CGC Quality Control Fail 1 1

[ChristianJM]

I got my first ever slabs and you're not gonna believe what one of them has included

So I've been emailing the artist Siya Oum of the Skybound Transformers #1 Siya Oum Variants ever since Black Friday of last year and it took since then to get both variants slabbed with her signature since we were both figuring out how to work the CGC out.

They sent the slabs back to her and she sent the slabs over to me the same week. My family brought in the package on Friday night while I was out and I opened it with the upmost excitement as soon as I saw it and slowly took the slabs out of the box. First impressions of my first slabs: honestly I thought slabs were just a straight up flat surface, like an actual literal slab, and I expected them to be heavier so I was surprised by how light they were and to see that the label wasn't just flat but rather it sat upon an indention that's apart of the overall slab design that I did not know existed as I've really only seen slabs from the front.

I was so happy to finally own slabs of my own until I noticed on (or rather IN) the Foil Variant's slab that there was something on Jetfire's leg. I looked and looked around it trying to figure out what it was. At first I thought that it was a crack on the inside of the slab but as I looked closer on its side I realized IT'S A WHOLE- PLASTIC SHARD ENCAPSULATED WITH/ON TOP OF THE COMIC

Now that I know it's there on Jetfire's leg I can't even enjoy my first slab anymore. I had such high expectations for the CGC. I mean, how does this even happen? Did whoever does Quality Checks just not give a ? Did they think that was somehow part of the artwork? Did the guys encapsulating just see it and think "ah well, too late now" and why is it even there in the first place? Do they crack slabs in the same room and a piece went flying while the graders weren't looking?

I don't know guys. It's just stuck there forever now. I REALLY don't wanna have to pay the CGC to fix their mistake and get it reholder'ed. I started thinking what if I sent it in for the CGC Daniel Warren Johnson send-in signing so that the slab gets cracked and reholder'ed anyway. But I don't know.

[GawkHawk]

Send it back as a mechanical error.  The cost will be on CGC.  I believe you only have 14 days to file as a ME though.

[dbcn]

Welcome to CGC Quality Control @ChristianJM... it's ... sub par.

I think I've been averaging a little under half of the books I've submitted that have needed to be returned for Mechanical Errors this past year - random debris in the packaging, scruffs, scratches on the slabs, misprinted labels, the works. My impression is that it's actually improved slightly overall in the last 6 months or so, but out of every 10 books I receive I pretty much expect to send 4 or 5 back. 

In general, it's not great - CGC is either strapped and can't scale to meet current demand, or are just plain sloppy with QC.

That said, it's been a breeze to send the books back for MEs - just go to the submission page within 2 weeks of receiving the book, detail out the what the issue is, submit the order, print out the label and drop it off at a FedEx pickup - pretty straight forward, and I'd say turn around time is a little better than a regularly submitted book, as CGC claims to 'prioritize' the ME submissions.

I also usually put big blue painters tape around the issue to make it clear where the damage is, don't know if it helps but hopefully it lets the reviewers find the issue quicker - I mean, I usually see the issue with the slab within about minute of opening the box, so usually it's pretty obvious and I really don't understand how QC missed it in the first place. 

there's also a quite lengthly (300pgs!) thread going already, feel free to take a look just so you know what other people are catching so you can keep an eye out for it if you submit more slabs: