Topps Support Failure

I feel like there’s far too much complaining that goes on in the hobby these days and I hate to pile on, but I feel like this is a story that needs to be told. When I opened my case of 2011 Topps Update, I was shorted a hit in one of the boxes. On top of that, it seemed to me that I was missing what should have been the case hit. I scanned my UPCs and receipt and mailed them off to Topps; following the directions given by them to make things easier when shorted a hit. Some time went by before I got an email from Topps Support asking me to call them. I called and spent time on hold before being told that my attached image didn’t go through and I would have to send it again. Why they couldn’t tell me this via email I couldn’t understand.

I ended up resending the email with the attachment time and time again with a smaller and smaller file size. Something is wrong with the Topps Support email because they should be able to get the tiny attachments that I was sending. Each time, the only response that I would get was if I Tweeted @toppssupport about the issue. Again, no clue why the email account isn’t being staffed properly. After months of back and forth (or more like back, pester Topps and then reluctant forth), I finally emailed them again with a link to the images hosted on Google. I got an email telling me that I had to send them the UPCs, receipt, etc in order to get my missing hit. That just goes to show that the people manning the Topps Support email really aren’t reading the messages that come in.

I finally got my image in the hands of Topps and waited a little while. The other day this card came in the mail:

At first glance, this looks like a great card to get from Topps. It’s a dual relic numbered to 50 copies with the real NL MVP on it. It’s only upon further inspection that things get a little shady. First off, there’s the fact that the Kemp jersey swatch has a pull and is unraveling. Second, the bottom right corner is smashed and feathered. Honestly, this looks like a card that someone else sent back for replacement that they then sent to me. Thanks, but no thanks Topps. I can’t even be bothered to contact them again about this. My time is more valuable to me. I see what awesome customer service looks like on a daily basis. If this is what Topps currently thinks of it’s customers then I’m not sure if I want to continue to be one.

His Cards Are Injured Too

When it comes to the cards that I’ve pulled out of packs, it seems like Strasburg on cardboard is just as fragile as in real life. First there was the Chrome rookie that I had to send back because the indentations were offset and now I’ve got a 2011 Topps that needs sending back because the foil didn’t advance completely before being stamped onto the next card. This isn’t anywhere near a hot card, but it’s the principle of the matter and this card will be sent back along with the rest of the cards from the pack that ended up like this (along with a Jonathan Singleton Bowman Platinum auto with surface damage). It’s the principle of the thing.

I was hoping that 2011 would mean increased quality control from Topps, but I’ve seen a ton of foil issues so far from the flagship set. Hopefully 2011 Chrome is an improvement over last year. Last year’s set was pretty much a complete disaster.

Thank You Topps

Every once in a while, the mishaps of Topps can work out in your favor. Way back in this post, I detailed an amazing box of 2009-10 Topps Basketball Jumbos. I thought that selling the Blake Griffin auto for what I did back then was a big deal, but it is going for over $700 these days. Oh well. I’m not writing this post to dwell on the past though.

Also in that post you will see that I got a damaged Dwyane Wade gold refractor out of the box that I sent back to Topps for replacement. A similar card just recently sold on eBay for $18.11. I don’t know if the big smudge on the front kept the price down at all. My card had a very similar smudge and I’m glad that I sent it in.

What Topps sent me in return was this card. Well, that’s not my card. That’s just an auction that I followed to see where it would end. I already had a feeling that now would be the time to sell this card, but when I saw that the ending price for this other auction was $87.51 I couldn’t list the card quickly enough. If I can locate a couple of other cards like this one, maybe I can get a second case break fund going for sets where I’ll be looking to keep most of the contents of the case for myself. I think that I’ve culled the majority of these cards from my collection though and I’m not selling any Pujols rookies at this point.

They may not be able to get a website up and running properly, but sometimes their mistakes can end up benefiting you.

