So when is the grade "finalized" and "final" and not subject to change? The way I read the following 2 sections together, a book is graded after the final grader examines it and, only then, it will head to be encapsulated. Further, being graded is a precursor to being marked "shipped/safe" according to the website.
It used to be that you could see your grades once a book was marked graded. The way I read the above, nothing should change from when something is marked "Graded" b/c the books have been graded and are headed to be slabbed.
This is just another example of decreasing any transparency. Did they do it b/c it was a hassle? B/c they are training new graders? B/c they were worried about showing when damage happened? Who knows. There's no information coming out of Sarasota and it's just another in a long line of "changes" about which no CGC rep speaks or answers questions.
Read the text you quoted:
"Grades are available online once the books are marked with the status "Shipped"."
Nowhere does it say that the grades are supposed to be available when the books are marked "scheduled for grading" or "graded" - and as the QC process happens after the books have been graded, it makes zero sense to hand out the grades till the books have actually been finalized (which doesn't happen till they hit shipped/safe).
What I don't understand is why you, instead of posting the same speculations again & again in thread after thread, didn't just pick up the phone, call CGC and ask them directly about this latest change? I did ... they said it was a mistake to ever have allowed people access to grades prior to the books being finalized. That it created confusion amongst new submitters and that it had gotten to be an even bigger headache ever since they started training new graders.
My experience with CGC is that every time there's been a problem with a book where it was obvious that something went wrong whilst it was in the hands of CGC, CGC took care of it & made me right. If you choose to believe otherwise, that's your prerogative, but I have to say that I'm not really a fan of the tinfoil-hat-wearing Transplant that sees a giant conspiracy in every single decision made by CGC.
Mike, I don't see it as tinfoil hat wearing. Joey makes an excellent post which provides real insight into why I post the things I do. I won't rehash it here except to say that CGC just keeps taking away things, with no communication.
And this is the way CGC has been doing business since this board started up 10 years ago. How many of CGC's new policies were first reported here by a hobbyist b/c they called up and accidentally found out about it? How many things had to be "discovered" by hobbyists first before CGC would even admit they knew what we were talking about? Probably be easier/quicker to list the things CGC did report proactively than not.
How long does something have to go on before it's no longer a nutty conspiracy theory?
