rd or 4th submission. This is what I do - in my head, I double the current turnaround time. Then, when my books come back sooner, I'm pleasantly surprised.

[Xenosmilus]

I think there are inherent problems with opening other locations, mainly QC between facilities. Like @revat said, it should be taken slowly if at all.