JDubeCT

I started playing around with heat pressing - the price I have won't go lower than 200F (not a clamshell press) ... so using a bunch of fillers I did some testing; all the books I have worked with were 79's - early 90's (pre-glossy inside pages; haven't done testing on those yet.)
- 20m hot w/6h cold = good results BUT it reverted and/or created waving
- 20m hot w/12h cold = good no reversion but I got waiving
- 10m hot w/24h cold = good all around so far ... haven't had any reversion or waiving ...

edit: forgot, my stack (top to bottom):
- top of press
- magazine backer
- parchment paper
- cover
- parchment paper
- regular backer
- parchment paper
- book to middle (staples)
- parchment paper
- regular backer
- parchment paper
- book to back over
- parchment paper
- magazine backer
- bottom of press
 

This was one of my more recent ones (not a tester, live run I plan to submit) - i circled the defects in the pre-press pirctures

I have been pressing books only a short time but this isn’t about that- I just pressed this book and noticed a date on it - thoughts about grading? I put this around a 7.5

i added some pics of the post press cover for thoughts also

I recent got a moon knight, a spider unlimited #1 and a Batman 500 all signed and COA by Dynamic Forces was considering those

Think you missed what I was asking - green vs yellow label aside; if I get a 9.8 green w/COA for colectors sake is it worth it? I was thinking it would be good to protect the issues I have with COA signatures - so grading makes sense - but not sure if it is worth CBCS verifying it or just going CGC and holding onto the COA (well hold COA either way but hopefully you follow.)

I have several issues which are signed and I have the COAs (Dynamic Forces, etc...) - it is worth sending these in to get the book graded and taking the green label? If I am correct this would grade the book excluding a hit for the signature since they can't verify it BUT I have the COA so I can

I had an Amazing Spider-man 300 I sent in (was 7.5) for pressing + signing; been 'received at CCS' for months just wondering if anyone is waiting too. I know they are busy so not complaining just trying to gauge it.

I have several pending orders:
- slow modern; recv'd 5/3, opened 6/22, been in GEI for a couple months now - 140+ days and counting
- slow value (economy now); recv'd 5/3, opened 6/22, scheduled for grading - 140+ days and counting
- fast modern; recv'd 5/3, opened 6/22, shipped 8/23 - 80ish days
- fast modern; recv'd 5/3, opened 6/22, shipped 8/23 - 80ish days
- fast value; recv'd 5/3, opened 6/22, shipped 9/16 - 95ish days
** cant find my tracking but I know it was after the JDF CGC SS announcement since I something in for it, so let's call it 9/20 **
- slow economy; recv'd 9/20, opened 10/14, SFG - 40+ days and counting
- slow magazine (TMNT Last Ronin's); recv'd 9/20, opened 10/14, SFG, 40+ days and counting
- slow modern; recv'd 9/20, opened 10/14, shipped 10/18 - 20ish days
- CGC SS JDF; recv'd 9/20, opened 10/5, SFG - 40+ days and counting

I'll try to update this as time goes by

On 11/9/2021 at 7:03 PM, Fisionbomb said:

So is CGC going to lose you as a client?

You know what, I am not here to debate semantics with you ... long story short its crappy customer service, its an ongoing issue, and as a paying customer i am not OK with it. That better?

On 11/9/2021 at 6:54 PM, Fisionbomb said:

So you understand anything they told you was an estimate and not gauranteed... but you're mad that you're now being given a different estimate that is also not guaranteed? 

No. If a client of mine calls me and asks "Hey, this has been like this for a while now do you know when it will be done?" and I reply "yeah 2-3 weeks" and then 4 weeks later they ask again and i say another 3-4 weeks I am likely to lose that client. Estimates are one thing. Moving the goal post over and over is another. 

On 11/9/2021 at 5:30 PM, Fisionbomb said:

The other thing people don't seem to understand:

" Turnaround times are estimates only and are NOT guaranteed. "

I do understand that - and if you read the whole thing i was more mad that I was told they would be done in a couple of weeks and here we are 4+ weeks later and i am again being told 'in a few weeks' ....

On 11/4/2021 at 7:27 PM, Fisionbomb said:

The clock starts when your package is delivered, BUT (and I think this is what most people fail to understand) the TAT from when your package was delivered is whatever the current posted TAT is. Not whatever the posted TAT was on the day your package was delivered. 

