Complaints

• Initial Complaint

  01/31/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a card on **** that was graded by CGC. The cards label as well as CGC's online certification both confirmed this card to be a Pristine 10, the highest quality grade on the scale. Some time passed and I went to add the card to my online collection. Much to my dismay I found that the grade, unbeknownst to me had been downgraded to a gem mint 10, a difference of roughly $150. I contacted customer support and was assured this was an error with their new system and that it would revert back to the Pristine 10 when the system finished updating. A week had passed and it hadn't changed, I still had recourse with the original seller, so I tried to resolve the issue as quickly as possible if need be. I contacted CGC and again it was verified that it in fact was a pristine 10 and would be resolved. A week after that, the online certification indeed reflected the original grade of Pristine 10. I was contacted by their support representative and he wanted to make sure I was aware that it had been fixed. It remained that way for at least a year. I regularly check the population of certain cards and see how many in their respective grade exist within the company. Much to my dismay sometime in the last two months it was downgraded. I contacted support and they told me that I needed to send it back for verification. I own 900 graded cards, and never have I been asked to send a card back for verification. This card was verified by a consignment seller with 20k+ feedback on purchase, it went through **** authentication, was verified by their own grader that it was a Pristine 10. Now that I have no recourse with the seller, they elected to pull the rug and change it. Support told me I could send it back and have it regraded and that was my only available path of rectification. For a company that is built on authenticity and integrity, this feels very predatory and in line with bait and switch tactics

  Business response

  02/12/2025

  We apologize for what appears to have been some sort of software / web site issue. The web site is now showing the card as a Pristine 10. Screen shot attached. I have left a voicemail with the customer to make sure we have addressed the problem. 

  Customer response

  02/14/2025

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **** Brass

• Initial Complaint

  01/22/2025

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Unanswered

  More info

  **** on Oct 17th was a nightmare with the way the way CGC was handling peoples comics! They not only created finger bends at this event because they were so overwhelmed but are now doing this on a regular basis over the last 2 yrs or so. The amount of people that have reached out to me on the forums with EXACTLY the same complaint is now close to 1300 . I reached out to them and they simply say you signed a waiver although the *** applied a ***** credit on her own because she felt awful and said she has had so many complaints regarding this. She was super nice. Unfortunately the amount it cost me is in the thousands. This is just one example Cert #********** but nearly 50% of books already graded 9.8s came back at 9.6s after being mishandled by CGC . I handle my books meticulously and the artists never removed the books from the sleeve to sign them and barely touched them. HALF OF MY BOOKS came back lower grade! That's insane. Again this is not only occurring at events but regular submissions also.

• Initial Complaint

  11/11/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I have submitted many comics over the last few years and while they generally perform the services that I request, recently they have begun to fail miserably and won't refund the charges when they make mistakes. Recently I submitted a comic for signature authentication and grading. The comic was graded but CGC failed to notice or forgot to perform the signature authentication services that I requested. However customer service refuses to correct this and is demanding further payment to correct their mistake. Additionally, I have a comic that they have been holding on to for almost 6 months and won't return to me. I sent this for a signature event and I believe they have lost the comic and refuse to admit it.

  Business response

  11/13/2024

  Customer originally requested *** authentication alongside CGC grading, but his book is classified as a magazine due to the size, so it was sent back to him graded by CGC but without *** authentication because we didnt offer it at the time for magazines. He wasnt charged for *** services.  Our customer service department explained to him that we can now accept magazines for *** and offered to have him send it back and we would add *** and regrade.  We offered him a credit to cover the grading and *** fees.  Hes not happy with that because of shipping fees. Customer is now using profanity with our customer service department.

  Customer response

  11/14/2024

   
  Complaint: 22535397
  
  I am rejecting this response because it is factually inaccurate, and CGC has misrepresented the situation. This item was never a magazine and should not have been classified as one. CGCs own dimensional criteria for comics are clearly listed, and I ensured that this submission met those specifications prior to sending it in. The comic adhered to all stated requirements, including thickness, which measured under the 1/2" threshold at all points when assessed with calipers. Moreover, CGC ultimately reclassified and graded this item as a standard comic, demonstrating that they recognized the initial misclassification error, as reflected here: CGC Certification Lookup.
  

  I acknowledge expressing frustration with ***************** as I found their handling of my case disappointing and their understanding of CGC's own grading standards lacking. The service I received did not meet the expectations set by CGCs offerings, and what was returned to me was neither what I requested nor what I paid for. Any reasonable business with a commitment to quality service would issue a refund under these circumstances, yet CGC instead seeks additional fees before fulfilling their original commitment.
  

  At this stage, I am no longer interested in having CGC correct this error, as I lack confidence in their ability to deliver a competent and satisfactory grading service. I request an immediate refund and the prompt return of the remaining comic they have withheld. I will not be using CGCs services again.

