Beware of Beckett!

[BobC]

Originally Posted by 55koufax

I was never aware of this (my own stupidity) before I decided to try Beckett for grading cards for the first time after only doing bulk subs with PSA for 15 years.
In August 2020 I shipped them over 850 cards with the agreement they would match PSA at the time and give me a bulk rate price of $8 per. Fair enough. What I did not understand is that they charge for their services IN FULL well in advance of any service being performed (other than logging cards in and sticking them on the rear of some shelf). Over six months ago they charged my AMEX IN FULL to the tune of $7,300. Waiting over 19 months since they received my cards for something to pop. Still zero. I contacted my rep several times over the this long haul, each and every time getting nothing but apologies, however, when I called them out for collecting funds over six months in advance and still not one card has been graded, he offered this " We charge the cards ahead of time so that when the order does get to labeling there is no holdup in processing. An order can not get through labeling unless it has been paid for." Anyone else had or having this experience?

It just occurred to me what a crock of BS this answer you got is. If they have your credit card to charge, they could have simply waited till the order was ready to go to labeling and then run the charge through. It doesn't take hours or days to successfully run a credit card charge through, just a few minutes or so, at most. So in truth, there is no delay, unless they honestly believe that holding your money for 6 months or more is a perfectly justifiable reason for them not having maybe a 5 minute or so delay to run your CC through prior to the labeling. What they told you their reasoning was for charging you so many months in advance of finally doing the work you have been waiting for them to do is a blatant, bald-faced, BS lie.

It does however improve their cash flow, and also allows them to now invest your money they are holding and earn interest off of it. And we have all seen and heard how interest rates look like they may be starting to rise. Although not necessarily a huge revenue source for them, it is still your money that you could be earning some interest income on, or at least not incurring CC interest charges on, instead. Hell, even the federal government pays you interest when they take too long to get you your tax refund. Why should any TPG have a preferential interest or advantage over our own federal government?

And now, TPGs may use this Marx case to further justify collecting even more money, even farther in advance of them performing the work they are supposed to do. If anything, this actually works to de-incentivize them to hurry up and get people's cards back to them. What's their rush, they already have your cards, and now your money. You can't suddenly do something else or go anywhere else. At least not without it likely costing you even more.