Serious question about if a grading company loses your cards
 

...before they come back to you.....Obviously, you would get the declared value of them. Would you get the grading fees back?

I've never heard of that happening, but I'm sure it has. If they wouldn't voluntarily refund your grading fees, I would just open a dispute with your credit card company.

I thought you only had a limited window to open a dispute. What if that time has passed?

The Fair Credit Billing Act (1974) gives you a minimum of 60 days, but your credit card company may give you longer.

My suggestion was only meant as a last resort. I would try to work it out with the grading company first. Even if you were able to successfully dispute the charge and get a refund, the grading company may ban you from further submissions.

If they lose your cards they have not provided the service you paid for nor can they prove it. Therefore, I would say there are no grading fees. If they charge you when you send them the cards I would call that a submission fee.

So, I take it the grading company charged you upon receiving your cards. I know there has been some negativity regarding at least one company's practice of waiting until they grade the cards.

To answer your question (which I highlighted in bold) above, there doesn't seem to be a way they could charge you for a service they didn't render. Did they claim the cards had been graded?

In my hypothetical situation, say the cards have been graded, but the package was lost after grading but before I received them.back.

Ask Dan McKee. I think the requirement is that you have to sue them. lol

What!?!?!?!? What in the world happened?

Here you go: Short version, PSA claimed they never received his Magie. https://www.net54baseball.com/showthread.php?t=65336

BGS charges people when cards are received, then takes over a year to grade them and send them back.

PSA only charges in advance for PSA/DNA autograph authentication submissions, AFAIK. Card grading submissions are charged at the end before being sent back. This, to me, is the preferable way. At least they're not holding thousands of your dollars while also holding hundreds of your cards.

If PSA graded the cards and then lost them before mailing them back to you, I don't think they'd have a leg to stand on if the tried to charge you for grading fees. Maybe you would need to pay, however, in order to allow for their insurance policy (or self-insurance policy) to pay out on their failure.

If PSA graded the cards, mailed them to you, and they were lost in the mail, you would have also paid the grading fees and therefore recoup the declared value from the insurance policy, hopefully. But PSA performed their job and it was of no fault that the cards didn't get to you. So they should get paid for doing their piece.

If PSA graded the cards, mailed them to you, and they were stolen from your doorstep, then the fault lies with the thief and PSA still gets paid. The USPS or UPS doesn't pay out on the insurance policy, and you file a police report and hope they show up later. If this is a worry, make sure to have the packages directed to a trustworthy mailbox service or front desk at an office.

Those are my thoughts.

SGC scans every card they grade, so they can easily prove services rendered.
I think this is where private insurance comes in. If you are sending in cards of any value, you should have private insurance.

Just FYI BGS hasn’t charged in advance for awhile. Maybe 2019

Thanks for the correction; I wasn't aware of that. Good to know, since most credit cards don't allow you to charge back past 6 months.

this is from 2004. it sounds like someone at PSA stole the card....
I would hope the process and security have improved in the last 17 years.

The jury is out on this statement. I will let you know how they handle the missing group sub.

Grading
 

I had it happen to me in 2017. The cards disappeared on their return to me. St Louis USPS Distribution Center was the last entry on tracking information, this was registered mail the Post Office sent me a check pretty quick for the insurance claim. I sent PSA a email stating cards were lost and could I get a free voucher or anything and their reply was no. I was compensated by the post office and the insurance should have covered the grading fees as well as the value of the cards was their reply. Keep us updated on what happens. Thanks Daryl Fraley

WOW....I have never heard of a Registered Mail package being lost.