Quote:
Originally Posted by Westsiders
Initially, when I got the (2) "unable to render" responses, I contacted PSA to ask why I couldn't get an opinion (either way). I was told that the PSA authenticators don't speak to customers on the phone. Being a newbie...I figured this was the industry norm.
After being advised by Tri-Star to contact JSA, I assumed that I would get the same response. To my surprise, I briefly explained the situation to the woman that answered the phone, and she immediately got an authenticator to speak to me on the phone. My first impression was..."wow, what great customer service." After a few seconds into my conversation with the authenticator, my opinion of their customer service drastically changed.
I briefly explained the reason for my call, then asked the authenticator about a specific issue that I had with the auto. From the start, the authenticator was extremely defensive and told me that he "didn't owe me or anyone else an explanation" regarding the concern with the auto. I was then told that my only option was to re-submit the auto to JSA and have them re-examine it.
I told the authenticator that I would be happy to re-submit it and pay the fees if I could get any kind of opinion regarding my primary concern with the card. He was again extremely rude and he told me that it would never happen. So basically, I would be paying $200 for a form letter, confirming their initial opinion (why would they ever contradict their initial opinion).
Again, when this transaction began, I was a novice to Ruth autos (and autos in general). I never imagined there were so many shades of gray in the industry...Very unfortunate.
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It's very unfortunate that these companies act this way and more unfortunate that there are people, industry execs and hobbyists, collectors who condone it, look the other way or defend it.
They owe you an explanation, you are the customer. But they have a monopoly on their services right now so there is no outside pressure for them to change the way they do business. It's either thing 1 or thing 2. West coast authenticators doesnt speak to customers over the phone because their authentication skills would be found out to be lacking if they had to explain themselves. They want to keep everyone in the dark so they can keep doing it their way, which benefits them and not the customer in my very humble opinion.
A true, genuine, customer service oriented authentication company would gladly tell you how they came to their conclusions and openly discuss why they believe an autograph is genuine or not genuine. Why should they have anything to hide?
I would gladly discuss autographs with anyone if I worked there but that's why no one with a backbone works for any of these companies. They treat the customer like an inconvenience, and it's too bad. If enough hobby people complained I think we could get a chance, but it doesn't seem like it is going to happen, because there is too much money to be made defending the status quo and once people find their backbone and stand up, they get the equivalent of a blackball from the autograph hobby and called all sorts of names including helper of the forgers.
I continually speak out against such horrible practices and get labelled a troublemaker with an agenda. my agenda being I want to see the customer get better service not to mention competant service but that doesn't keep the lights on and keep them in mocha frappuccinos so i get called an instigator instead. Let's clean up the hobby and fire these people who don't think they owe the customers any explanations by not hiring them in the first place. Joe, Steve, James, you don't owe anyone any explanations, really?