CONCLUDED: PSA Lost My $4,500 Submission (PSA Lost? USPS Theft?)

Grading
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Hello everyone, first post on here. Wanted to walk and talk about my latest submission with PSA and how it seemingly looks like they lost my $4,500 submission.

I hold a PSA membership, and once May came around, I saw their two specials for the month. The “May Value Bulk Plus” and the “May Regular Special.” I thought this was a great deal regarding value and turnaround and decided to do a dual submission. I figured it would be better to separate the submission into two since the higher-end cards I was submitting would come back faster if I submitted them via the Regular Special and the lesser ones in the Value Bulk. Rather than just taking an upcharge for the expensive cards post-grading.

I sent off my package via USPS Priority Express, and it arrived the next day at the PSA address. (May 7th, 2024)

All went as normal; my submissions were labeled “Order Arrived,” I got an email on May 8th that one of my submissions was already Prepping. I figured it would be my Regular submission since it has a 10-day turnaround, but when I looked into it, it was my Bulk order starting and not my Regular.

A couple of days go by, and by May 10th, my Bulk order is already at the grading stage, but my regular order still has not passed the “Order Arrived” stage. At this point, I was getting worried, and I called PSA to see what was going on. They assured me that there were just some delays in the Regular service level and that I would call back on Monday if there were no updates.

Well, Monday (May 13, 2024) rolled around, and I called yet again. This time, they told me at the start of the call that the Regular service level is still experiencing delays, and they have only opened packages that were delivered on May 2nd, while my package was delivered on May 7th. I told them that did not make sense since the submission was in the same box as my bulk, which was already in Assembly.

Now, after they put me on hold, they came back and told me that they needed to speak to their supervisor. The supervisor’s next action is to investigate what happened to the submission and review the footage to confirm that my second submission was in the package they received.

The rep told me they would email me with a follow-up within 2 days, and if it were to take longer than 2 days, they would still send an email letting me know there were some delays.

That brings us to today, May 15th, with no updates from anyone and no emails from anyone. I called again to follow up and speak to a new rep to explain the situation. They told me these investigations could take up to 2-3 weeks, but he would send an email after the call so we could stay in touch. To their credit, they sent an email (from the generic PSA CS email).

This brings me to 3 conclusions that I think could happen.

  1. Someone at USPS opened my box and took the submission but left the bulk.
  2. PSA lost it somewhere in their warehouse or threw it out alongside the box/paper.
  3. PSA is stalling because they are behind on regular orders.

Would love to hear anyone’s thoughts on this and if they have had similar problems. Or if they recently submitted a submission via the Regular service level and if there are delays.

TDLR: I submitted a bulk special and regular special in 1 box and used their special barcode. The bulk is already in assembly, while my regular is still at “Order Arrived”. I am waiting for PSA to review the footage.

UPDATE: 2/24/2024

Spoke to a PSA Lead on the phone. They told me there was no second submission in the box and that I should file a claim with USPS to get them to investigate. They will not share the video with me but will share it with USPS.

From the description, they provided over the phone of the box. It seems someone had tampered with the package because it was not packaged as I did. They told me about the tracking information and materials used inside the box. They do not weigh packages before opening.

A more detailed explanation is in the comments.

Other than filing a claim with USPS (no insurance), I am unsure what my next steps are and would appreciate any advice.

UPDATE: 7/09/2024

The submission was somehow returned to me via USPS. Read below for full theory and explanation.

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I’m really sorry that you’re going through this, @boo. I hope that they find your cards ASAP.

To answer your question about Regular or above service speeds, here are my most recent high tier submissions:

  • Express: Sent 12/22/23, Finished 1/5/24
  • Regular: Sent 3/4/24, Finished 3/15/24
  • Express: Sent 3/22/24, Finished 4/2/24
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Thanks! Based on your submission, it looks like there was no delay in processing the submissions. I wonder if April had a Regular special and if that backlog may be causing delays?

