It’s dependent on your individual case mate.
For me, it was very simple, the cards were graded a 10, and clearly didn’t deserve their grade (despite being very Mint when I sent them).
Yes, exact same thing happened to me with a base 1st ed charizard (graded BGS 9.5 that I cracked and submitted via bulk at declared value of $1.) they creased the back bottom right corner - along with holos from neo rev 1st ed box and neo destiny 1st ed box all in the same area. Absolutely F’ing terrible, but nothing can be proven and nothing can be done. Especially since declared value was $1 for each card on my end.
www.facebook.com/groups/176662716184652/permalink/371827463334842/
The link takes you to a post in a closed wotc pokemon card group. If you’re a member, feel free to check it out. Pics are in the thread.
Wait @tnols you declared a BGS 9.5 base set 1st edition charizard at $1? Why? I mean I obviously understand that in a way you are receiving the same grading service whether or not you pay $7 per card for bulk or $125 for super express but damn I would have had to at least go with $20 regular myself and even more likely $50 express.
Can you give a TLDR on the findings of the investigation that I presume PSA looked into? Were cameras mentioned as with other memebers in the past?
1 Like
Did PSA pay you the $1 you said it was worth?
What was the outcome?
Investigations? cameras? Over some $1 cards? If I was PSA I’d give like 5 grading vouchers or the $30 compensation deserved
Yeah, happy to provide the backstory.
Previously in September '17 I sent in a Quad BGS 9.5 zard, two other 3x 9.5/1x 9.0 zard, and a 3x 9.5/1x 9.0 staff evo zard for walkthrough service at $250 a pop. PSA said the quad 9.5 zard had “evidence of recoloring” which was complete bull, and they said the other 9.5’s didn’t meet minimum grade to qualify as 10’s. In addition, throughout 2017, I submitted over 5000 cards to PSA for grading, and I’ve always had suspicion that they grade the older wotc holos and especially charizards more harshly than a lot of the other cards. As an example, I cracked 3 boxes of Legendary Collection and had tons of 10s returned, but the Charizards would never come back higher than an 8. So, given these two pieces of context, I decided to say F it and see what would happen if I cracked open one of the BGS 3x9.5/1x9.0 zards and sent it in as part of a larger bulk shipment. I had a full box of neo rev holos and neo destiny holos (both 1st edition / all pack fresh) included as well with the shipment. The BGS Charizard was definitely capable of being graded a 10, but when it came back as a 7 with noticeable damage I began looking at all the rest of the cards that were older and had the potential of selling for high amounts if they were graded 10’s - but PSA graded them 7’s/8’s - and they all had damage in the same location as the newly graded PSA 7 Charizard.
PSA has had the cards since December 11th of last year. I have spoken with Rene through the customer service department. I spoke with him about a month ago and he said that his graders felt like they didn’t cause the damage. I then asked him if CCTV footage was available and if it had been looked at. Rene said that the footage had not been reviewed. I then asked him to review it, and I have yet to hear back from him.
Let it be known that I fully knew what the risks were in cracking open the zard and submitting it like I did. The damages I am claiming are from the other 61 cards that were in the 300+ card shipment that have similar damage as the zard did. The zard was merely only the indicator to me that something had happened to this shipment.
Pics are posted in the FB groups and the thread has been bumped on the WOTC group at the link located in my previous post.
@tnols just for the benefit of everyone like myself who may not have access to all of those groups can you post some photos directly here?
I know in the event of encasement damage it is pretty clear cut what the damage was caused from. This sounds like it was scratches and edge wear though? That makes it harder. I really have a hard time seeing how they could do that too though. I did have some with creases in the past and I’m not sure where/how it happened but they graded as 10’s with very bad corner creases and they were pack fresh cards that myself and my wife pre-graded on top of two professional PSA graders deeming the cards a 10. I detailed it all on here years back and luckily it was only on ~$40 ex era ex’s. They paid me out only due to the fact that the cards resided in PSA 10 cases and so they paid under the financial guarantee of grade and authenticity.
They literally said it was more likely that they overlooked the damage (plus my wife and I) than them causing the damage… I mean 4 people looking over a card all missing a blatant huge corner crease or simply the card being creased after grading and before encasement… Again I really lucked out and this happened after grading for me. I did also have a couple cards get 6’s in a similar situation where I was sure they were sent undamaged but I had no luck in fighting it. Again luckily only cheap ex’s.
This is why I use Beckett’s grading service over PSA when grading my personal collection (ones that I have no intention to sell). Not only do they have better customer service, but their slabs are much more rigid and better looking imo.
Sorry for your loss mate.
Hey all,
Thanks for all of the responses and kind words I do appreciate it 
A little update for anyone interested. I rang up PSA and spoke to a few people as well as a manager (My memory isn’t perfect as it was about 3 months ago but I’ll try my best!). With the manager, I explained the situation and we spoke about a few things including the review process. Pretty much as there was no way of proving that the card was going to grade a 10 as opposed to a 9 insuring at a 10 value wouldn’t have achieved anything. However, I asked about how I can go about finding out how the damage was caused on the card. The manager told me to submit the card for review and I asked what is involved in the review. She said that she couldn’t give me that information and that as part of any organisation they don’t reveal all of the workings of their business. I said that I just wanted to know whether it would be worth sending it in and I mentioned that I heard that they might be able to check the cameras (I remember someone on this forum mentioned something about that awhile ago). She wasn’t able to confirm whether they did or not or give any information about the review process at all.
In the end I decided against sending it in again as I wasn’t given any information about what the review process involved, as it was insured for low value I wouldn’t likely get much back anyway, and if it was proven that PSA caused the damage there was no guarantee it was going to be a 10 anyway so it might have been a 9 regardless. And I was sending it from Australia so had to think about all of the international shipping stuff. Every single call or email correspondence I’ve ever had with PSA has been really positive and helpful but I was obviously disappointed with what happened in this situation.
So after this little issue I decided to take a break from collecting and from the forum. I didn’t even look at my cards for a good 6-8 weeks I would say. I was really quite bitter about what happened and just pretty sad as well. I did miss all of the conversations that went on here but honestly all I could think about was the Charizard when Pokemon was brought up. Obviously with time it is all becoming easier but I still think about ‘What if…’. As for the card in question? Well I still find it hard to look at despite the joy it brought me before (only looked at it once in the last 3 months). I think as I’ll never be able to afford a 10 I will now just focus on getting a really strong 9 and claim that as my gem (maybe sell my current one). So that could be a new goal for me Anyway, I’ve started going back to my cards again the last couple of weeks and have even made a few big purchases including my favourite ever Pokemon in a 10, which I always thought I would own at one point. What got me back was that someone came over to my house to buy some cards and he ended up staying for about an hour and we went through all of my old cards and spoke about lots of different things about Pokemon cards. Seeing his enthusiasm for it all was actually the turning point for me. So guess I’m back and can continue on with my collection and being involved in the forum but I will always think of what happened here from time to time (Unless I dig up a 10 in my backyard and I’ll forget the whole thing ever happened).
Cheers,
Alexei
7 Likes
Glad you are back! That really is a tough situation that would leave a bad taste in anyone’s mouth, even the most dedicated collectors. I can definitely understand feeling jaded, but the hobby continues on and it’s better with such a positive person such as yourself to be a part of it!
Thanks mate, it’s good to be back
@spinch Welcome back! 
1 Like