Beware of Beckett!

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Bobby:

With all due respect, even Nat Turner said this was a wake up call for PSA about how to process payments and when to process payments. So it actually was on PSA but going forward a situation such as that would not be on PSA

This is the statement made by PSA after the fact

This is an unfortunate incident and our top priority is protecting the collectors who may have been impacted by the bankruptcy of Marx Cards. We are currently requesting detailed account information from Marx Cards for the impacted orders still at PSA with the expressed goal of returning cards to their rightful owners as soon as possible. We will not be charging customers for the return of their cards, other than shipping. As of yet we have not received payment from Marx Cards to grade the cards in our possession and as a result of this incident, we will be making changes to our group submitter requirements, including a new order upfront deposit and more robust policies around late payments. We will also be requiring all group submitters to bring their accounts current in order to continue service with us. We ask for patience while we sort through this expensive and labor intensive process with the end goal being the return of cards to their rightful owners.

If you have submitted cards to Marx Cards that you believe to be at PSA, please email curielj@collectors.com with “Marx Cards” in the subject line.

Rich, 19 months is too long to hold someone's money. There is no defense for that. It's just wrong.
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[Rich Klein]

Originally Posted by Leon

Rich, 19 months is too long to hold someone's money. There is no defense for that. It's just wrong.
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Leon:

I think I implied that 19 months was too long. Yes no argument from me on that. Just pointing out the danger of not charging a card or getting payment in advance. I think I even said, the payment should be closer to, you know, when the card gets graded. I think in today's world a good time frame is about6 months out and that should by the end of the year be a normal time frame.

[Leon]

Originally Posted by Rich Klein

Leon:

I think I implied that 19 months was too long. Yes no argument from me on that. Just pointing out the danger of not charging a card or getting payment in advance. I think I even said, the payment should be closer to, you know, when the card gets graded. I think in today's world a good time frame is about6 months out and that should by the end of the year be a normal time frame.

Holding someone's money for 6 months is wrong too. They should have to pay interest on it! How about 60 days? And to me that is being very lenient.
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[55koufax]

Holding someone's money for 6 months is wrong too. They should have to pay interest on it! How about 60 days? And to me that is being very lenient.

Bingo! When I submitted, I was told that they were soon to be no longer accepting any bulk rate subs, and they would need about 12 months to complete. At no time was it disclosed they would charge me in full six months in advance of completion. 6 months is soon to be 7 months.

Prepaying for their services 30 days in advance of completion is reasonable. If I owned a service oriented business, I would never expect payment any sooner than that.

My guess is if I contacted AMEX and advised that Beckett charged my card $7,500 6.5 months ago for services still not performed and delivered, they would contact Beckett and reverse the charges.

[Dead-Ball-Hitter]

Originally Posted by Leon

Rich, 19 months is too long to hold someone's money. There is no defense for that. It's just wrong.
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Agreed, think of how much your collection/investment might be impacted. How could you run a little (or large) side business in collectables without having an inventory to churn? How can you pay for services two years ahead of when the service is actually performed, and not have a way to recover that expense in the meantime by selling, if that's your desire? Not to mention the many market fluctuations caused by economic upheaval, the fickle investing public, and potentially unrealized performance (of any newer players).

Folks might consider going to SGC. Right now they continue to be the only ones honoring the service level times.