UPDATE: Desert Wind / Celestial Comics damaging and losing/stealing books 6 6

[Nic8612]

I sent a bunch of books off to Desert Wind Comics back in February to be signed by various creators.  I've used them countless times before, nothing but good things to say....until now.  I hate to say it, but they have gone straight downhill since Chandler passed.  I asked them to return some of my books since CGC is now doing all of the signings and this is how they packed up and mailed my books back to me.

 

In that shoddy envelope, sandwiched between nothing but two flimsy pieces of cardboard, are the following:

JIM 83

JIM 93

JIM 103

Caliber Presents 1

 

Obviously, all of the books arrived damaged.  Here's the worst of it:

The Caliber Presents #1 was an easy 9.8 candidate, its screwed now because of the corner damage. 

 

The JIM 83 just had the corner torn off completely

 

And this is on top of them submitting other books separately from singular invoices, resulting in multiple CGC invoices and more shipping costs for me at CGC.  Then they gave some nonsense excuse about how they can only hold books for 30 days after a signature before the "witnessing" becomes invalidated, so that's why they submitted them separately.  All the while, they forgot that they also had other books they had been holding for me for months waiting on signatures after they had already been signed by other creators/celebs.  They never owned up to that and I suspect that they won't own up to my damaged books either.  They just don't seem to be living up to the standards that Chandler set and it really, really makes me sad.  I won't be using them for anything going forward.  RIP Chandler, I'm sorry that this is happening to the wonderful reputation you built for DWC.  I know you would have never stood for this nonsense.

 

This is CGCs response so far:

 

If you are a facilitator, PLEASE reach out to CGC and let them know that their response to this is unacceptable. If CGC is willing to let this slide and allow DWC to continue operations, then I don't see how anyone can trust the process at all going forward. Don't let the reputation of one facilitator ruin it for everyone else. 

 

EDIT:  I've been able to get an email through to their server, it at least didn't come back as undeliverable. Not sure what was going on there, but I'll keep things updated

Edited January 4, 2021 by Nic8612

[thehumantorch]

ugh, that's not how you ship comics

[Nic8612]

16 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

ugh, that's not how you ship comics

No...no it is not. My heart sunk when the mail man handed it to me. 

[JollyComics]

I loved Chandler and Sharon as the individuals. They were great services while Stan Lee was alive.  After Stan Lee's passing, they were not same ever since.  They had became sloppy and mismanaged and told me that I owed them money. I never used the credit cards but mailed them checks routinely and kept recording.  Showed them my payment records but they couldn't figure it out why I owed them money.  I backed off for while but they switched from CGC to CBCS so I was extremely disappointed and decided to cease their service.  That was my last time with them in 2017.

Yes, they had issues with a shipping handling with me few times.  Just a minor but money is a big issue.

It's sad that they are not doing well without Chandler but I knew Chandler's health was deteriorating before I quit upon them.   Just sad.

[Nic8612]

8 minutes ago, JollyComics said:

I loved Chandler and Sharon as the individuals. They were great services while Stan Lee was alive.  After Stan Lee's passing, they were not same ever since.  They had became sloppy and mismanaged and told me that I owed them money. I never used the credit cards but mailed them checks routinely and kept recording.  Showed them my payment records but they couldn't figure it out why I owed them money.  I backed off for while but they switched from CGC to CBCS so I was extremely disappointed and decided to cease their service.  That was my last time with them in 2017.

Yes, they had issues with a shipping handling with me few times.  Just a minor but money is a big issue.

It's sad that they are not doing well without Chandler but I knew Chandler's health was deteriorating before I quit upon them.   Just sad.

I didn't want to mention it, but because you had payment issues as well......they also recently tried to double charge me and then asked me to provide proof when I disputed the invoices.  

It really is sad what they've turned into

[revat]

1 hour ago, Nic8612 said:

1 hour ago, JollyComics said:

I loved Chandler and Sharon as the individuals. They were great services while Stan Lee was alive.  After Stan Lee's passing, they were not same ever since.  They had became sloppy and mismanaged and told me that I owed them money. I never used the credit cards but mailed them checks routinely and kept recording.  Showed them my payment records but they couldn't figure it out why I owed them money.  I backed off for while but they switched from CGC to CBCS so I was extremely disappointed and decided to cease their service.  That was my last time with them in 2017.

Yes, they had issues with a shipping handling with me few times.  Just a minor but money is a big issue.

It's sad that they are not doing well without Chandler but I knew Chandler's health was deteriorating before I quit upon them.   Just sad.

I didn't want to mention it, but because you had payment issues as well......they also recently tried to double charge me and then asked me to provide proof when I disputed the invoices.  

It really is sad what they've turned into

I have no idea if they are still doing CGC (or CBCS), BUT for these facilitators and really any facilitators, if you feel like the facilitator has committed a mistake (outside of the rare occasional ordinary-course-of-business mistake) AND has not handled the resolution to your satisfaction, you should ABSOLUTELY TELL CGC COPRORATE (and/or possibly CBCS) so that they know how they are being represented and maybe can either pressure the facilitator to make things right OR reevaluate the relationship with this facilitator so hopefully a future customer won't have such a poor result.

good luck, and light'em up however you have to (legally) get what's owed to you.