  Sincerely,
  
  ****** *******

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Delivery Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I submitted 3 comics books to CGC for grading. Order #: CGC9463273416. They tried to deliver my books when I was on vacation in July. Since no one was home to sign for the delivery, ***** returned them to CGC on 8/2/24. Despite numerous emails to get my books re-shipped, almost 4 months have passed and still no resolution. I get the same answer that customer service will contact me when the books are processed through their queue.

  Business response

  11/06/2024

  CGC apologizes for the delay and for the poor communication. We have looked into this. Apparently, one of the 3 books that was returned got damaged and that needs to go through our claims process to compensate the customer. The other two books are ok and should be returned to the customer. We will have our customer service and claims team reach out to the customer promptly to begin that process. Again, we apologize. The poor communication was entirely our fault.

• Initial Complaint

  10/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am writing to inform you about a business practice utilized by companies such as Certified Guaranty Company (******************************) that I believe is fraudulent and should be addressed. Companies such as CGC provide a service for customers in which they charge a fee to professionally grade sports memorabilia. The purpose of the professional grading services is to validate authenticity of the item and assign the item a numerical grade that increases the value of the item as the grade increases.The company advertises on its website current turnaround times to entice consumers to use their service *******************************************************************************************. These turnaround times are categorized by the item being graded. For example, the turnaround time is different for a magazine as opposed to a comic book. The company does make an effort to inform the consumer these times are subject to change and are not definite. I submitted four magazines to CGC which arrived on August 6th 2024. The service I requested was for the company to press the magazines [at additional cost] and then have them graded. When I submitted the magazines the current turnaround time for Pressing an item was 19 days. As of Yesterday [10.29.2024] my items were still pending Pressing. When I contacted the company, I was given a blanket explanation that involved two hurricanes, additional magazine shows, and backlogs as the reason why my magazines were late. I requested a refund and was told I would receive $25 off my ******** of today 10.30.2024., my submission has been moved to the grading process after I have complained multiple days in a row. According to their timeline, I just entered the halfway point when my magazines should have been returned complete by now. This company has been holding my magazines for almost 3 months with no end in site. I want my money, and my magazines back.

  Business response

  11/11/2024

  We understand the customer's frustration when submissions get delayed. As the customer acknowledged, our turnaround times are estimates and are not guaranteed. Nevertheless, we will endeavor to expedite this particular submission.

  Customer response

  11/12/2024

   
  Complaint: 22493753
  
  I am rejecting this response because

  Customer acknowledged turnaround times blanket response to any and every complaint is a fraudulent practice by this company to excuse ineptitude.  Since that is the blanket response I would like to know from CGC when customers should complain?  1 month, 2 months, 3 months late?  Or do we continue to allow your company to sit on millions of dollars worth of inventory because you cant process it?
  

  What is the point of advertising turn around times? TO LURE IN CONSUMERS knowing you wont come close to honoring your end.  How is this fair trade?

  Sincerely,
  
  ******* *********

• Initial Complaint

  09/19/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Service or Repair Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  A few months ago i sent in a card for it to be graded, i was charged the full amount of the grading services. A few months later, i havent heard anything back so i reached out, and requested why was it taking so long for the card to be graded, they responded stating, the card hasnt been graded yet because the card didnt go through which i thought was odd because they already charged me for it when i first placed the order. I ultimitely decided that i wanted my card back at this point and will just take the card as is, when reaching out to their support they keep on refusing to aknowledge my concern and instead keep trying to push me to pay them again. Every single time i asked them to ship the card back they have ignored my requests and to this day continue to keep on ignoring it. I just want my card back at this point, i dont want CGC's services any longer, i dont want to get the card graded at this point, i already lost moneyh on it by shipping it out to CGC, i just want it back.

  Business response

  10/11/2024

  We are returning the card to the customer.

• Initial Complaint

  08/26/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I am a long time customer of ********************** and I have 10s of Thousands of dollars invested in their business, Ive pushed 100s of comics and cards through them, they make mistakes. Plenty of them. Generally they are small and can be easily solved. However, recently CGC messed up one of my Signature Series submissions. It was a very expensive comic book and I gave them explicit instructions on who I wanted to have it signed by, *****************************, *************************** and *****************************. Unfortunately, CGC messed up and had the book signed by ***********************. Basically rendering the comic book worthless because has nothing to do with this particular comic book. I paid $160 for the comic book itself, $220 for the messed up signature, $5 for the custom label and $20 for shipping. They are giving me the runaround, offering me substantially less then this book is worth, and then on top of it all, they want me to relinquish the book back to them in order to be fully compensated. Which would basically end up with me losing money for their mistake. They refuse to talk to me in person, take weeks between emails, and are obviously planning on reselling this book on their own website in order to recoup whatever money they end up reimbursing me. Its bad business and offensive to me and comic book collectors everywhere.

