Ahhh Gerry Ross, so many souvenirs...
I remember 20 years ago, when I was a kid and began collecting, I bought a few "Mint" Barry Smith's Conans through his mail order catalog. This was my first major comic book purchase and I used most of my summer student's job salary to pay for the items.
The books were rather VG than Mint and when I did complain, he said: "sorry, it was a mistake, return the books and I will send you replacement copies in better condition, in true Mint this time"
Well, believe it or not, but the "replacement" copies he finally sent me were the same damn copies I did return the first time, but this time they were restored and trimmed to hide the defects !!!!...
I was just a teen-ager and I had to go to small claims court as last resort to get my money back but I won.
Also, I remember he used to have John Byrne in his store to sign comics for the cost of $10 per signature....not the real John Byrne (artist) that we all know, of course...