What happens when SGC loses a card?

[UKCardGuy]

I have an update. It's a happy resolution...so stick with it until the end.

I received a call from one of the senior leaders at SGC on Monday. They explained that this was being taken very seriously and explained that it took time for them to retrieve the video footage and review it. He had been through the footage and they just couldn't see the missing card. He was able to describe how I packed the cards exactly so it was clear that they hadn't been tampered with in transit.

I was puzzled because I was sure it was there. I asked to see the footage and he agreed but it was going to take a couple of days to get it to me.

In talking it over with my wife, I went over and over how I packed the card...
I bundled the cards together in card savers, placed cardboard on the top and bottom of the cards and wrapped the SGC invoice around it. And then I remembered that I'd placed the Sanella Ruth under the cardboard on the bottom (actually between 2 pieces of cardboard on the bottom of the stack). This was because the Sanella is a bigger card then the others and I didn't want to risk it getting bent with smaller cards on top of it.

I contacted SGC again the same day (e.g. Monday) and explained this and asked them to check my package again. Well, I got a call from SGC today. Based on the information from my voice message, they had a look at the video footage again and they could see a glimpse of my card saver under the stack of cards. They agreed that the card was there but unfortunately by that time the packaging had been discarded and the card was no more.

But they acknowledged the mistake and explained that it was a very rare occurrence. They were very apologetic. They committed to make me whole and weren't going to quibble. They've already refunded my grading fees (including shipping costs) for my whole submission and they're sending me a check for the declared value.

Mistakes happen. To me, the mark of a great company isn't that they deliver perfection 100% of the time cause that's just not going to happen. To me the mark of a great company is how they handle issues when they arise. Other than leaving me 4 days without communication at the start, SGC has been excellent. They've taken this seriously, properly investigated and then stepped up.

I asked whether there's anything I could do to minimize the chance of this happening in the future and they said that the way I packed it was fine. 99.99% of the time it won't be an issue. But they did suggest that if I have a single card between cardboard again - I could add a note telling them to look for the card in the cardboard. It's a fair point and I'll definitely do that in the future.

My wife asked me "what if you were submitting one of those really expensive cards?" I explained that if bought a bulk lot of cards and found a six figure card in there, I'd be buying a plane ticket to Boca Raton and dropping it off in person.

I'm not sure if it made any difference but I was careful to be polite with them at every step. I'm sure they have their share of people ranting at them and I didn't want to be another. (I'll rest my arm now...no need to pat myself on the back too much. ) But if this was a 1916 M104-4, I'm not sure if I'd have been quite so calm.

I'd preferred to have the card but I'll be able t buy myself another Type 1 Sanella. They're not impossible to find.

Full credit to SGC.

[oldjudge]

Gary--Glad to hear that things worked out well!

[Vintagedeputy]

Kudos to you and SGC…..

But…

The cop in me wonders why if upon opening the package, the enclosed invoice didn’t match the inventory, why they didn’t stop and preserve the packaging (like evidence) until the matter was resolved.

[ClementeFanOh]

Gary- I've followed this thread based on the January 11 time frame. First,
I am glad it's been resolved to your satisfaction. Noteworthy that the
turnaround time was 2 weeks, I'm going to go ahead and call that "fast".
I have been an SGC fan for years, and this situation is an example of why I
feel that way. No ignoring a mistake, or blaming Gary- they checked it out,
owned up to it, and made it right. There are people on these boards who
love to bang on SGC, or grading companies in general. Awfully hard to do
that in this case, good job by SGC.

Trent King

[Fred]

I used to be an SGC fan, now I'm a bit more neutral and categorize them with the rest of the TPGs.

It's good to hear that SGC is doing the right thing. Thanks for posting the update.

[jjbond]

Originally Posted by Vintagedeputy

Kudos to you and SGC…..

But…

The cop in me wonders why if upon opening the package, the enclosed invoice didn’t match the inventory, why they didn’t stop and preserve the packaging (like evidence) until the matter was resolved.