  Business response

  08/27/2024

  We have reached an agreement with the customer on compensation.

• Initial Complaint

  07/31/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Order Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  My comics were graded and certified by CGC and supposedly mailed to me but they were never received by me. (Verified by *****). CGC is willing to reimburse the grading fees and $373 in comic values. HOWEVER, I paid quite a bit to have the graded comics insured for $1,200. I have gone back and forth with CGC Support and they refuse to honor my insurance claim. My comic presser agrees that $1,200 was a reasonable insurance claim and will back me up if necessary. Please help.

  Business response

  08/01/2024

  Customer's return shipment went missing from *****. We filed the claim with our shipping carrier. However, the declared values provided by the customer were in excess of what the actual fair market value of the comics were, given the grades. 

  Customer response

  08/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 22067911
  
  I am rejecting this response because:

  Please explain why I paid quite a bit extra to insure the shipping for $1200. Ive had some of those comics for over 30 years and they are worth much more to me. I actually wanted more insurance, but I did not have the money. Secondly, my presser agrees that they are worth much more. Thirdly, when do you decide how much my insurance is I look forward to these answers.

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

  Business response

  08/13/2024

  Insurance coverage is based on fair market value. If someone has an item that is, for example, worth $100 but takes out $1 million insurance, that does not mean that the insurance company will pay out $1 million in the event of a loss. Here is the relevant portion from Section 17 of our services terms and conditions:

  Company will generally ship via ***** with insurance coverage procured by Company of up to US$100,000 per package for domestic shipments and up to US$50,000 per package for international shipments. Insurance coverage shall be limited to the insurance limit posted on the Submission Form for the return shipping service selected by Customer. In the event of a claim for loss or damage during return shipping, the basis for valuation shall be the fair market value of each collectible at the time of loss, as determined by Company in its sole reasonable discretion, not to exceed the posted insurance limit for the return shipping service selected by Customer.

  Customer response

  08/14/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  I do hold the right to advertise and communicate the position shared by CGC that the shipping insurance amount is a complete sham! 
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *********************

• Initial Complaint

  07/17/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Product Issues

  Status:

  Answered

  More info

  I submitted 25 sports cards for grading. During the waiting for grading process, I noticed a card submitted wasn't identified in their system. I immediately called them and sent a message providing detailed clarification on the card in question. I was informed that proper identification would take place during the actual grading and there was nothing to worry about. Upon receiving the grades for the 25 cards, 2, including referenced card, were not graded and no reason provided. When I called to ask why, I was told the cards couldn't be authenticated, despite the fact that I provided them with the detailed information for one of the cards. The other card was never identified as an unknown card and there are countless graded identical cards in various selling platforms. In my recent phone call, I was also informed that I would not receive a refund for the cards that were not graded. This is all in addition to the extremely low grades the cards received. I've been submitting cards for years to other grading companies and I've never received grades anywhere near as low as these. In fact, some of the submitted cards had previously been graded by other companies and received much higher grades. I took them out of their encapsulation and submitted to CGC expecting to get higher grades, not 2.5 points lower. This entire process was extremely disappointing and I will never do business with CGC again.

  Business response

  08/01/2024

  As an independent grading service, CGC Cards is trusted by the market to reach an independent and objective professional determination regarding authenticity and grade. We regret that the customer is disappointed with some of ********************** Cards' professional opinions. 

  Customer response

  08/02/2024

   
  Complaint: 22002503
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  
  The response provided by CGC doesnt address anything. All they said is they regret that the customer isnt satisfied. They dont address the issue at hand. I regret it too, but I gave some detail of a very specific concern. CGC failed to respond in a substantive manner and instead said nothing! This is just another example of their lack of professionalism. Sincerely,
  
  *******************

• Initial Complaint

  05/30/2024

  Complaint Type:

  Billing Issues

  Status:

  Resolved

  More info

  I purchased a yearly membership with CGC for services. Included with my membership was $150 in credit. Nowhere at the time did it say that that credit expired. When I tried using it, they told me that they will not honor it, that my membership expired so therefore they were not going to honor the $150 of credit. When I reached out to them, they simply said that unfortunately the credit does expire and it states it on the website, I have looked at their website several times, and I have never found it. I have the original membership sign-up that they sent me, an email. That also does not say that the credit expires. I would like them to honor the $150 credit that they promised me. I find it rather disingenuous and unprofessional that they would not honor the credit that they offered.

  Business response

  06/07/2024

  We apologize for the customer's experience. We should have granted a short extension so that the customer could use the credits. Our customer service department will be reaching out directly shortly regarding next steps.

  Customer response

  06/12/2024

   
  Better Business Bureau:
  
  I have reviewed the response made by the business in reference to complaint ID ********, and find that this resolution is satisfactory to me.
  
  Sincerely,
  
  **************************

*Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business. ↩