Hero Restoration

I recommend you see an optometrist.

I still don't understand what the logic is in that. There is no indication the book is lost, there is insurance coverage for any type of situation where the book is not where it's supposed to be. There is communication that's being left out. Just saying

This is the closest thing relevant to the reality as it unfolds.

What is your relation to this transaction?

I think you're confusing excuses with reasons. It is what it is on both sides.

Last email received on 1-22. I will have to pm him.

I'll take you up on that, but mailers? No! if you watch my packaging video, it's box on a box with space between the two. Also has to be video recorded, to ensure that everything that goes into the box is what's found in the box I'd post it but it doesn't let me post video.

I disagree with your hypothesis that there is no middle ground. 😎

Unfortunately, empathy is in short supply. I think some of it is the economic climate right now including inflation. People are looking for ways to stretch dollars, and canceling orders is one way to do it. Did you know when your books arrive at CGC, you Cannot cancel the order. Even if they're 4 month tiers taking 14 months. Plus, the meter already starts once we receive the books. You got receiving you got emails, books get dry, cleaned or prepped and then the larger process is already getting on way. I am committed to getting the books done, but customers aren't committed to waiting for them to be done. When you're talking to a client and they're only interested in one thing, and that's the one you can't do, and the client escalates it into a poor me.

Customers that have a true grievance are not considered wolves. A client who charges back on credit card 11k for restos not due is a wolves.bI won that dispute BTW Clients who's books were stolen values in the form 12k, but sues for $45, from thousands of miles away is a wolf. As Time is an estimate, GUARANTEE. This is posted in multiple stages. but gets ignore. Terms and agreement get ignored.I like Joey:s at CFP approach, post the date range you are working on, then there is no deadline. Deadlines are avoided to ensure the quality of the work, the minute you have to rush to finish. It's not going to come out right, no good deal goes on punished. Not taking it wrong, just providing context, and errors and omissions. I can turn it around, but only if given. time. Without that, the work isn't worth having done. I never said the customers failed me, the ones I mentioned are a small percentage, but have a large impact that, and effects the other customers in unpreventable way.. Again, restos are complicated, and silver age is the most complicated of them all. Sure, I have failed some customers by long timelines, but the still hey their books, and it's quality work. I'M SLOW, especially now. If that's an issue, shop for a younger competitor one does a one and done.

Insurance doesn't cover that. If cover theft, fire, and flood. Would you like me to file a claim for one of those topics.

Yes, that sums up the wolves. So much bad luck, I couldn't fathom the time to detail it out, or whether it's proper as a business to discuss such matters. Also, disclosure is like telling bad people how to do bad things, and Hero and I got more than enough of that. Most of the "Wolves" are not of my making, but the company was more vulnerable due to my lack of knowledge on large scale business. Once I leaped from "self employed" to "Small business owner", everything changed. I am concerned what I share may give others ideas that are wrong way to settle a dispute. Clients can make unreasonable demands, and find a way to jack you if you don't comply. Clients are the smallest of the problem, but can have the biggest impact overnight. Everything we believe to be real or accountable because of contracts agreements, or the law, is false. BTW, before Hero went broke, it was able to keep help on long enough to get nearly even book pressed, and QC'ed. Hero doesn't have any orders of any note that are unstarted, except for resto's that are in queue. So imagine this, I am a small company that is now smaller. Because I am late, and have health issues, a high volume of clients want out of the agreement, ignore any expenses incurred since received, and want a full refund, and immediately. Now take that, and multiply it by 20-50. Then, imagine no matter what compromise I offer, all they want is cash, and they all want it at the same time, NOW! I will let you guess what they do to me when I can't, as I am not giving tips on how to work around a fair settlement. Add to that, clients who want to back out, and are not even late, and the dollar amount forces the company into liquidation. Too many people suddenly withdrawal from a small bank, what happens? Not every person who has a complaint is being honest, and legitimate, yet the damage can be staggering. Too many comic clients won't even listen to reason, or acknowledge the agreed terms, and I feel a lot of it is my size. Being late, customers not get discounts, or a refund isn't my idea. I learned this from CGC, the leader, and Model for terms details. The difference is the can enforce their agreement, and I can't. So there's a third of the problem. I never wanted a innocent client to take any type of hit from Hero, I always try very hard to do the right thing. But when you are suddenly asked for tens of thousands of dollars, without notice, and obviously down on your luck, what is the logical conclusion? Honestly, people act like I am a bank that hasn't invested in long term loans. If you wondering why savings APR is climbing, it's because banks are running out of cash. Then there is big business, that can smell a week defenseless company a mile away, and just wear you down at $500 hr for defense attorney cost until you break. (Interesting fact, did you know DC sued Fawcett over Captain Marvel due to infringed on Superman, until they were on the brink of bankruptcy, and conceded?) They can come at you in a way that increases default judgement, even though the case should be dismissed. Don't trust a civil attorney, they work both sides, and are more interested in clocking in the $, than your case. I have had malicious attacks where it isn't even about the money, it's about attempting to put Hero out of business. I thought the growth was building a company for the industry and the hobby, providing results no single individual could accomplish, and now I see I was dreaming. To those who want to come to a conclusion without a reasonable amount of facts, Or want to know why not to understand, but only to continue the rebuttIe, I take with a grain of salt, and avoid the wasted time. I learned through 30 years of a bad marriage, you can offer all the reasoning and logic until you are blue in the face, and the arms will still be crossed, and the head shaking from side to side. I have always believed we all have a choice; To be part of the solution, or part of the problem. That's the best I can do today, now to answer 13 emails asking the same question, in various tones.

