Puppies and Bunnies A story about being careful what you bring home.

[tth2]

Anyone who can condemn Metro's behaviour is simply insane. No better word for it.

I assume instead of "condemn" you mean "condone". From the tone of your post, I think you WANT people to condemn Metro.

[Dad&Son-migration]

I would also like to say, that Metro could choose to score some big PR points here if they took the high road on this one.

 

I agree with Brad, as a business I would want to make it right for the client by offering at least a discount on the next purchase and earn that client's business again. Word of Mouth is the best form of advertising because it's free marketing.

[Ze-man]

Be careful Ze-man, criticizing Metro is kind of like dealing with the Soup Nazi.

"No Soup for You" they will ban you at the drop of a hat.

This is a very sad state of affairs when, regardless of the initial dispute, being grade related. Don't get back to Silver Surfer, but however do have time to peruse ebay in search of more comics to "crack out and overgrade" again for there website.

I think the grade difference is really the second issue here, the real issue is the no response- buy back-crack-overgrade issue. This really shows a companies ethics and morals and should be taken into consideration when purchasing again. I always wonder how much tighter there grading is when purchasing comics.

For instance it would have been nice to be a fly on the wall when they were purchasing and grading the stolen comics from the "D" collection. Hey, more ethical and moral distaste. And so it goes.............

 

Not to worry, I can buy soup from other markets. It was not my intention to bash Metro. They did what they did, I think it only fair to ask for all the facts. Which I have just done. I , or we are not judge or jury, just consumers who can decided what they want for themselves

 

And as I said in my original post, I just want to hear from both sides, and if ever there was a need for a moderation committe(even though this is outside Marketplace) this is it. I just felt this would have stayed buried in the grading forum and would not be seen. I would not have known about it unless somebody else brought it to my attention.

 

I think as it stands, SS story is a little wobbly regarding how he buys and ships books off to CGC sight unseen. I sure would do it differently But that is not really my place to criticize.

 

The fact that even 1 email of his went unanswered, yet METRO took enough time to BUY the book back, crack it and relist it on their site does not sit well with me.

 

The facts surrounding this situation are mind boggling.

 

Ze-

[Anfield Fox]

Anyone who can condemn Metro's behaviour is simply insane. No better word for it.

I assume instead of "condemn" you mean "condone". From the tone of your post, I think you WANT people to condemn Metro.

 

Yeah my bad. Went back and edited.

[jimm94]

The fact that even 1 email of his went unanswered, yet METRO took enough time to BUY the book back, crack it and relist it on their site does not sit well with me.

 

The facts surrounding this situation are mind boggling.

 

Ze-

 

Hi Kenny,

 

Keep in mind that it was a PM, not an email. Also, we don't know if the same person who did (or possibly didn't) see the PM was the one who made the offer when it was relisted. It's also possible whoever it was did not recognize it as a book that was previously in their inventory.

 

So, my point is there aren't as many "facts" available as we might think. My previous post is my own opinion based on what has been shared by Silver Surfer. And quite frankly, it is a private transaction between him and Metro. Sometimes it's healthy to have these things out in the open, but at the end of the day it's really none of our spooning business.

 

Cheers from your Ohio neighbor,

 

-Jim

[benz]

As for Metro buying and reselling it. That's the symptom of a capitalistic economy. Each collector must take owness in the situation. It sucks to be burned but much of it can be avoided with patience and doing your background work before getting excited and buying. Again I'm sorry that it would happen to Pete but it's a lesson learned the hardway.

 

I have to disagree with you here Dad&Son, saying that Metro didnt do anything wrong is logic. Its like saying hey what Metro did is perfectly ok, if you were the one who gets duped then sorry for you. I think that's wrong.

[Dad&Son-migration]

I have to disagree with you here Dad&Son, saying that Metro didnt do anything wrong is logic. Its like saying hey what Metro did is perfectly ok, if you were the one who gets duped then sorry for you. I think that's wrong.

 

I didn't condone Metro's actions. Simply stated it is a symptom of a capitalistic economy. If anything, I'm stressing that owness ultimately falls on the buyer to do some homework as it is always buyer beware when buying books without the ability to inspect them first.

[jokersrevenge]

This is exactly why I haven't bought that church batman listed on their site.

[Ze-man]

The fact that even 1 email of his went unanswered, yet METRO took enough time to BUY the book back, crack it and relist it on their site does not sit well with me.