 

Technorati Tags: Dwyane Wade,Derrick Rose,Topps,Blake Griffin

Revisiting Poor Topps Customer Service

I forget if I ever posted about this way back when it first happened, but reading Mojo’s Christmas Tragedy post got me thinking about this again. A few years ago now, I busted a box of 2008-09 Topps Basketball jumbo packs. Out of those packs came this Nick Young rip card. Since this was a card of Nick Young, it made the decision of whether or not to rip it very easy to make.

This was actually the second year in a row that I had pulled a rip card from a jumbo box of Topps basketball and I was hoping for better luck than the previous year’s Smush Parker red autograph.  Pulling a red autograph was cool since they’re limited to something around 10 or 25 copies, but it could have been of a better player.

So, I ripped the little tab down the length of the card and took a little peak.  Any basketball fan knows who wears number 3 for the Miami Heat and that player is Dwyane Wade.  I also saw a little bit of silver that got me excited.

After my little peek, I carefully pried open the rest of the rip card to free the Wade card that was inside.  Once I saw what was inside, I was rather distraught. What I found inside wasn’t really anything to be excited about.

This is a mini card, so it was tough to get a large scan of it, but I’ll describe what was wrong with the card.  There was a fingerprint smudge in the autograph which would have come in handy if I were trying to prove Mr. Wade broke into my house, but it doesn’t look good on an autographed card at all.  Second, some of the silver ink from the autograph got rubbed off on the inside of the rip card.  It was a very bad looking version of what should have been a beautiful card.

So, I contacted Topps Customer Support and after exchanging a few frustrating emails, gave them a call. I asked what they could offer me and they mentioned a few 2007-08 boxes (which at the time were collecting dust due to the injury to Oden and lack of Durant autos).  They gave me the choice of one box of product and I went with 2007-08 Bowman Sterling and passed on Triple Threads.

I had and still have a feeling that this card was a 1/1.  No one at Topps could verify what the print run was on the card.  I asked for more than what they were offering, but they told me that it was the wax box or nothing. When I sent the card in, I requested another Wade auto along with the box and they did oblige, but it was an ugly card of a drawing of Wade.

In all this time, I’ve yet to see another of this card or even another card of another player similar to this one. I knew that Topps was screwing me by not giving me more, but I didn’t have a choice with the “this or nothing” ultimatum that they were issuing.

Yes, I did get a box of Bowman Sterling which an interesting break since you get a ton of jersey cards and a couple of autos, but there really isn’t much value in the product. I did get a Wade auto, but they sent the ugliest card possible. They weren’t even willing to listen to me when I suggested that they were undervaluing the card that I had gotten in damaged condition.

The reason that I bring any of this up again is because of the current disaster that is Topps Customer service. I sent in a David Ortiz card with an upside down autograph sticker and got back… a David Ortiz card with an upside down autograph sticker.  Mojo sent in his damaged card and got another damaged card in return. Topps admitted on Twitter that they are completely overwhelmed due to this year’s quality control issues.

Damaged cards and redemption cards are sucking the fun out of the hobby. When you open packs of cards, everything that you are supposed to get should be there and it should be in good condition. You shouldn’t have to wait months for a card to possibly get produced or have to pay money to get a damaged card replaced.  When this does happen, card companies should do a little more to make it up to you.

Ok, rant time is over. I now return you to your regularly scheduled broadcast.

State of the Blog

After a little spurt of posting, things have fallen off a little bit again.  This time it was for a very good reason though.  I’ve done something for the first time that I’ve been looking to do for a while now and that’s bust a case of cards.  I’ve been saving and researching to try and see what affordable case out there would give me the best chance of pulling something big.  How did I do?  Check in over the course of the next week to see.

Want to win free boxes of cards?  I just won a box of 2010 Topps Unrivaled Football from The Cardboard Connection and now they are giving away a box of 2010 Topps Prime Football.  Head on over to that page and sign up and if you don’t mind, enter this blog when it asks how you heard about the site.  Not only does The Cardboard Connection have great giveaways, but they also have a great library of articles.  Definitely worth your time if you haven’t checked it out already.

