My most disappointing experience was something that was shipped to me by Heritage. It was the actual Topps Rookie "Top Hat" Trophy you see depicted on the 1960s cards (Seaver, Rose, Perez, Carew, etc.)
Joe Garagiola perennially hosted the Topps Rookie Banquet, and was presented a giant version of the famous Top Hat Trophy for being the Master of Ceremonies. As soon as I saw the flattened Box, I knew it was trouble. The box was crumpled almost as badly as a "baggie" within a PSA slab. It looked just like the roof above the Dodger Stadium Bleachers.
When I picked it up, I heard the rattle of death. Sure enough, it was completely destroyed by
UPS, and subsequently I have never used them since then.
Looks like Heritage has removed the piece from their completed items search function, but here is the similar Trophy given to McCovey, for perspective...
https://sports.ha.com/itm/baseball-c...ription-071515