Quote:
Originally Posted by travrosty
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?
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As someone fairly new to the industry, in no way am I up to speed with all of the issues and backstories with the TPA's.
But for some reason, many seem to be very reluctant to speak openly about the TPA's...and very quick to jump to their defense. Obviously, there must be some motivation behind it (although I'm not experienced enough to know what the motivation actually is).
In dealing with PSA, they refused give me an opinion either way. I'm sure they had an opinion, but for some reason, refused to give it. I have used them numerous times (both before and after the Blarney Stone auto)...and an opinion has always been given.
When I attempted to contact PSA to ascertain why they wouldn't give an opinion, I was told that authenticators don't speak regarding such issues. Not great customer service...but I do understand the reason for such a policy. And since they issue refunds when they are "unable to render"...not much I can really complain about.
In regards to JSA...I understand that they are one of the big boys, are very well respected, and good at what they do.
With that said, I (not an expert by any means) am convinced that the Blarney Stone Ruth is bad....and according to previous posts, many experts in this forum believe that it's bad as well.
When I called JSA to speak about the auto, the customer service was terrible. The authenticator was defensive, rude, and combative. I was shocked when I was told that he didn't own me or anyone else any kind of explanation regarding the auto. I'm assuming since they only have one competitor in the industry...customer service isn't high on their priority list.
Then, when Tri-Star offered me the replacement auto (an auto they informed me was also certed by JSA), I turned to the experts at Net54 for some help. Needless to say, the replacement auto was unanimously destroyed in this forum.
As a consumer, I don't understand how these highly suspicious autos (certed by one of the big two TPA's) end up being chase cards for these big companies.