Or....double/triple-check the packaging materials if something is missing?

[jingram058]

Gary, glad it worked out the way it did for you, sir!

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by jjbond

Or....double/triple-check the packaging materials if something is missing?

Yes, exactly. I’m the biggest fan of SGC and have been with them since their New Jersey days but if an order is not matching up to the packing list, then I feel like that order should be frozen immediately until it’s determined where all the cards are. It seems like they started processing the sub even though they knew something wasn’t right.

[UKCardGuy]

SGC did hold up and email me that there was a card on my invoice that wasn't in the package. I replied to them that I definitely sent the card which started the whole thing.

I don't know whether they kept all the packaging at that point or for how long. But they didn't just process the sub when the card was flagged up as missing.

[Vintagedeputy]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

SGC did hold up and email me that there was a card on my invoice that wasn't in the package. I replied to them that I definitely sent the card which started the whole thing.

I don't know whether they kept all the packaging at that point or for how long. But they didn't just process the sub when the card was flagged up as missing.

Ok, good to know. Thanks for the follow-up.

[vthobby]

Originally Posted by UKCardGuy

I have an update. It's a happy resolution...so stick with it until the end.

I received a call from one of the senior leaders at SGC on Monday. They explained that this was being taken very seriously and explained that it took time for them to retrieve the video footage and review it. He had been through the footage and they just couldn't see the missing card. He was able to describe how I packed the cards exactly so it was clear that they hadn't been tampered with in transit.

I was puzzled because I was sure it was there. I asked to see the footage and he agreed but it was going to take a couple of days to get it to me.

In talking it over with my wife, I went over and over how I packed the card...
I bundled the cards together in card savers, placed cardboard on the top and bottom of the cards and wrapped the SGC invoice around it. And then I remembered that I'd placed the Sanella Ruth under the cardboard on the bottom (actually between 2 pieces of cardboard on the bottom of the stack). This was because the Sanella is a bigger card then the others and I didn't want to risk it getting bent with smaller cards on top of it.

I contacted SGC again the same day (e.g. Monday) and explained this and asked them to check my package again. Well, I got a call from SGC today. Based on the information from my voice message, they had a look at the video footage again and they could see a glimpse of my card saver under the stack of cards. They agreed that the card was there but unfortunately by that time the packaging had been discarded and the card was no more.

But they acknowledged the mistake and explained that it was a very rare occurrence. They were very apologetic. They committed to make me whole and weren't going to quibble. They've already refunded my grading fees (including shipping costs) for my whole submission and they're sending me a check for the declared value.

Mistakes happen. To me, the mark of a great company isn't that they deliver perfection 100% of the time cause that's just not going to happen. To me the mark of a great company is how they handle issues when they arise. Other than leaving me 4 days without communication at the start, SGC has been excellent. They've taken this seriously, properly investigated and then stepped up.

I asked whether there's anything I could do to minimize the chance of this happening in the future and they said that the way I packed it was fine. 99.99% of the time it won't be an issue. But they did suggest that if I have a single card between cardboard again - I could add a note telling them to look for the card in the cardboard. It's a fair point and I'll definitely do that in the future.

My wife asked me "what if you were submitting one of those really expensive cards?" I explained that if bought a bulk lot of cards and found a six figure card in there, I'd be buying a plane ticket to Boca Raton and dropping it off in person.

I'm not sure if it made any difference but I was careful to be polite with them at every step. I'm sure they have their share of people ranting at them and I didn't want to be another. (I'll rest my arm now...no need to pat myself on the back too much. ) But if this was a 1916 M104-4, I'm not sure if I'd have been quite so calm.

I'd preferred to have the card but I'll be able t buy myself another Type 1 Sanella. They're not impossible to find.

Full credit to SGC.

S uch a G ood C ompany

Happy ending and understandable. I've never had an issue with SGC that was not resolved amicably. I love that they also refunded your entire grading fee!

Thanks for sharing!

Mike

PS
S peedy G uaranteed C onsistently