Making up numbers but for example: Your package was delivered 10/01 and on the day TAT was 45 days. Now TAT is 123 days. This is now your TAT, 123 days from 10/01. If it changes to 80 days tomorrow YOU'RE AT 80 DAYS FROM 10/01. If it changes again to 200 days in a week, YOU'RE AT 200 DAYS FROM 10/01.  Forget about whatever the TAT was when your package was delivered. Today's posted TAT is your TAT from date of delivery.

oh no i get that ... if we're at 131/140 as of today that would put my MODERN's at 27 weeks since they got the package ... so thats about 135 days ... take out holidays probably more like 125-130 ... so they should be done and in the mail in 24 hours ... not likely

On 11/4/2021 at 1:32 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

There is a difference between being "received" as in package delivered, and "received" as in opened and processing. The "clock" starts whenever they get to it, as it's simply an estimate.

Not true - on MULTIPLE occassions I have been told the clock starts when someone at their office gets the package, not when they open it. That is why there was such a jump in time around June because people were expected deliveries of their items based on the turnaround times but those times were based on them opening them the same day as they arrived ... since they were back logged they changed the estimates to reflect time idling, opened, graded. So estimate is OK. What is NOT ok is being told one date repeatedly and having that date pushed out. What is NOT ok is having my books sitting in grading for over 1 month. What is NOT ok is being ignored when I followed up to their own timeline. This is terrible customer service and let's face it we don't have much choice. You can go to PGC or CBCS but we all know they sell lower than CGC does. I've said this before and i will say it again, transparency is key.

Does anyone know if you can submit a comic for signing and in the same package comings for regular grading?

Anyone else having issues viewing orders or status?

So, update - I am now 19 weeks (95 business days roughly) into my submission being received ... there was 9 books received in one package. 4 fast track modern, 1 fast track value, 3 modern, 1 value. Of those, the 4 fast track moderns are in Grading/QC ... and have been for at least a week... none of the others are even being graded they are all scheduled... when I sent the books in the turn around times were lower than they are now. But it's 81 days right now for Modern Fast Track - so i already missed that time line and in fact I am about to hit the NON fast track timeline... and those books havent even been started grading. Since we are still within the timelines for Economy (Value) I will wait that out ... but I am sorry, when you are going to charge me an extra 60$ for this service and you are not even CLOSE to your own timelines? Thats not right. 

When I sent the books in the times on the website (and the reason I even picked fast track) was to get those 4 books prior to the end of June... here we are mid August and nothing. I will be calling in requested that they honor the fast track but not charge me for it. I have literally paid for a service I did not even CLOSE to get. Yes, they are estimates. But you could not provide an estimate for work to be done on a car, have someone agree to it, then change it by 2-3x and have it be OK. Sorry i know this is beating a dead horse but its COMPLETELY unfair to us. And I am understanding. I am not asking for a free grading but I am asking for a refund for a service that I was not given. I fthis was 1-2 weeks or even 1 month off OK ... but we are now nearly 2 months off my original time line and the books havent even finished grading/qc let alone been shipped. 

Not for nothing but when I sent in my books my fast track should have been back to me by mid June… current stats is mid sept… really not acceptable… and it keeps getting pushed back… really unfair. And yet they keep doing signings. 

I am just more upset at the idea that when I shipped my books it was mid June for the fast tracks and August for the regulars - now it's mid-sept for the fast tracks and nov for the regulars... turn around times may not be guaranteed but when they increase 3-4 fold thats unacceptable. People pay based on what they expect reasonably in return ...  

So earlier this week I had all my items in the scheduled for grading… now they are all gone and the site says it hasn’t had any submissions from me… anyone else getting this??

Last I knew you were right. But it may have changed since they revised the listing times

On 6/11/2021 at 9:33 PM, ickwinzs said:

On 6/15/2021 at 3:51 PM, ickwinzs said:

and if its is getting pressed you have to add that in too. so from what I understand is my fast track moderns that  were delivered on 4/23 and received on 6/4 will take a total of 141 business days to complete pressing and grading(67 for pressing and 74 grading) so they should be ready to ship back to me on nov 5 give or take. Thats about 28 weeks. If I am incorrect please feel free to correct me.

 

I know I have been vocal on the boards already - and I have been peaceful about it I would say. To be honest when I sent my books in at the end of April I expected that the ones I fast tracked would be in any day now. Additionally there was a 20+ day game between fast track and non. 

Now, I look and its a 14 day gap and my package which was received May 3rd isn't even open yet... 30 business days later. Again, the turn around time on a fast track was 20+ days LESS and that should be now. 

I am a little aggravated that now the price has gone up, the turn around is closer to the standard time, and my books haven't even been opened. I may only do a few hundred a year but still... I would really like someone from CGC to chime in with more than talking points. I think those of us who requested fast track at this point should be getting a partial or full refund of that cost while still being fast-tracked. We are not getting what we paid for.