[JollyComics]

1 hour ago, revat said:

I have no idea if they are still doing CGC (or CBCS), BUT for these facilitators and really any facilitators, if you feel like the facilitator has committed a mistake (outside of the rare occasional ordinary-course-of-business mistake) AND has not handled the resolution to your satisfaction, you should ABSOLUTELY TELL CGC COPRORATE (and/or possibly CBCS) so that they know how they are being represented and maybe can either pressure the facilitator to make things right OR reevaluate the relationship with this facilitator so hopefully a future customer won't have such a poor result.

good luck, and light'em up however you have to (legally) get what's owed to you.

I was satisfied that all books were handled and signed without a single incident.  Of course I was happy with their service except their balance I owed money was way off.  I kept trying to prove them that I paid them fully but no avail that forced myself to cease using their service.  They DIDN'T pursue me at all.  I just heard that they became CBCS facilitators (I believe it was a short time). Yes, I was disappointed.

Until you tell me that I should contact CGC about them, I should do that but I love them.  I have NO wish to hurt their business but their poor management already hurt their business that cost the relationship with many customers.  After ceasing their service, Chandler and I still talked about everything for over ten years included scuba diving. I told him about my scuba diving instruction. He decided to take the scuba diving course and got his certification. I supported him. Also, he had hearing loss and I helped him how to deal with it. I born deaf and I know how to deal with it in my whole life.  He was my good friend.  I missed him.

Next time, I will contact CGC if I have a problem with other facilitators but Desert Wind Comics and NY Comics were my last facilitators ever since.

Edited November 2, 2020 by JollyComics

[JollyComics]

3 hours ago, Nic8612 said:

I didn't want to mention it, but because you had payment issues as well......they also recently tried to double charge me and then asked me to provide proof when I disputed the invoices.  

It really is sad what they've turned into

It's good to know!  I really don't know what was going on with their money.  NY Comics and Rich Henn were easiest to work with.

[ExNihilo]

14 hours ago, Nic8612 said:

I know you would have never stood for this nonsense.

I dunno, sounds like the same level of service I was provided when I used them 2-3 years ago.  Absolutely no organization which resulted in split invoices that meant additional costs to me because of their mistakes.  Given their reputation here, I'm still not sure why anyone would use them as faciliators.  I even went so far as to write to CGC to formalize my complaint with them, but as you might guess, that disappeared into a black hole.

[Rich_Henn]

@Nic8612

If you think a good pressing can salvage your books that were damaged in the mail (excluding the torn JIM), shoot me a PM and I'll work on them at no cost, just cover return shipping.

Edited November 3, 2020 by Rich_Henn

[Nic8612]

41 minutes ago, Rich_Henn said:

@Nic8612

If you think a good pressing can salvage your books that were damaged in the mail (excluding the torn JIM), shoot me a PM and I'll work on them at no cost, just cover return shipping.

I really appreciate it Rich, but a press won't help the damage.

 

I will for sure be looking at you a lot more in the future for signings though. I've gone through you before and you were awesome to work with.

[Randall Ries]

I'm not sure how these things are dealt with, but if my JIM showed up back at the house packed like that with a corner ripped off? I'd be making an in person appearance to Desert Wind comics and demanding money for my damaged book. It shouldn't be automatically assumed I am going to be the victim and there's nothing to be done about it.

[thehumantorch]

It's been over a week since this thread was started.  I'm surprised at how few posts it's garnered.  I'd be absolutely afraid to submit books for signing that are mailed back to me in this manner.

@Nic8612  what did Desertwind say when you complained and are they attempting to compensate you in any way?

[Nic8612]

12 minutes ago, thehumantorch said:

It's been over a week since this thread was started.  I'm surprised at how few posts it's garnered.  I'd be absolutely afraid to submit books for signing that are mailed back to me in this manner.

@Nic8612  what did Desertwind say when you complained and are they attempting to compensate you in any way?

Still working it out with them. They asked for more detailed pictures of everything, which I'm sending tonight. We'll see...

[thehumantorch]

30 minutes ago, Nic8612 said:

Still working it out with them. They asked for more detailed pictures of everything, which I'm sending tonight. We'll see...

Good luck.  Please keep us updated. 

[Artboy99]

1 hour ago, thehumantorch said:

It's been over a week since this thread was started.  I'm surprised at how few posts it's garnered.  I'd be absolutely afraid to submit books for signing that are mailed back to me in this manner.

@Nic8612  what did Desertwind say when you complained and are they attempting to compensate you in any way?

Mostly because of the forum it is posted in. Not as much traffic in here.

Terrible shipping!

[piper]

I used them only once and it was a very scary experience, but my book survived safely back to me.

I’m sorry to hear about your JIM83.

[The Lions Den]

 

[thehumantorch]

1 hour ago, Artboy99 said:

Mostly because of the forum it is posted in. Not as much traffic in here.

Terrible shipping!

And that was what I was thinking.  Perhaps a similar thread in Comics General would get more traction.

[ExNihilo]

16 hours ago, thehumantorch said:

And that was what I was thinking.  Perhaps a similar thread in Comics General would get more traction.

Or maybe Marketplace Probations given the persistent history of complaints.