It also makes me wonder if I had just submitted the more expensive cards in bulk and accepted the up-charge, they would not have been lost.

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They’re typically very good with processing Regular and Express tiers. I’ve never had a problem with them (fingers crossed it stays this way). You’ll have to keep us posted on what happens. They should be able to determine what’s going on after reviewing the footage.

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I have heard of stories of separate submissions sent in the same package causing problems. Turns out the cards showed up weeks later, most of the time. I wouldn’t hit the panic button until the end of May.

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This is a massive sign of relief. Thank you. I will keep the post updated with everything I hear from PSA, especially so people in the future can look back at it.

One thing is certain: sending two submissions in 1 package to save (like $40-$50) in shipping is not worth the risk.

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I agree; I never had issues with PSA. Even back when it took 3-4 months for a Regular level order. First time I’ve ever even had to call PSA. Which is a process in itself.

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did all of your orders get scanned as received? if so it would be on PSA’s end and not the post office

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So because both submissions were in 1 box together. They are reviewing footage to make sure they truly received both and not just 1 submission. The “order received” status update is just when they get the package and scan the bar code taped outside the package.

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ah ok, thought there was another step where they scan the packing slip that actually has the submission but maybe not

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Yeah, once they actually scan the packing slip, it goes into the “Order Prep” stage. My Regular submission did not make it to yet.

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I really hope they find your cards boo!

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This exact situation happened to me. PSA ended up saying they lost the package and sent me a check for the declared value. Hope that they find it or at least send you a check!

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Man, that sucks. One of the cards I underdeclared, so I will be taking a loss on that one. Hopefully, I can get my cards back.

How long did it take you to get that confirmation the package was lost and how long did it take for the check?

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Longer than it should. I wanna say 2 months

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UPDATE: 5/16/2024
I received this email from PSA:

Hello XXX,

Our representative (CS REP #1) has already given your information to our supervisory team and is working on your case.

Please check your emails for a communication from (CS REP #1) in the future. Sometimes these investigations can take weeks to complete.

I hope this update has been helpful.

Thank you for choosing PSA. Please follow up with Patsy for any future questions or concerns regarding this submission.
Have a great day,
(CS REP #2)
Customer Care
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Every time ive sent more than 1 submission in a box, its caused some sort of delay to one of the two. Hopefully that is all thats happened here. Sorry for all the stress this must have caused you

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I’ve just now received word from our investigating team that the package we received from you contained only one submission. Our security team reviewed the footage of our receiving team opening the box your current order was in and confirmed there was only one submission inside. While I cannot share the video images with you, I can confirm I have seen said footage and they only pulled one bundle of cards and one submission form from the box. I can also confirm the box was completely intact when received, indicating there was no tampering or seal breakage that would lead us to believe the second submission was removed. I know this is not the answer you were hoping for, and I do apologize it took this long for a resolution, but please be assured, the second submission was not lost with us.

UPDATE:
This is what I just received today.
I’m unsure what else to do; I sent them the submission.
I assume a USPS worker opened it and stole it?

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I would not accept this answer. I would go as far as to call it impossible that a USPS employee opened the package, stole one submission but not the other, and repackaged the box with no evidence of tampering.

How did you pack the box? When I pack multiple submissions, I do two “bundles” of cards, but then package them together. Same with submission forms, they’re all put in one group. If you did something similar, it may appear on video to only be one submission when it’s really two.

As long as you’ve checked and you’re sure you didn’t somehow forget to package the second submission to begin with, I’d say it’s probably somewhere at PSA. I’ve heard of submissions being lost and then found again, or just lost forever. I wouldn’t bet on PSA taking responsibility for the cards and I’d assume they’re gone at this point, but I would still tell the customer service rep that you believe the cards are with them and you would appreciate them to keep looking and let you know if anything comes up.

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This exactly. Why go through the effort of committing a felony and then leave half the cards in there??

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