You all remember that recent post that I made about the half box of Chrome cards that I had to send to Topps?  Once Topps was back from vacation, I tweeted the link to them which fell on deaf ears so you can add that to the pile.  In other news, I’m currently working with Upper Deck customer service on a couple of issues and have a card to send back to Panini as well so I can do another customer service comparison.  The weird thing is that before producing a year’s worth of terrible cards (quality-wise) in 2010, Topps used to have pretty good customer service, but now it seems like they are overwhelmed with all of the replacing that they have to do and the quality has slipped.

EDITED TO ADD: Did get a response from Topps and my suspicions were correct:

toppscards Topps Company @offy I did read it. Chrome replacements were fulfilled en masse, which means they probably didn't have time to respond individually.

toppscards Topps Company @offy Not that that's a good excuse, just the realities of the limited resources we have in CS right now. It's a work in progress.

I’ve still got some box breaks to post and some other random posts floating around my head.  I’m also working on building up the prize piles for the winners of my last contest.  Stay tuned for the beginning of the case break.

 

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Technorati Tags: Sports Syzygy

What Do Card Companies Owe You?

My disastrous 2010 Topps Chrome box break got me thinking.  What are you actually buying when you slap your hard earned cash down on the counter to purchase a box of trading cards?

I’m not a prospector.  I don’t purchase cases of product to bust and then flip on eBay.  I’ve got a limited budget and therefore have to be selective when it comes to what I buy.  I have fun opening oddball sets just as much as I do anything else.  So, what happens when you open a box of cards and it becomes a chore instead of a pleasure?  Does the manufacturer owe you anything more than a replacement for all of the damaged cards?

No, the card companies don’t owe a collector anything more than the cards promised to come in the box.  That being said, it would be nice for them to acknowledge that this is a hobby, one that can be pretty expensive, and people collect cards as a way to relax and enjoy themselves.  If people give up on this hobby then that’s it for these companies, but often times it doesn’t seem like card manufacturers think that way.

When I sent back over half of a box of Topps Chrome to Topps for replacement, I included a note explaining that this is supposed to be a fun hobby for me, I was robbed of the fun of opening packs and asked if there was any way that they could make that up to me.  I didn’t care what it would have been.  It could have been half of a hobby box, a blaster, a handful of random Topps packs or a single redemption pack.  I just would have liked for them to do something.

What did I get back? Replacement cards for all of the damaged cards that I sent.  They’re all still as curved as the ones that I sent back so apparently Topps doesn’t deem that as a defect.  It must be a feature of 2010 Topps Chrome.  I also got the typical bullshit form letter from Topps explaining what the procedure is that I just went through to get these cards replaced.  No acknowledgement of the letter that I sent to them and nothing from them to say, “Sorry you had such a bad experience with a Topps product. Please let us make it up to you.”  So much for their renewed commitment to customer service.  It’s all just PR smoke screen to cover their asses on some cheaply made sets and burned collectors who paid way too much money on pre-sells amidst the Strasburg hype.

The only thing that made this whole process slightly better than just tossing all of the cards in dumpster was the fact that Topps is out of base versions of the Strasburg card that I sent back and so I got a refractor instead.  They also sent me a purple Tyler Colvin.  If I had gotten a purple Strasburg then this might have been worth my time, money and frustration.

Since this set is so ridiculously cheap these days, I purchased a complete set on eBay.  I now have a ton of extras for this set so if anyone is looking to complete it, drop me a line and I can help you out.  Also, if you won my last contest and don’t have this year’s Chrome cards of your favorite team/player then let me know and I’ll throw what I’ve got into your prize pile.

 

Technorati Tags: 2010 Topps Chrome,Stephen Strasburg

Disastrous Box Break - 2010 Topps Chrome

I want to make these box breaks look nice, but this one doesn't deserve the effort.  Just in case you were curious as to just how bad these cards looked.  The rest of the box wasn't bad at all, but I just couldn't enjoy it.  I think that I'm going to scan the worst of the cards before I ship them off because the defects are really noticeable that way.  Here's the video.  (Sorry about the video being flipped, I'm still getting used to the new computer and software.)

Disastrous Box of 2010 Topps Chrome Baseball from Michael Travers on Vimeo.