[perezfan]

My thoughts....

1. He definitely should have consulted with you and asked if you wanted the "re-conditioning". I have used a company called Hammer Sports Relics for replacement bladders.... probably on 3-4 occasions. Steve covered two things very clearly...

A. If the original lacing snaps, he would have to use replacement laces to seal it back up (fortunately this never happened).

B. He asked if I wanted the footballs to be conditioned. I said yes to all, except for an autographed Ball from the 1950s. I did not want any liquid or other substance touching the autos.

2. If your person never even asked you about the reconditioning, he should be held responsible for the negative result. This process should not be done automatically... especially on a signed ball. It's almost akin to shellacking a baseball (but not quite as drastic, I suppose). Regardless, I would negotiate a solution with him, if you are not satisfied.

3. The lighting looks a bit different in the two pics you provided. Looks like maybe flash was used for the first pic, and no flash on the other. So it's tough to determine the actual difference. I think the ball still looks nice, despite the conditioning. But if you are not happy, I would seek some form of compensation.

Bottom line.... he should have asked exactly what you wanted done, and made it clear what his process was. Perhaps you did use Hammer Sports Relics, as you'd mentioned that this guy had a presence on eBay. If that's the case, I don't know why he'd fail to ask you about the conditioning aspect, and seems he is culpable as a result. The level of compensation you seek is up to you.

Hope this helps.