Turning a negative into a positive/learning experience 1 1

[Eric C M]

So I submitted 7 books in the Modern tier. I also used the fast track option. 2 of the 5 books were separated due to custom labels. I estimate grades before submitting to try and tune my grading skills and learn. I also estimate grades based on my perceived potential for the book as I also paid for CCS services. Prior to this submission I was doing really well (ie many right on the mark, most others only off by 1 grade increment +/-). I received the first 5 books back and as my wife was revealing grades I was just getting my behind handed to me! It was like getting beat up and I couldn’t believe I was so far off. After I absorbed this bad news and began examining the books and the available grader notes I really started to question whether CCS services had been performed. I decided to call CGC and to their credit customer service was easy and helpful, they quickly confirmed that CCS services had been skipped on all 7 of these books. They were allowing for a Mechanical Error resubmission. I have not been a member for long and frankly if this had been my first submission I may have not known any better. The documentation for knowing which parts of the process have been performed on given books is a whole other discussion for another thread. I noted the original grades and eventually sent all 7 of these books back for CCS and regrade. Here are the results/improvements seen through CCS:

1. Batman 423: original grade - 8.0, regrade after CCS - 9.4

2. Incredible Hulk 340 newsstand: original grade - 6.0 (newsstand notation was also missing from label) regrade after CCS - 7.5

3. Amazing Spider-Man 361: original grade - 9.0, regrade after CCS - 9.6

4. Marvel Premiere 28: original grade - 5.0, regrade after CCS - 7.0

5. Marvel Premiere 28: original grade - 6.0, regrade after CCS - 7.5

6. Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars 8: original grade - 8.5, regrade after CCS - 9.6

7. X-men 101: original grade - 8.0, regrade after CCS - 8.0. This book may be capped at 8.0 due to color breaking corner crease. I thought it had 8.5 potential best case.

so overall a couple takeaways. The good - The results from CCS seemed to be pretty good in this case. The bad - this mistake could easily fall through the cracks for other customers. The lack of thorough documentation of what is being done and when has a TON of room for improvement. Hope this helps someone, thanks!

Edited March 10, 2023 by Eric C M

[Tony S]

Interesting that somehow the books did not make it over to CCS as they were supposed to and you paid for. Thanks for sharing. Something for people to watch for.

[KCOComics]

I'm shocked by how much the grades improved after ccs 

[theCapraAegagrus]

They admitted that you paid for CCS services, yet did not complete those services?

That's going to validate a lot of suspicions.

[Eric C M]

On 3/13/2023 at 9:16 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

They admitted that you paid for CCS services, yet did not complete those services?

That's going to validate a lot of suspicions.

 

On 3/11/2023 at 11:15 PM, Tony S said:

Interesting that somehow the books did not make it over to CCS as they were supposed to and you paid for. Thanks for sharing. Something for people to watch for.

I should clarify in fairness to CGC/CCS. When I contacted them I believe they could quickly see that I had NOT been charged for CCS but then they could also see that I HAD ordered it. For me the issue is their invoices and records available to customers are so vague I would never have known, especially when you happen to have several submissions in the works at the same time. There are no good records available for customers to view. I supposedly have received multiple credits on my account but why can’t I view that information? Am I missing something? Why can’t I view a billing and service history for my orders? These are rhetorical (unless I am just missing something).

 

[theCapraAegagrus]

On 3/14/2023 at 10:31 AM, Eric C M said:

I should clarify in fairness to CGC/CCS. When I contacted them I believe they could quickly see that I had NOT been charged for CCS but then they could also see that I HAD ordered it. For me the issue is their invoices and records available to customers are so vague I would never have known, especially when you happen to have several submissions in the works at the same time. There are no good records available for customers to view. I supposedly have received multiple credits on my account but why can’t I view that information? Am I missing something? Why can’t I view a billing and service history for my orders? These are rhetorical (unless I am just missing something).

It's still a major issue that you placed an order with CCS and expected it to be completed, and they didn't complete that part of the order. How many people out there think that CCS pressed their comics, but did not?

It's good that they didn't charge you for services not rendered, but this is a big problem.

[Eric C M]

On 3/14/2023 at 11:02 AM, theCapraAegagrus said:

It's still a major issue that you placed an order with CCS and expected it to be completed, and they didn't complete that part of the order. How many people out there think that CCS pressed their comics, but did not?

It's good that they didn't charge you for services not rendered, but this is a big problem.

100% agree. If they are going to operate in a non-transparent way then the customer has to at least have faith that the proper safeguards are in place. I would prefer they keep as many safeguards as possible internally and become more transparent with account/submission records. This is really not a big ask. My biggest concern with this situation was not monetary related, it’s that I now feel like I have to babysit each submission with the tracking tool. In this case with fast track I just assumed it went through the CCS process so quickly that I missed it. At the time I looked in on my submission status every few days. It wasn’t until I saw the poor grades and grader notes that I recalled not ever seeing that ‘CCS in process’ status on the the website tool. I just want to have faith in the system…

[Tony S]

On 3/14/2023 at 9:31 AM, Eric C M said:

 

I should clarify in fairness to CGC/CCS. When I contacted them I believe they could quickly see that I had NOT been charged for CCS but then they could also see that I HAD ordered it. For me the issue is their invoices and records available to customers are so vague I would never have known, especially when you happen to have several submissions in the works at the same time. There are no good records available for customers to view. I supposedly have received multiple credits on my account but why can’t I view that information? Am I missing something? Why can’t I view a billing and service history for my orders? These are rhetorical (unless I am just missing something).

 

Well - the short answer to your question may not be a satisfactory answer. Your CGC dashboard only has information on submissions and their status for current and the --maybe two years?. There simply is not and never has been any information regarding your account. You cannot see payment histories, ,stored payment methods or account credits. . There has been some improvement here. Used to be you had to call accounting.  Now the frontline customer service agents can fix most billing issues and answer most questions. And you can update payment method online yourself.  Too bad - I kinda liked talking to Jose in accounting from time to time LOL. 

The competition in Texas is no different. Online you can update payment methods but there is no way to look at account history and credits. And it is vastly easier to reach a customer rep with CGC 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Tony S

[Eric C M]

On 3/15/2023 at 11:25 PM, Tony S said:

Well - the short answer to your question may not be a satisfactory answer. Your CGC dashboard only has information on submissions and their status for current and the --maybe two years?. There simply is not and never has been any information regarding your account. You cannot see payment histories, ,stored payment methods or account credits. . There has been some improvement here. Used to be you had to call accounting.  Now the frontline customer service agents can fix most billing issues and answer most questions. And you can update payment method online yourself.  Too bad - I kinda liked talking to Jose in accounting from time to time LOL. 

The competition in Texas is no different. Online you can update payment methods but there is no way to look at account history and credits. And it is vastly easier to reach a customer rep with CGC 

Yes, sorry to hear that confirmed but it is definitely not satisfactory. This isn’t the mid-90s anymore. Are they running this whole show with Macintosh computers and free internet minutes from AOL? I truly do respect that you can get someone to pick up the phone when need be but so much more of this information should be made public facing. Am I supposed to trust the people who keep screwing up my orders to blindly handle my money and account balances? Getting a credit card charge 6 months after I send in a book for some unspecified items/services is just not up to snuff. This is a large industry leading company that can and should do better.