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Why does CGC take almost a year to press and grade 3 modern books while I paid for fast track?
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Started by Thundercracker80,

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Get Marwood & I

Get Marwood & I

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On 2/3/2022 at 3:58 PM, theCapraAegagrus said:

That's not "terrible customer service". TATs are ridiculously long over the past 2 years based on excessive demand, among other things.

Maybe it wouldn't be quite so excessive if they held off from touting for it on a daily basis...

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MAR1979

MAR1979

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On 2/3/2022 at 10:58 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

That's not "terrible customer service". TATs are ridiculously long over the past 2 years based on excessive demand, among other things.

Yes but the TAT's last April (2021) were half what they show now. So it is customer terrible service as fast track books received by CGC April 2021 are not yet returned by Feb 2022.

Has been noted CGC has a mere 20 graders, it's now 2 years of record submissions and record profits, the number of graders should have be doubled over a year ago. Seriously they are in a rather low-wage state and staffing-wise are seemingly operating in total austerity mode! How cheap is Blackstone? 

They did get more warehouse space but that is a literal (given their location) and metaphorical low rent move that provides no true value for the customer, if anything it lengthens TAT's.

On 2/3/2022 at 10:17 AM, Thundercracker80 said:

I sent 3 modern comics April 2021. It been almost a year and just now the comics are being shipped. Why terrible customer service?

Because Blackstone cares deeply about you the customer and your future business </sarcasm> This is what happens when you have no true viable competition. We can thank Borack's flipper mentality for that as with a proper business model instead fast cash grab his new outfit could have been at same level as CGC at this juncture.

Edited by MAR1979
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comicginger1789

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On 2/3/2022 at 10:17 AM, Thundercracker80 said:

I sent 3 modern comics April 2021. It been almost a year and just now the comics are being shipped. Why terrible customer service?

So like many companies and business and industries, CGC was flooded with demand and were not set to keep up. They aren't the only company that this has happened too during the pandemic. They have within the last year grown their facility and expanded greatly and with that can come further delays and quality issues (again, can happen when any company is forced to expand quicker than expected).

Not excusing it all, just providing context. Reality is if you sent books off between April and October of last year, you are probably waiting 6-12 months for books. Until the new staff becomes efficient and has experience, until they clear the backlog, we will see this for at least the first three quarters of 2022 and maybe longer if the demand stays high.

I would like to see them limit taking submissions to get caught up or even to stop signing events until they have more reasonable turnaround times but you also have to know CGC is making money right now. Lots. And they know for as many issues as they have, their competitors have done NOTHING to step ahead during a time when they could have. CGC are kings of the comic grading world and we are the peasants they serve. Patience is required and frustration can be calmed if this is exercised. Or you know if people chill a bit on sending in every single copy they have of Wolverine 1 from 1988.....

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theCapraAegagrus

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On 2/3/2022 at 11:28 AM, MAR1979 said:

Yes but the TAT's last April (2021) were half what they show now. So it is customer terrible service as fast track books received by CGC April 2021 are not yet returned by Feb 2022.

Has been noted CGC has a mere 20 graders, it's now 2 years of record submissions and record profits, the number of graders should have be doubled over a year ago. Seriously they are in a rather low-wage state and staffing-wise are seemingly operating in total austerity mode! How cheap is Blackstone?

It was taking them 2+ months to open packages a year ago, plus this OP's assets were also pressed which more than doubles the TAT.

It's a non-issue, as far as Customer Service goes, here.

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revat

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I think technically that's just bad service, rather than bad customer service.

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Math Teacher

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On 2/3/2022 at 10:39 AM, comicginger1789 said:

I would like to see them limit taking submissions to get caught up or even to stop signing events until they have more reasonable turnaround times but you also have to know CGC is making money right now. Lots. And they know for as many issues as they have, their competitors have done NOTHING to step ahead during a time when they could have. CGC are kings of the comic grading world and we are the peasants they serve. Patience is required and frustration can be calmed if this is exercised. Or you know if people chill a bit on sending in every single copy they have of Wolverine 1 from 1988.....

The sentence I bolded/italicized is an excellent idea.

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MAR1979

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On 2/3/2022 at 11:40 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

It was taking them 2+ months to open packages a year ago, plus this OP's assets were also pressed which more than doubles the TAT.

It's a non-issue, as far as Customer Service goes, here.

Pressing not mentioned in the post. Is that speculative or confirmed?

On 2/3/2022 at 10:17 AM, Thundercracker80 said:

I sent 3 modern comics April 2021. It been almost a year and just now the comics are being shipped. Why terrible customer service?

 

P.S. Agreed its horrible service, not customer service.

Edited by MAR1979
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William-James88

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On 2/3/2022 at 11:10 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

Oddly - to me - there does seem to be a large number of in-house signings over the past year or so.

There's been a ton since the pandemic began. There used to be a big revenue stream of CGC having facilitators at shows to get comics signed. Plus it was an extra revenu stream for creators. Both of those went away. So the in house signings make up for that. We may see a lot, but we don't know if that accounts for as many books were sent to CGC from witnesses at shows. So while it may look disingenuous, it just replaces an activity that was already happening.

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William-James88

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On 2/3/2022 at 11:39 AM, comicginger1789 said:

Or you know if people chill a bit on sending in every single copy they have of Wolverine 1 from 1988.....

HAHAHA. You know, I went to a millenial's house and while he had lots of comics from the late 80s and 90s, the one he bragged of having was exactly that comic.

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eWolverine

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They have had my books since April of last year as well. One of them I would like to submit to the Chris Claremont signing event but can't because you can't change orders and it's forever stuck with CCS. They haven't even started pressing them yet. I called customer service and they said "it's a management decision to not allow changes to orders - there is nothing we can do".  Way to go above and beyond for your customers!! 

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revat

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On 2/3/2022 at 10:31 AM, eWolverine said:

They have had my books since April of last year as well. One of them I would like to submit to the Chris Claremont signing event but can't because you can't change orders and it's forever stuck with CCS. They haven't even started pressing them yet. I called customer service and they said "it's a management decision to not allow changes to orders - there is nothing we can do".  Way to go above and beyond for your customers!! 

this has been a fairly longstanding policy.  They are already super far behind, where would they draw the line with these special requests? 

How long do you think it would take a staff member to find your order, find the book(s) you want to switch (imagine if there are multiples of the same book or variants of the same issue), pull those books carefully, change the paperwork on the existing order, change the computer system on the existing order (which might include changing insurance values or shipping), carefully put the books you want signed in signing bags, move those books to the signing area, create new paperwork for the new order, create new shipping info for the signed order, put that stuff in the system, the time it takes in accounting to move money around or reapply payments, have supervisors check and approve all these changes (because they're not normal).  What are the increased chances of error or damage or loss within that process, how much more is CGC really going to make with the switch?  Does it really sound worth it?  And currently at least, it seems EVEN LESS WORTH IT in a pandemic.  

Do you get mad at restaurants who don't allow substitutions when they won't let you substitute?

I'm not saying CGC is perfect or that turnaround times aren't too long or that there aren't some very reasonable things to complain about.  But the no switching policy makes a lot of sense to me.

 

Also technically, this doesn't strike me as bad customer service either way, just a policy you don't agree with.  Like a 'no substitution policy' at a restaurant.  That doesn't mean your waiter mistreated you or wasn't prompt, attentive, competent, just that you are dissatisfied because of one of the policies at the restaurant.

Edited by revat
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