dbcn Posted October 13, 2023 Share Posted October 13, 2023 I just got back an SS ME submission of 4 books - 2 of those books were returned with light, but clear and obvious scuffs on the back covers of the slabs, and 1 with a noticeable interior scratch: It literally took me 30s to spot them once the books were in hand. Pretty clearly not from shipping either, as the 4th book was completely fine. The main issue is - this is the 3rd time these specific books have gone back for Mechanical Errors. This scuffs on this round are the least noticeable, so I think rather than risk yet another round of 'Quality Control' I'm just going to keep them (no near term plans to sell them anyway). Additionally I noticed a small non-color breaking crease on one of the books which definitely wasn't there on the last submission. CGC: Please: have the Quality Control step do some basic due diligence before shipping the books. The scuffs on the back covers of these slabs are completely obvious and there's just no reason for them to have been returned like this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 I have the same thing on one SS I just got back and hope it is on the case and not the book. The back foil was perfect when I sent it in. I just sent it back as a ME to see. Thanks for the pics. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAR1979 Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 Not sure if making the assumption that CGC still actually has QC people is correct. Based on reports if they still do then they are simply not competant in their skills or severely lack proper staffing. If the later then CGC who brags about their record breaking profits need to hire people! newshane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaard Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 (edited) I haven't done an ME in many years ... I'm sure things have changed. I seem to recall reading where the option on the form for this kind of thing says something like 'postal mishandling' or something like that. My question: When people return an ME for this kind of stuff, do the people who are doing the actual reslabbing and the QC people (if they exist) know why the books were returned in the first place? Edited October 17, 2023 by Gaard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted October 17, 2023 Share Posted October 17, 2023 On 10/17/2023 at 3:02 AM, Gaard said: I haven't done an ME in many years ... I'm sure things have changed. I seem to recall reading where the option on the form for this kind of thing says something like 'postal mishandling' or something like that. My question: When people return an ME for this kind of stuff, do the people who are doing the actual reslabbing and the QC people (if they exist) know why the books were returned in the first place? There is some information you provide on the invoice if they read it. I also attached a separate page of info with more detail and said I could provide pictures. They provide a label to ship to them and seems there was some wording that I may be charged for return shipping. I really expect my damage is on the comic and it will be down graded and look the same or worse but then I will know they ruined my comic on the original handling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcn Posted October 17, 2023 Author Share Posted October 17, 2023 On 10/17/2023 at 4:02 AM, Gaard said: My question: When people return an ME for this kind of stuff, do the people who are doing the actual reslabbing and the QC people (if they exist) know why the books were returned in the first place? I've had probably 10-15 ME's in the last 6 months, and have gotten into the habit of framing whatever the defect is with blue painters tape before I return the slab, just so it's dead obvious where the defect is. I mean, they clearly missed it the first time, so I think anything you can do to call attention to it is worthwhile. My main complaint is that it doesn't seem that ME's are given any additional care or inspection before they're sent back, so the new slabs are just as susceptible to the same obvious defects and apparently subpar QC that any other slab receives. I shouldn't have to send these books back 4 times to get a slab that doesn't have blatantly obvious scuffs, scrapes, scratches or debris. The Lions Den and newshane 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MotownMike Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 I just submitted my first group of items to CGC and was shocked at the quality. Seven out of the eleven items I sent have scuffs on the inside, two have scratches on the outside and one had a piece of broken off plastic on the inside and the holder was no longer glued together. I have about 50 other items I was anticipating having graded but am worried that if I have to send over half of them back every time for new holders it'll take me years of sending them back and forth before I can get them all graded in holders that display nicely. Is this typical of CGC? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted October 20, 2023 Share Posted October 20, 2023 On 10/19/2023 at 10:48 PM, MotownMike said: I just submitted my first group of items to CGC and was shocked at the quality. Seven out of the eleven items I sent have scuffs on the inside, two have scratches on the outside and one had a piece of broken off plastic on the inside and the holder was no longer glued together. I have about 50 other items I was anticipating having graded but am worried that if I have to send over half of them back every time for new holders it'll take me years of sending them back and forth before I can get them all graded in holders that display nicely. Is this typical of CGC? So it would seem... MAR1979 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcn Posted October 20, 2023 Author Share Posted October 20, 2023 On 10/19/2023 at 10:48 PM, MotownMike said: Seven out of the eleven items I sent have scuffs on the inside, two have scratches on the outside and one had a piece of broken off plastic on the inside and the holder was no longer glued together. Tbh, 7/10 seems like a higher than normal percentage - I think I'm closer to sending 4/10 slabs back over the course of the last 6 months (when really it should be like maybe 1/10 get sent back) - my issue is more that I have specific books I've had to send back multiple times; you should only have to send a book back in once to be reslabbed, not 4 times. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaard Posted October 21, 2023 Share Posted October 21, 2023 7/11 = 64% 4/10 = 40% 1/10 = 10% Question: Which of those percentages is unacceptable? Answer: all of them MAR1979 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moto387 Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 It’s absolutely ridiculous lately. I’ve had maybe 3 MEs over the last few years. I had 10 slabs done about 2 months ago. Had to send 8 back for various interior and exterior issues that were pretty glaring. Just got the 8 back and 7 of them have a lot of noticeable exterior scuffing and scratches. I’m not sure it’s QC. I think they have some people in the packaging dept at the final steps that just don’t care and slap them around as they are boxing them up. Either way, it’s getting to the point of having to make a decision on whether to keep using them if this is the new norm. Raise prices and consistently worse product? Yeah I don’t think so. These slabs look like they are used. The Lions Den 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaard Posted October 23, 2023 Share Posted October 23, 2023 On 10/22/2023 at 9:46 PM, moto387 said: It’s absolutely ridiculous lately. I’ve had maybe 3 MEs over the last few years. I had 10 slabs done about 2 months ago. Had to send 8 back for various interior and exterior issues that were pretty glaring. Just got the 8 back and 7 of them have a lot of noticeable exterior scuffing and scratches. I’m not sure it’s QC. I think they have some people in the packaging dept at the final steps that just don’t care and slap them around as they are boxing them up. Either way, it’s getting to the point of having to make a decision on whether to keep using them if this is the new norm. Raise prices and consistently worse product? Yeah I don’t think so. These slabs look like they are used. The other possibility is that the slabs are scuffed even before they are used. There is evidence of this in posts made during the Saucerman era. jcjames 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gripin Posted November 2, 2023 Share Posted November 2, 2023 i seems i am not alone with this issues :-/. i had same probems in the last 4 months. first i sent about 40 comics - they come back and 10 of them had this scuffs, smudge and dirt on the inner back of the slab - not on the comic - very easy and clearly visible because the back of the comics are black. and one had a broken plastic part inside :-/ i returned them as ME. they come back today - and again, 5 of them the same, although i made a on each slab a note what was wrong and why i returned. guess they do not care as much as they should. really annoying. in a few days the rest of 20 slabs will return, will then have a look. afraid i have to return some of them too. honestly i will return them as long as i am happy with them. newshane 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcn Posted November 3, 2023 Author Share Posted November 3, 2023 @gripin - yeah I guess it doesn't matter too much if you're just keeping them & not reselling - but it definitely puts you at a disadvantage if you do end up selling and either you have to disclose in the listing that there are defects (free debris with purchase!) or risk the buyer asking for a refund because the slab is damaged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDBill Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 I had a foil one that had marks just like that on the back and 2 on the front. I hoped it was the case so I sent it back to re-holder and it fixed the front 2 but no change to the back so they ruined my comic when it was pressed or encapsulated the 1st time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
newshane Posted November 3, 2023 Share Posted November 3, 2023 On 11/2/2023 at 1:28 PM, gripin said: i seems i am not alone with this issues :-/. i had same probems in the last 4 months. first i sent about 40 comics - they come back and 10 of them had this scuffs, smudge and dirt on the inner back of the slab - not on the comic - very easy and clearly visible because the back of the comics are black. and one had a broken plastic part inside :-/ i returned them as ME. they come back today - and again, 5 of them the same, although i made a on each slab a note what was wrong and why i returned. guess they do not care as much as they should. really annoying. in a few days the rest of 20 slabs will return, will then have a look. afraid i have to return some of them too. honestly i will return them as long as i am happy with them. I visited their competitor's website for the first time today. That is an absolute hot mess of a slab. SCARY! Who on earth is working in encapsulation? Quality control? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lions Den Posted November 4, 2023 Share Posted November 4, 2023 On 11/3/2023 at 7:11 PM, newshane said: I visited their competitor's website for the first time today. That is an absolute hot mess of a slab. SCARY! Who on earth is working in encapsulation? Quality control? It should be noted that since these jobs are basically production oriented, there is often a higher amount of employee turnover... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom789 Posted November 7, 2023 Share Posted November 7, 2023 Looks like CGC is beta-testing a new shipping method: dbcn 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbcn Posted November 7, 2023 Author Share Posted November 7, 2023 @Tom789 looks promising! (But new shipping packaging isn’t going to fix debris in the slabs…) tbh i don’t think a single one of the damaged slabs I sent back for errors were damaged by packaging / shipping, as there was at least one totally fine slab in every shipment) but at least cgc is trying something new… Tom789 and MAR1979 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
