Not Worried Yet But...

[DrWatson]

Stuff disappears all the time. The most trouble I had recently was a package that was sent to the Boston area.

[towards2112]

Some day, probably three or four days before Thanksgiving, your graded

books will show up in a mangled box at your door. You will have by then,

forgotten you had sent them in, moved on to other hobbies, like [shudder]

coin collecting, and wonder what ever posessed you to send this lot of

books in. It is a wonderful experience.

[rjpb]

If the package was sent priority registered mail it sometimes take longer than regular priority mail to get to it's destination as the chain of custody is more exacting.

[mintcollector]

Try to use registered mail when sending anything to a grading company. It is the safest method for mailing anything of value. Thieves know to look for initials of grading companies on packages. At least with registered mail it is signed and accounted for every step of the way. For an extra $20 or so, where else are you going to find that kind of security and piece if mind?

[Ghost Town]

Way back in 1996, I bought my first substantial comic book, an Amazing Spider-Man #1. And since this was in the days before CGC, I decided to FedEx the book to Susan Cicconi for a restoration check.

 

Being a little nervous about it, I called Susan the next day to make sure the book had arrived ok. She said it hadn't shown up yet. I think I paid for 10 am delivery and it was well after that when I called. So I called FedEx to find out what was up. I can't remember exactly, but I think they said they didn't have updated tracking information on the book yet.

 

I wandered to the guy's office next to mine and told him the story and that I was getting a little concerned. He pulled out the New York Times and showed me the front page. On it was an overhead photo of a burned out FedEx airplane on a runway. I wish I had saved the newspaper, but the photo looked like this (in black and white).

 

 

Here's a couple more photos for dramatic effect:

 

 

 

Nobody was injured, most importantly. The crew made and emergency landing and made it off the burning airplane. I never could find out if my book was on that plane or not. But it's possible. I live in NYC and the plane made the emergency landing in NY.

 

In any event, Spidey survived. After calling Susan to her the story of potential woe, she called me back a few hours later to say that the book had arrived. The next day Susan called again to say it was unrestored. That led to my second heavy sigh of relief.

 

 

 

[BeachBum]

I sent my first ever CGC package down to Florida this past weekend. I sent it using USPS priority mail from Mass on January 10th, with an expected arrival date of January 12th. The tracking update states that it was processed through the Tampa sorting facility at 2:20 am January 12th and then nothing since then. CGC has yet to receive the package, according to their website. Is anyone here familiar with the Florida postal system enough to know that this slowdown is normal and expected or should I start being a touch concerned that my beloved comics have seemingly fallen into a void?

 

God knows I send a lot of stuff down to CGC Priority mail...

 

So you actually sent it 1/0 which was Tuesday, not the past weekend. 1/12 was Thursday, the next scan on the USPS website should be an "arrival at unit" in Sarasota, FL (local processing). Usually it happens the same day but I wouldn't worry about it. Check the USPS website this evening to see if it's been updated, otherwise wait until Tuesday since Monday is a postal Holiday.

 

If it was sent Registered Mail, that's a whole other animal even if it's Priority. They'll get around to it when they get around to it. Registered Mail is a nightmare in my opinion. Sure, it's supposedly secure, but it can take forever sometimes. It got to the point where I was calling the LAX Registered Mail area every week to find my boxes that were just sitting there. I never use it anymore.

 

Once CGC gets it they will take care of processing it. I sent 150 books in Thursday Next Day, and they were received yesterday and are already in the CGC system.

[Ryan.]

Well I obviously got worried a little too early. CGC processed my books today. It still took way too long for the package to arrive considering I used priority mail. Next time: fly down and drop them off myself. Clearly that's the only reliable option. Now I will sit on my stoop and wait 15 days for my books to get sent back. That's how long it should take, right? That's what it says on the website. RIGHT??

[Conan_Aficionado]

Stay cool Honey Bunny!

[BeachBum]

Well I obviously got worried a little too early. CGC processed my books today. It still took way too long for the package to arrive considering I used priority mail. Next time: fly down and drop them off myself. Clearly that's the only reliable option. Now I will sit on my stoop and wait 15 days for my books to get sent back. That's how long it should take, right? That's what it says on the website. RIGHT??

 

I don't understand the logic on this. You mailed the package Tuesday Priority Mail. Priority Mail takes 2-3 days usually, sometimes 4. There was no Mail Delivery Monday so since the package was processed by CGC today it was most likely received at their office Friday (3 days), or Saturday if someone picked up mail from their PO Box.

 

 

Turnaround time is dictated by the service tier requested - 15 days sounds like Standard Tier. Remember as well that "15 days" means 15 business days. That's three weeks, not 15 calendar days.

 

[Ryan.]

Right, it is illogical. That's why I said I was worried way too early. When you send several thousand dollars worth of items through the mail, any mild glitch in the process is cause for concern. This is my first time sending books to CGC and my package spent 3 days in limbo. It wasn't a great feeling.

 

As for the 15 days thing, yes, I know it is 15 business days. From the boards it appears as if getting one's books back in CGC's stated time is basically a pipe dream, so I'm hardly counting on that.

[littlebill]

yeah they are still behind and at almost double what the website states.