PSA Response from President Steve Sloan

[perezfan]

Originally Posted by 70ToppsFanatic

Selectively quoting me does not make your mob mentality valid.

“3/1000ths of a percent SO FAR!”

“I too believe there is more to be uncovered...”

This is still America people. Remember innocent until proven guilty?


From what has been discovered it appears that PWCC was somehow involved in some unethical and possibly illegal things with some know scams artists. It also appears that they managed to slip some things through PSA and other TPGs.

And here you are, part of a mob that is spouting off all sorts of wild ideas about PSA being complicit in this, PSA is going to weasel out of its guarantee, and other generally unflattering conspiracy theories without any real evidence to substantiate it.

PSA is doing what just about any other publicly traded corporation does when an apparent primary product/service failure has occurred; trying to weed out what of that which has come out is indeed true and what is not, trying to identify what risks exist for the company as a result of it, trying to identify other parties that could potentially be held accountable, trying to minimize the damages to the company, trying to reassure customers, etc.

It may ultimately be proven that there are 100,000 tainted items, but right now there isn’t any evidence to back that up. There is evidence that has been developed that suggests about 1,000 so far. Are 1000 too many? Yes, but it’s far from the epidemic level that the mob is currently panicking about.

For someone who claims to be so concerned about integrity you certainly don’t seem to be very worried about the integrity and fairness of passing judgment on people like myself, and PSA for that matter, without proper basis in fact.

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, and although I don't agree, I do respect it. People collect for different reasons... some for profit, and others for the love of the hobby. I suppose I'm one of the voices for the latter.

Not part of a mob... just someone who does not want to see the collectors get burned. PSA/Sloan's Letter directly states that the affected collectors should go to the SELLER (not PSA) for refunds. PWCC has already demonstrated that they intend to make this process very cumbersome and difficult. And thus, it is the collector who is screwed.

So while we are apparently miles apart on this, we can still have a good conversation. I don't want to see Collectors take the hit for this, and do want PSA to live up to its long-stated guarantee. Otherwise, it's all just meaningless lip service.

[70ToppsFanatic]

Originally Posted by perezfan

Well, you are certainly entitled to your opinion, and although I don't agree, I do respect it. People collect for different reasons... some for profit, and others for the love of the hobby. I suppose I'm one of the voices for the latter.

Not part of a mob... just someone who does not want to see the collectors get burned. PSA/Sloan's Letter directly states that the affected collectors should go to the SELLER (not PSA) for refunds. PWCC has already demonstrated that they intend to make this process very cumbersome and difficult. And thus, it is the collector who is screwed.

So while we are apparently miles apart on this, we can still have a good conversation. I don't want to see Collectors take the hit for this, and do want PSA to live up to its long-stated guarantee. Otherwise, it's all just meaningless lip service.

I don’t think we are miles apart at all. We both want integrity. Neither of us want to see innocent collectors take a hit on this. But innocent collectors could take a hit in a number of ways. Beyond the affected cards themselves, the whole hobby could take a major hit if psa’s credibility were undeservedly and excessively undermined. Driving PSA into financial instability or insolvency could also cause a hit to innocent collectors.

I read Steve Sloan’s statement and I see a corporate executive trying to leverage what resources he has to protect the company during the early stage of a potential problem. This thing has a long way to go and could play out in many unexpected ways. Unless they have fools as attorneys I can’t believe that PSA would do anything with respect to their guarantee that contradicts what is written in their guarantee.

PWCC has admitted some responsibility for the current situation and has made a public statement saying they will do all that they can to make things right. It is not unreasonable for PSA to try and use that to their advantage, especially if PWCC is actually mixed up directly in it.

I see nothing in the PSA statement that says they won’t do a guarantee review if one is requested. And I think there are plenty of times in all of our lives that we’ve purchased something that had an issue and our first call was tonthe party we purchased it from, not immediately to the party that provides the warrantee.

Within the above contexts Sloan’s statement does not strike me as so far out of the norm.

[Peter_Spaeth]

How many years later is it legitimate to go back to an innocent seller?

What is an "unknown" seller and why did Sloan limit the guarantee to that?

I think you are being too kind here. Way too kind. Sloan should be manning up not looking to say we're your court of last resort.

THEY graded the cards not the sellers.

[sportscardtheory]

I find both PSA's and PWCC's responses to this situation pathetic and ill-advised. If they want to regain trust in their brands, they should ONLY be responsive, helpful and proactive. They are being deflective and standoffish. Bad business.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by sportscardtheory

I find both PSA's and PWCC's responses to this situation pathetic and ill-advised. If they want to regain trust in their brands, they should ONLY be responsive, helpful and proactive. They are being deflective and standoffish. Bad business.