I am run down, burnt out, and I don't got any more fight in me against the wolves, and all I can think about is some peace, and chickens. I want some days off like everybody else gets, I want some time to enjoy life before something else happens and it's done. I don't blame the clients, I think the timing is really bad. Everybody's very agitated right now, with inflation, scammers, and the threat of recession. Small businesses struggling to keep up with demand. People are tired of waiting. I get it. It's no different for me, I have the same struggles just on a different level, so sometimes it seems like the one thing people could spare, they don't want to. That's all I ever asked for was Time, but nobody seems to want to give it. CGC doesn't want to wait, the wolves don't want to wait, creditors don't want to wait, and the customers don't want to wait, and I think the reapers getting a little impatient too.. Funny thing is, the biggest clients are the least worried. Can you imagine that? Someone mentioned something about an AF-15? You know how many I have here? More than five and none of them are worried. Justin's order now that it's pressed is worth some money. But most of the pressure is coming from those other pressing tiers. I got insurance. I got others set up to have access to all the data and the books if need be. They're not going to just disappear or get locked up somewhere forever. Never to be found. People could just be calm, I can get this finished and schedule my surgery. I don't think customers understand or believe how much it adds up, when you ask me to update every week, or every day, it's not helping. It's only slowing things down. 15 emails a day to find out something you already know? And then get upset if I don't answer right away? For example, I got email from Mr client Friday evening, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, memorial Day. By Tuesday he was ready to call his attorney. Come on! Just because I work on the weekend doesn't mean I do everything on the weekend. So if it doesn't seem like I care to respond, it's not because I don't. It's because I am a headless chicken, trying to keep going even though I should be laying sideways on the ground. I got to go but I am burnt out of people who want updates. I posted on the website, set up the phone system to deliver updates when you call. If I ship your books I'm going to send you an email, so you don't have to keep asking, although sometimes I'm so late on the email, they're already at their destination. But it really is part of the delay. A third of it really, ask anyone of the crew and they'll tell you. I spent more money paying people to answer emails and phone calls, then pressing books, and if I'm wrong it's pretty close. Nice talking to you all on the boards.

I almost lost that post. Okay power is back on and I got a spoon load of stuff to do. I mean well, but I really can't predict what happens day from day, and like I said my luck has been so bad. Something is always interfering. So I basically got three reactions to the news. First one is apologies and condolences. I'm not the biggest fan of those, You don't really know who means it and who doesn't. The second was" oh my god, can you please hurry up and get my books out before something happens to you." The third was a mixture of two. Sometimes in his less is 3 hours. I'd get an email that says I'm sorry to hear about your health, and then in the next email, It's a how fast can I get the books out? So I go back to work in 16 hour days, 7 days a week, but I'm moving super slow. I push myself into heart attack number two. Part of my problem is an 80% blocked artery, and I have arterial spasms whenever I'm stressed out. I need to get a bypass done, and I need time to recover, up to 8 weeks. Most people I've talked to you said it's not a big deal. I don't really want to get into it, but a stint won't work. The problem is, the present customers can't wait any longer. They're already charging back on their cards or suing or claiming class action lawsuit or trying to get the pitchforks and torches out. So I can't have the procedure done until it's all done. I'm trying to get this last batch of boxes out well at the same time having to fight off the wolves at my door, and the crows at my window. I can't tell you that I'm exhausted, because someone who has an order here might read it and then add to the anxiety that it is already been terrible.

