[Exhibitman]

Originally Posted by Leon

The person who originally graded it told me he couldn't see any trimming, and had no other evidence of alterations, so he graded it correctly at an 8. No conspiracy, no nothing. Now, after the fact and with other evidence, it's a different story. Trimming will never be an exact science and many are hard to tell, at best. .

Begs the question of expertise. If the supposed experts cannot tell the difference, doesn't say a lot for their services: if you can't catch stuff like this, why would I spend thousands of dollars for your blessing? Oh, and when the TPG pulls the cert out from under a trimmed card because the grade was wrong and they now look stupid and have to "do something", the one holding the hot potato at the time gets burned. "Hey, man, it's just an opinion and we decided to change it. You can't rely on our opinion." I've had this case brought to me several times and the end result is the same with the TPGs. They all say the same thing: "We don't owe you compensation. Look at our disclaimer." Here is SGC's:

9. Customer acknowledges and agrees the grading and/or authentication of items requires the exercise of individual judgment and professional opinion, which is subjective in nature, and can change from time to time. Therefore, SGC makes no warranty or representation and shall have no liability whatsoever to Customer for the grade or determination of authenticity assigned by SGC to any item.

20. Except as expressly set forth herein to the contrary, SGC DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, REGARDING SGC’S GOODS AND SERVICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

22. SGC OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY OF ITS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS OR AGENTS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, CONSEQUENTIAL OR OTHER DAMAGES, NOR SHALL SGC OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES, OR ANY OF ITS OR THEIR RESPECTIVE EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHICH ARE BASED UPON ALLEGED NEGLIGENCE, BREACH OF WARRANTY, STRICT LIABILITY, OR ANY THEORY OTHER THAN THE LIMITED LIABILITY STATED HEREIN, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SAME.

Oh, and the final kick in the nuts for the customer who trusted SGC:

"25. Customer agrees to indemnify, defend and hold SGC and (as applicable) its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, and employees, harmless from any loss, claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of or related to the submission of an item to SGC, related to the grade and/or determination of authenticity assigned by SGC, any services or products provided by SGC to Customer, Customer’s breach of this Agreement or the documents it incorporates by reference, or customer’s violation of any law or the rights of a third party. This indemnification will survive termination."

Yep, you read it right. If SGC messes up and the hapless buyer of the card comes a knockin', SGC will not only refuse to pay for its mistake, SGC will make its customer pay for its mistake. I wish I could write that sort of crap into my retainer. It would save me a fortune in malpractice insurance if i could just disclaim liability for any mistakes I might make. Hell, if i could do that I'd probably lose 40# of stress weight and not have gastritis every other day at work.