 

The facts surrounding this situation are mind boggling.

 

Ze-

 

Hi Kenny,

 

Keep in mind that it was a PM, not an email. Also, we don't know if the same person who did (or possibly didn't) see the PM was the one who made the offer when it was relisted. It's also possible whoever it was did not recognize it as a book that was previously in their inventory.

 

So, my point is there aren't as many "facts" available as we might think. My previous post is my own opinion based on what has been shared by Silver Surfer. And quite frankly, it is a private transaction between him and Metro. Sometimes it's healthy to have these things out in the open, but at the end of the day it's really none of our spooning business.

 

Cheers from your Ohio neighbor,

 

-Jim

 

Right you are, I know we are dealing with multiple people here, as well as multiple unknowns. I should not try to place any eggs into the basket that don't belong there.

 

And I too spoke with Pete awhile ago, he said it was ok if I made my own thread abut it. As he made it public already, so it was not exactly "private" anymore. I did mention I was surprised there was not more of a response to his initial thread.

 

He is lowkey, to be sure.

 

Cold in Ohio? Brrr..it is here.

 

Ze-

[jimm94]

It's a few degrees below freezing, but no precipitation. Yet.

[drbanner]

Whatever happened to the board mantra of "buy the book, not the label"? Sorry to ruin the Metro-bash, but it looks to me like Surfer was more interested in the label than the book itself...as opposed to Metro, who disregarded CGC's grade and put their own grade on the book. Maybe CGC was wrong? I don't know, but as others have pointed out, when spending this kind of money I feel the buyer needs to watch out for #1 and not rely on others to look out for their best interests, same thing happened with Filter purchasing the Batman #1 from Heritage with the Xerox back cover.

 

As I related on the original thread, I had a problem with a Marvel Mystery 47 I bought from them a few months ago. Before purchasing, I called up asking for a brief description (there was a scan on the website) and they told me there was a stain on the inside front cover, but that was it. Turns out the "stain" was horribly amateur color touch that bled all over the interior, and on top of that it looked like the cover was glued to the interior.

 

It was an embarassment to have to call them and ask for a refund as the restoration was so obvious that they must have simply hoped the buyer was some newbie that wouldn't catch it. I requested they pay the return shipping as well since it was such an egregious oversight on their part, and they agreed.

 

One day CGC's the villain, the next day they're the hero. One day Metro's the villain, the next day they're the hero...round and round the wheel turns!!

[benz]

Anyone who can condemn Metro's behaviour is simply insane. No better word for it.

I assume instead of "condemn" you mean "condone". From the tone of your post, I think you WANT people to condemn Metro.

 

Yeah my bad. Went back and edited.

 

 

i guess both of us are bad at english good thing there is a teacher here to correct us...btw, what's up with Kazakhstan?

[joeypost]

Silver Surfers bad deal, gone worse.

 

This was buried in the Grading forum, so it might have not been seen. Am I missing something, or did SS get chumped, and should we be really peeved at Metro?

 

Please take a look, read the WHOLE thread and offer your take on the facts as presented.

 

If all the facts are NOT known, then feel free to state your case, that was my main purpose in making this thread

 

And for those too lazy to read.. here is Silver Surfers cliff note version of his experience

 

Just to summarize the history on this book:

 

- Bought raw for $1,000, listed as an 8.88888+++.

- Had it graded, came back as a CGC 7.0.

- PM'd Metro to just ask about their feedback on the grade as their was some rat chew noticed on the book, no repsonse at all.

- Was sick of the whole transaction so I decided to list it on EBay with a best offer option.

- Received a $600 bid and because I wanted to purge muself of this book accepted it. Didn't relaize until I sent the invoice that the buyer was actually Metro.

- Few weeks late the book appears to be back on the website, cracked out of the slabb and now listed as an 8.0 and for $800.

 

 

I posted about this when he had the book for sale and felt sick but he said he would update us. Pete is a nice guy who doesn't like making a fuss so he took it on the chin. NOW i see a new chapter in the story "Few weeks late the book appears to be back on the website, cracked out of the slab and now listed as an 8.0 and for $800." and i've gone from sick to gobsmacked. Anyone who can condone Metro's behaviour is simply insane. No better word for it.

 

I will never deal with Metropolis after this. I might not be the $300,000 lawyer that fits their normal clientele but it’s about standing up for what you believe in and voting with your wallet.