Okay, I don't really like bringing out my personal stuff with business. I don't expect anybody who reads this to have any specific reaction. But I assure you, you'll certainly be one . I don't like the attention, and it seems to cause more harm than good, seriously. For me it feels like being out in the wild, and you can't let the other animals know your injured. Because if they do, it's dinner time. Small business is in the cracks of corporate structure. Kind of like freshman year, the seniors already know how to bleed you without effort, and they do. That's a separate story for another time, which I assume will come up sooner or later. So when I had my heart attack in late December, the last thing I wanted to do was tell everyone. It's the same reason why the government lies to you, because if they don't, then all the toilet paper on the shelves goes bye-bye. In other words, people panic. I had to slow way down after the heart attack, and not necessarily intentional. It took me a while to figure it out, but time was really going by much faster. Except time is always static, so that means I'm moving slower. Clients start to get upset over the wait, and eventually I revealed my health issue just so they'd understand why, but that it would still be ready soon. (Hoping for some slack). Now when I say soon, I really believe it, but.......

Thank you! You shared the bulk of it for me. I don't like posting using a phone, and I don't like losing my post after I go through typing it. My luck is so bad this last 6 months, that now I'm waiting for the power to come back on so I can use a desktop computer and type out something. Well thought out, error free. So I'm going to break this up into smaller post just to make sure I don't lose it. I should be working right now, and without the power I just can't. That is what it's been like day after day since October. Like most in the industry, 2022 started out with a bang. Hero restoration's growth was exponential every 30 to 60 days. We grew to two locations, doubled up on training, invested every dollar of profit right back into growing. By September of 2022, we were up to a 10-person crew. We were getting the volume we needed for that many people. Brewing in the background was a buildup of concern over inflation and recession. Many of our clients are investors, first, collector 2nd, but there's nothing more I'd rather do than sit on the phone with a client who's been collecting books all his life, piling them up in the closet. Investors watch the market, and in October key books dropped in certain grades 40% in value. Like any investor, nearly all of them just tap the brakes right away. By November I had no choice but to reduce the crew to three and went into debt, Keeping people on longer than the company should have to try to get that massive amount of work done..... Being the owner I bucked up. Never would I accept so many books alone that I would be facing 15 short boxes with half of them already late. I put in 16 hour days 7 days a week, the only days I've taken off since October or just to recover nothing else has been done. Just grinding out worked, but to the clients it doesn't look like it cuz they're so much to do, three people had to work of 10 and then eventually one me. Almost everything is done and it's just waiting for the work it takes to go through each order and process them. See there's my upside down. Horseshoe. Not only did it take five steps to get the picture, it's upside down. Dang it

Okay, so the short answer is I am very behind, sick, but not dead. Trying without help to get caught up. Going to type up long answer offline first, I don't want to lose it all again.

I did. None of it saved. 😮‍💨

Hi Justin, your submission is complete, and shipped out today, UPS Tracking # 1ZX61R530390153102 Sorry for the anxiety it caused. The last book to be done is below.

Has anyone else noticed Fast Track Economy is the fastest tier, faster than walkthrough? And yet, Economy is the slowest tier by an alarming amount? I mean, 9 days for Walkthrough? Only if you are a sick slug. LoL It's all good, just weird is all. Of course, missing orders are an issue, got 2 of them myself, and after 45 days, haven't got anyone to look into it. Unusual for me to get ghosted at CGC on this issue, I have no trouble getting attention when I need to make a payment. Ha Seriously though CGC, HRC is not eating the loss, find those books!

And the problem is only getting worse. Sent a GSX 1 in a few month's back express tier. It got upcharged to Walkthru. The book came back a 6.0, and last sale at the time was $3300. Really, I mean REALLY? I am expected to grade GSX 1'ns now down to the .5? As a dealer, we do a high volume of submissions, it's hard to keep up on values, and pre-screen books condition. Not to mention the upcharge is always more than the 15% we get paid to facilitate. This feels like the comic cartoon where someone is hanging upside-down to drain all the pocket change, seriously. Everytime I try to talk to accounting about it, I get crickets, yet they have their hand out every week for the 3k plus we do, mostly walkthru, express and standard. We have almost disqualified anything for economy, and as a dealer, will no long offer Economy it to our clients, being a middle man for 10 months isn't worth it. Oh, and the latest, a Star wars 1 subbed back in Sept got kicked from Economy to Walkthru. Haven't seen the grade, but it would have to be 9.8, of which I doubt. Okay, so the book has gone back up, but when was that? LoL I haven't talked to the client in over 9 months, how am I suppose to get re-imbursed for this upcharge? Meanwhile; while I am trying to straight these out, the subs sit in the vault even longer. Is it really going to be 10 months, and walkthru fees to boot? And bookkeeping nightmares?

I was in error, CGC customer service is answering their phones today.

The rules are relevant to Grading, not external services. The leader in the restoration industry is hrccomics.com

I feel like an outsider! LOL I have seen that emoji with name, but don't recall making an association.

Does 20 years count when you haven't posted since 2003? ;-)