[vintagetoppsguy]

Here's the bottom line. I agree that both companies make mistakes. We all do - none of us are perfect. It's how we deal with those mistakes that matters (and says a lot about our character). From what I can tell, SGC owns up to their mistakes. They make a mistake, they admit it, they fix it and move on. That's the way it should be.

PSA on the other hand tries to cover up/hide their mistakes. They think they can sweep the problem under the rug by deleting a thread and it will go away - out of sight, out of mind, right?

Let me give you a great example of this. About 4 years ago there was a thread started on the PSA boards about a 1966 Topps Harmon Killebrew that was graded a PSA 10 being sold on eBay by a reputable dealer. Most agreed that the card looked like it probably shouldn't have graded over a 6/7. The case was not tampered with, so it was either a mechanical problem or a grading problem. It was quite a controversy on the boards. Anyway, rather than doing the right thing and making good on their buy-back guarantee, they removed the certification number from their data base. The seller was pretty pissed about it and rightfully so. I don't know if PSA ever compensated him for the card or not, but this is not how you handle problems.

I don't know about anybody else, but I've never had a problem just magically go away. Problems linger. The best way to deal with problems is to face them head on. There is absolutely nothing wrong with admitting you made a mistake. In fact, it shows a lot of character when you own up to your mistakes. However, I have never seen PSA own up to anything. When’s the last time they admitted they were wrong about something? Instead, they just try to shut up those making the noise.

Say what you want about PSA, but if your honest with yourself, then you know in your mind I am right. Even Jeff said in the Joe Orlando thread, “I think I'd have some respect for Joe if he didn't do all that he could to shut down any sort of public criticism of PSA. That doesn't suggest to me that he cares about fixing his company's problems.”

Again, we're all going to make mistakes. It's how you handle those mistakes that set you apart from others.