 

I agree with Matt here when it come's to Metro's actions. Everyone looks for the great deal on ebay, but they had to be certain they were buying back their own book. What I have the problem with is the book being cracked out of the case and listed for a higher grade. If they listed it as a 7.0 I would feel better about them as a company...but this is an underhanded scheme that deserves a "shame on you". I have purchased from them in the past, but will no longer due so based on this exchange.

 

SS is a big boy and fully understood his actions when he purchased the book , received it (and examined it),sent it into CGC and when he sold it at a loss. Does it suck...sure it does. Has it happened before... absolutely. Will it happen again? You can bet on it.

[Anfield Fox]

Anyone who can condemn Metro's behaviour is simply insane. No better word for it.

I assume instead of "condemn" you mean "condone". From the tone of your post, I think you WANT people to condemn Metro.

 

Yeah my bad. Went back and edited.

 

 

i guess both of us are bad at english good thing there is a teacher here to correct us...btw, what's up with Kazakhstan?

 

The sad thing is although i act all stupid on the boards i do have an A-Level in English

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borat

[TheBrockley]

 

This is a 2 bagger thread.

[alecholland]

Has anyone else tried to PM Metro about this? I really would be curious to hear their side of the story. To me this is egregious in more ways than one. Not only did they totally screw over a fellow board member, but then they put it back up for sale on their website overgraded again with no disclosure about any of the obvious defects, especially the rat chew. On their website it states, "unrestored! rare in high grade". Instead, it should state, "overgraded! chewed by rat". They probably won't do that though.

 

Of course as Red stated, we don't know how aggresively Surfer pursued the matter with Metro. Personally, I agree with Red, if it were me I would be calling, e-mailing, and PMing until I heard back from them and could reach a satisfactory solution. I usually go through a series of steps in a situation like this where I begin by being very diplomatic and gradually work my way up to threats of setting their business on fire.

 

Again, as Red stated, this cannot be good PR for them on these boards and it's my opinion that if they read this thread they should offer some type of recompense as a measure of good customer service. But, perhaps losing a few customers from these boards is no big deal to them and perhaps $1000 is just chump change. Unfortunately, it looks like it was in Surfers case.

[timespast]

Maybe SS was too messed up to think clearly but if Metro was the high bidder I certainly wouldnt have sold the book back to them even if it meant getting a neg.

[Foolkiller]

I have emailed Vincent and got a response that he just became aware of the thread. I'm sure he's sifting through the thread.

[SuperBird]

My $.02

 

I have been a small-$ Metro customer for years, and never had an unreturned email or phone call. I have never had any problems returning books I had later issue with, including a $1k+ book. So I'm not sure why they would treat SS any different?

 

I defiitely think that it's within a seller's right to make his own grade judgement, despite what CGC thinks. Thier opinion is no more valid than the buyers or sellers- it is with them that the responsibilty lay.

 

Having said that, I do typically think that Metro is not a 100% reliable grader - JUST AS MOST OTHER DEALERS AREN'T. It's up to the buyer to determine the worth of the book!

 

I think people are jumping the gun a bit by assuming that Metro recognized it's own book on eBay, and bought it knowing that they used to own it. Metro has such a huge stock and a decent turnover rate, that assuming this as fact is irresponsible. It may be true, it may not.

 

Finally, I would be surprised if Metro does not simply set the reset button on this entire thing, and refund SS his original money lost.

[scottish]

I can sympathize with Pete 100%. I will rarely comb through a book I plan to send to CGC (Hulk 181 & MSV anyone?)

 

I also agree that it is ultimately the buyers responsibility to review/grade the book upon receipt. If Pete had done so then he could have returned the book asap and all would have been fine.

 

What I DO have an issue with is Metro's actions of buying the book back on ebay, cracking the case, and listing the book at a higher grade. So the next buyer, thinking they're buying an 8.0 receives the book (hopefully checks it out) and then has to send it back to Metro for a refund OR even worse sends it to CGC and gets the 7.0...and around we go again.

 

If Metro had purchased the book from ebay and listed it at 7.0 even still trying to sell it at 800.00 that would be fine. Or cracking the case and selling at 600.00 = okay as well.

 

I've never had an issue with Metro and all the books I've purchased and had graded - graded AT or better than the grades listed at time of purchase.

 

Sorry, but I think that a PROFESSIONAL business has a modicum of responsiblity to treat their customers with respect. Hell, I don't sell professionally, but I do my utmost to make my customers happy when selling on ebay or the boards.