On 6/11/2021 at 9:33 PM, ickwinzs said:

today my order that arrived on the 26 was received. so I was wondering since it took 6 weeks for the first one(42 days) do I only count 30 days for this period as it was 30 working days?

Based on what they keep saying correct. You would start counting from the day the post office stated it was delivered not the day they open it. So if it was 42 business days since they received it then you would count another 12 business days I mean 32 business days. If you fast tracked it. Sorry using voice to text on this one LOL. What pisses me off is that the fast track numbers keep increasing exponentially. First it was 29 days, then 30 Something, then 40 than 50 and we are already up to 74. It was 66 last week I think. It’s very irritating as a person sending in the items. Before the difference between fast track and regular was easily a month of time now it is just a few days so what is the point.

Today marks business day 25 since delivery.

I had an additional thought (and would love someone from cgc to respond to these comments...) - If you have items that are fast tracked you should be able to mark on the box accordingly and when those items are received they should be pooled differently.  Fast tracked items are opened based on a ratio of 2:1 for standard orders. When an item labelled fast track is received it is open, the invoice INSIDE the box is verified (the reason I say this is I chose to fast track some issues prior to mailing but after the order was placed and was told by customer service to just note the invoice which items should be fast tracked) - if no fast track found on invoice then it is put with standard items otherwise it is resealed and goes to the fast track allocation. 

For every 1 package in regular grading 2 are reviewed in fast track. I say this since the hold up really seems to be in large part the review of packages as well as grading. If I understand correctly you already separate items once opened based on fast track, so why not the packages too? This would allow folks who are paying for the faster grading to get the package earlier. Here's the reality ... under the new standards a modern package $22 to grade and take 82 days once received to be received, opened, graded and sent back; if you want to pay $15 more you can get that done in 66 days. Now, let's compare cost:benefiet. Standard grading comes out to about $0.27 a day cost for the customer. If I pay 68% more ($15/$22 = 0.68xxx or 68% rounded) I can get my order 19% faster (66/82 = 0.8048 or 81% rounded)... my cost per day is $0.56 a day. What this means is I am paying over 50% to get the item 20% faster... that really seems unfair. And given the rate increase combined with the removal of discounts for members it becomes even worse. Membership really becomes useful at the Elite tier but again let's break that down. Let's assume the average person sends in $300 a year in grading at normal price if they were Elite prior they would have a $150 credit and 15% off. So if they spent $300 for the tier, $300 in grading ($600) they would see $45 off the grading they spend and would have $150 to spend against that so they would pay $405 a year including membership + grading. Now, they spend $420. And that's not including incraesed fees

With all due respect ... you have been on April 12th for at least 1+ weeks now... my package was also delivered 5/3. Prior to mailing in I called in to ask about modifying the order to fast track some issues as I will be leaving for vacation for a week end of June / beginning on July and I was told just to write it next to the issues on the invoice, which I did ... fast track was 29 days at that time. Here I am over 29 days and my package hasn't even been opened yet. I know you guys are crazy busy but in all fairness I feel a bit cheated in that you raised the rates but we are now getting lesser service in a sense then we were prior to raising the rates... 

I work in IT, I do not think it would be too hard to make some changes to your system to better let folks know where their package is in the process. each step of the way someone could update it....

Search by order number - possible results: 
- Not Received
- Received / Pending Review
- In Process
- Quality Control
- Return Mailed
- Return Delivered

Taken in via post/fexed etc... update status
Package opened... update status
Actually grading of issue started... update status
Received by QC... update status
Package sent... update status
then i would imagine an API that checks tracking numbers could update when it is delivered. 

Again, I don't want to be 'that guy' but when you mail the item with a given expected return date to work around a time when you will be away (29 days +/- 2 weeks for shipping etc...) and that changes to 59 days +/- 2 weeks for shipping etc you can see how this puts you in a crappy spot and why folks could be frustrated. If 59 days is the current time including the delay in opening packages that would give me a return ship date of July 23rd instead of the original anticipated June 11th, and that's IF you opened it today. The reality is based on your current increases and delays I could expect a mid-August is more likely .. ON A FAST TRACK which if I get the original rate is about $50 more (or an additional 25% cost to my order) or under the new rate $75.. mid-August is when I expected to have the non-fast track items but based on what I just said now I can probably expect them mid/late Sept.

I did expect some kind of delay given the recent surge, but I certainly did not expect the times to double inside of 30 days.