Hi All, I am the person that posted earlier in October that had unpacked a gold star Umbreon. I managed to get the ink blot off just my cleaning off the card, so other than the card being 55/45 it was in perfect condition. I dropped the card off at a PSA event, making sure to take photos of the card before and after. Welp, my grade was just posted on PSA’s website today, and I got a 6 for a bend on the corner of the card that did not exsist in the photos I took, nor the raw photos taken by PSA upon the card’s arrival. I am freaking out, and have no clue what to do, as this was my first time grading period.
Yikes, this sounds horrible. I’m so sorry this happened.
If you have photos prior to the card’s submission, those will definitely be helpful in a claim. If you have the “first view” scan, comparing that to the graded scan will help prove when the damage occurred, or at least give you some ammunition for the claim.
I would wait until you have the card back to verify the damage in person, and then make a claim through their Customer Request Center. If they find they damaged the card, they’ll pay you out the difference in your declared value vs what the card’s graded value currently is.
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Damn, I only did Super Express as the card would only be worth more than the declared value in a 9 or a 10. Luckily I do have photos I took before dropping the card off and saved the raw photos of the card. But basically there’s nothing I can do, because even if PSA does pay me out the difference it won’t be the true value of the card before the bend.
Can you post the raw preview photos here?
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What a nightmare. I’m sure this is fairly uncommon (but still happens) but it’s an absolute shame that it happened to that card specifically.
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Best personal photo I have from directly before submission, image provided by PSA upon receiving card
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Do you have pictures that could show surface indents or bends? These can’t provide much information on surface damage.
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No these are the only photos I have, but the bend in the graded photos is extremely distinct to the naked eye. PSA is supposed to be emailing me higher quality photos that show the bend, but it is extremely obvious top-down to the naked eye
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Can you upload the graded photos?
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These are not clean photos and the card dosent look to be in mint condition via the scan.
I think you’d have a hard time arguing for a claim unfortunately 
The card actually looks pretty clean to me. Keep in mind that PSA scans the card through the card saver and sleeve for its first view scans, so the scratches and issues you’re seeing are likely on the card saver and not the card itself. I don’t see any major crease or bend in the card in either photo. I think if the bend is clearly visible in the graded scan, there is a strong claim here. Whether PSA will accept it is another story, and either way it looks like the OP will be out money because they underdeclared the value unfortunately.
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You will have a fight on your hands, but by no means don’t give up. Especially that card.
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Yeah it looks dirty in the raw scans due to the sleeve, cleaned the card with a microfiber brush before submitting but you can’t really tell. Their customer service admitted to me that the bend isn’t there in the raw photos but is in the graded photo and walked me through filing a QA claim, so we’ll see where it goes. What sucks is that even if they do ultimately admit fault the maximum they’ll pay out is my declared value minus the value of the card in a 6 regardless of if they would have valued the card higher than my declared value had they not bent it.
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I’m really sorry that this happened to you, and especially on your first time grading. These are some hard and costly lessons to learn. On the bright side, there are a ton of e4 members who would gladly pay for a near-perfect binder copy if you are looking to sell it later on.
I’m really sorry to hear this. I’ve had my fair share of problems with PSA before. This is one of those extremely rare times when declaring your cards at the level you think they are worth is beneficial.
If for some reason your not making progress with PSA to get at the declared value - PSA 6 price refunded. Reach out to me and I can connect you with the TCG Head at PSA.
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