No argument here. I don't see anyone defending PWCC at this point, and I truly do not understand the defense of PSA's statement pushing burden back on to the collector, minimizing the issue, and disowning the full scope of the guarantee. I get it of course from a corporate standpoint. Not an ethical one.

[sportscardtheory]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

No argument here. I don't see anyone defending PWCC at this point, and I truly do not understand the defense of PSA's statement pushing burden back on to the collector, minimizing the issue, and disowning the full scope of the guarantee. I get it of course from a corporate standpoint. Not an ethical one.

Honestly, I don't even get it from a corporate standpoint. From a business standpoint, it makes zero sense to continue to damage your reputation with those who supply your profits. A smart business decision would be to immediately bite the bullet to regain consumer confidence. They aren't thinking long term, and that is bad business and shows me those in charge over there aren't very bright. If I had stock in PSA, it would be gone before it gets much worse. PWCC is signing their own death warrant. Even if getting through this costs them a couple million, it would benefit them greatly to be proactive and helpful. But they are clearly digging in, and that is bad news for anyone with stock or with investments in their graded cards.

[Peter_Spaeth]

Originally Posted by sportscardtheory

Honestly, I don't even get it from a corporate standpoint. From a business standpoint, it makes zero sense to continue to damage your reputation with those who supply your profits. A smart business decision would be to immediately bite the bullet to regain consumer confidence. They aren't thinking long term, and that is bad business and shows me those in charge over there aren't very bright. If I had stock in PSA, it would be gone before it gets much worse. PWCC is signing their own death warrant. Even if getting through this costs them a couple million, it would benefit them greatly to be proactive and helpful. But they are clearly digging in, and that is bad news for anyone with stock or with investments in their graded cards.

I think their experience tells them all scandals blow over so preserve the bottom line.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

How many years later is it legitimate to go back to an innocent seller?

What is an "unknown" seller and why did Sloan limit the guarantee to that?

I think you are being too kind here. Way too kind. Sloan should be manning up not looking to say we're your court of last resort.

THEY graded the cards not the sellers.

I've seen a dealer take a return on an altered coin that was sold something more than 10 years earlier.
The "negotiation" of the return was very brief.
Hi, do you recall selling me this half dollar?
Yes, that was a while ago.
I sent it in before selling it, and it came back as altered
Oh, can I take a look?
Sure, I think the mintmark was added.
Well, you're right. It has been. I don't know how I missed it. What did you pay
I think it was $X
That sounds about right, is a check ok?

I still visit his shop, and that was in I think 87.
Of course, he wasn't the one doing the altering.

I also got a good look at the altered coin, especially the added mintmark. It was a neat learning experience for me, not such a good day for him. I think the coin went on the next trip to the smelter along with the rest of the junk silver.

[Peter_Spaeth]

I can just imagine calling a big AH and saying I won a card from you 5 years ago that I would now like to return for a refund because I suspect it's altered. Or even better, a small ebay seller. The statement is obnoxious, in my view.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

I can just imagine calling a big AH and saying I won a card from you 5 years ago that I would now like to return for a refund because I suspect it's altered. Or even better, a small ebay seller. The statement is obnoxious, in my view.

From what I've been given to understand, in both stamps and coins, the good dealers have an unstated lifetime warranty. I've never heard it said openly, but everyone I've talked about the business end with has told me that taking back mistakes, even if they're very old mistakes is just what's done.

When I was running the bicycle shop I do some work for, I essentially took the same view. I know my own work, and while we had a stated warranty of I think 90 days when I got a bike in that I'd worked on that wasn't really right, and that I could tell hadn't been ridden much in about 2 years, I fixed it free. New tires had been part of the original repair, and the little rubber bits from the mold venting hadn't even worn off.
Talk about a surprised and happy customer.

[Bigdaddy]

PSA is doing everything they can to:

1. Limit their liability for their own mistakes
2. Maintain their brand reputation as the preferred TPG
3. Not have the hobby go the way of stamps

They are digging in and denying accountability. Maybe they are preparing for a run in politics.

That is all.

[steve B]

Originally Posted by Bigdaddy

PSA is doing everything they can to:

1. Limit their liability for their own mistakes
2. Maintain their brand reputation as the preferred TPG
3. Not have the hobby go the way of stamps

They are digging in and denying accountability. Maybe they are preparing for a run in politics.

That is all.

Not have the hobby go the way of stamps....

So you don't want to have three authenticating/grading companies that are right nearly every time, plus at least one specialized one? And that's just in the US.

You'd rather have one big grading company, one somewhere in the middle and one small one all of them getting things wrong regularly? Especially the largest?
Might I recommend the PSA board. They have plenty of sand to put your head under.

Stamps are doing just fine, especially the older ones and China.