a CGC question!

[metropoliscomics]

I'm am not sure if most people out there are aware of this. Bob Storms suffered a horrible accident on the job at Verizon many years ago and is considered legally blind (at least in New York State). That may account for some of the problems with his grading or lack of. If I had a nickel for any person who called me up complaining about some book they got from Bob. In fact, I got a call at 2:00 A.M. last night, from someone who had called to complain to Bob about his grading. The person had the wrong number, but since Bob and I have the same area code, the person must have accidently dialed my number instead. If memory serves, Bob was voted in high school, most likely to overgrade comic books. However, Bob is not all that bad. we have spent many an enjoyable evening together, at the local pub, debating topics such as whether a missing cover is considered a defect or not. I think it is but Bob is just so stubborn some times.

[chrisco37]

. In fact, I got a call at 2:00 A.M. last night, from someone who had called to complain to Bob about his grading.

 

Ooops! That was me! Sorry to disturb your peaceful slumber!

 

Chris

 

P.S. Nickel is in the mail!

[Guest]

They should be happy the book was as close to the grade given,shut thier holes and just be satisfied it didnt come back restored or a VG. If they advertised the book as a NM then Id be a little upset.

[lighthouse]

"We grade by Overstreet Standards, as these are published guidelines that have attained full industry acceptance. CGC's grading guidelines are only known to CGC and CGC alone, therefore it is impossible to assign a CGC grade without first submitting the book in question.

If CGC ever publishes their standards in a detailed manner, then you can be sure we will then offer our estimated grades based upon these specifications." CI, I just copied that to my desktop clipboard... I think I will be using it from time to time... at least until the new grading guide comes out and we see where the new standards may be...

[clobberintime]

I smell a lawsuit in the making. but to answer the original question, I would not refund or do anything unless cgc found restoration. A cgc 7.0 is probably better in appearance that a lot of old school vfs anyway. I have seen in Showcase NE auctions that they certify the grade within whatever percentage of a cgc grade or they will refund. Unless you specifically give a guarantee like that, i don't think a refund is called for. There can be honest disputes as to a grade since appearance is rather a subjective taste.

[Rickdogg]

I agree with grading being subjective, but I do return books for refunds when a book is advertised as being in "NM" condition or better and arrives in VF or worse condition. I am usually pretty lenient when I purchase raw books, but when the seller is way off I call them on it.

[Kevin Boyd]

As stated elsewhere, what would he have said if CGC had given it a better grade than the one you assigned.

 

In your position I would say:

 

I'm sorry you are unhappy but if you felt that the book was not the grade that I assigned, you should have spoken up when you received the book instead of going to a third party for an assessment and contacting me months later about it.

 

Grading is subjective and according to my grading standards which are based on (so many) years of experience using Overstreet standards the book is a VF and I cannot accurately predict what CGC will assign any particular book.

 

If the book had come back as restored and I did not tell you that it was then I would certainly be willing to discuss taking a return on this item. Likewise if CGC's grade and my own were WIDELY different (let's say for these purposes that CGC had given it a VG or less) then I would have to see the book and might consider giving you a refund or partial refund.

 

Since neither scenario is the case here I am sorry but I will not accept a return on this item.

 

But because I am a nice guy and I want to make sure my customers are satisfied, I might be willing to give you a discount on a future purchase you might make from me.

 

Thanks.

 

----

Kev

[CosmicBob]

So, here's my brand new scenario. I bough a raw Cap 101 that the seller graded VF/NM, and it looked real spiffy. I sent it in to CGC and it came back NM-, but with a purple label. Trimmed and color touched. I spent $20 + postage on the grading plus $42 on the book. I just let the seller know that it came back restored and I'm going to see if he offers me anything or not.

 

This book is completely unsellable by anyone. Who would buy it? Better still, who would have bothered to do restoration on such a minor book?

 

Maybe I'll crack it out and read it. There's a thought!

[Rickdogg]

If I was the seller I would have offered you a full refund if you returned the item or i'd offer you 1/2 of the bid amount and have you keep it since it is such an inexpensive item.

 

I've never had any disputes over grading since I mainly sell slabbed material, but if I ever do encounter a problem I'd also ask the buyer what he/she thinks would be a fair solution to the problem to get a better feel of his/her expectations are so that they can continue to buy from me. The word of mouth is a crazy thing & I would not want a bad reputation.

 

[Kevin Boyd]

Then it was a restored book and the seller should be contacted about it.

 

If he is a good seller he'll offer a refund and take the return because he won't want the reputation of selling restored books without divulging the information.

 

If he denies the refund he takes the risk of being blasted by the disgruntled buyer on places like the CGC forum. Bad word of mouth spreads pretty quickly.

 

Refunding CGC grading costs to the buyer are another issue completely that have been discussed elsewhere. Personally, that's up to the seller to decide. I've never had any books restored, so I hope to never have to face that scenario.

 

Kev

[FlyingDonut]

I've had this happen - I refunded the seller's payment price, and we split the grading fees/shipping. Seemed like the right thing to do.