Shorted 15 autos in a Topps Chrome case - now what?

[ChasHawk]

He opened the case. He received his entertainment.

He received XXXXty entertainment because the case did not contain everything it was supposed to.

I continue after long years to fail to understand why the sports card industry is the only one that seems to get a pass time after time for putting out substandard product.

You want an analogy that works for you Adam?

Go to the store and buy a box that says it contains 24 cookies.

Take it home and open it and discover it only has 9 cookies.

Take it back to the store and complain.

Do they open another box from the shelf and hand you 15 cookies?

 

[auburn35]

Wow, this case of Chrome sounds like it would have been painful to open.

As for what is a fair replacement for the missing autos; a full case is probably too much to expect but would be something you can at least ask to receive. Maybe you can get the missing 15 autos replaced and a couple of boxes of sealed product. I know Topps has issued similar replacements in the past, so it’s not unprecedented.

Random, card for card replacements are usually a crapshoot but I have personally received and have seen many other collectors end up with some nice replacement cards, best of luck.

 

[ThoseBackPages]

I love anal.


---
Buying Albert Belle cards! PM me!

oh my.

 

[BBCgalaxee]

You're due 15 autos, that's it.

But the real question is: what type of autos?

No way should they send you only base. There should be a mix of mostly base plus several Refractors.

Sent from my HTCONE using Freedom Card Board mobile app

 

[bmp1971]

Please let us all know how it turns out. I wouldn't be surprised if you got a few sealed boxes plus 9 base autos from them. But, expect 15 base, non-elite RC autos. Somehow their "randomly selecting" autos always manages to send the customer $2 autos of guys nobody wants. Obviously it's purely random. We should trust Topps. They know what they are doing.

 

[matfanofold]

He opened the case. He received his entertainment.

That he did.....

 

[MisterT]

Here is an idea for you (I did not read every comment, so sorry if it is a dupe).

Topps knows which packs contain autos (or, at least, are supposed to) - that is how then "know" they have inserted the correct number of auto packs in each box. The auto packs get merged with the other packs at the time of packaging. Request sealed auto packs from them. That way they likely do not know if they are base or refractor autos.

Please, no smart ass comments about eBay hot packs.

I know this only works if not all of the packs were boxed and shipped, but I don't see a way out of them picking and choosing which to send you if you get them from the pool of replacements.

Alternatively, and I am sure this has been said before, offer to send back 100% of what you got. Boxes, wrappers, cards, etc. in exchange for a new sealed case.

Good luck.

 

[MisterT]

I just read back in the thread and saw the comment about the replacement autos being sealed in single card packs (and the pool of replacements contains the crappy ones along with the good and even great ones - at the same odds) so that the shipper knows they are sending an auto, but not which one. I love it. I wish that they do this someday.

 

[predatorkj]

You can check the number of eggs in a carton at the store.
The process of replacing the eggs is in no way akin to replacing missing hits.

A more apt comparison would be ordering a box of cards and finding that - upon arrival - you were shorted 15 cards, and the company sends you those 15 cards at random.

Oh, wait - that's what is happening. Seriously, so because he missed out on 15 autos you think he should just have a whole new round of cards to try? So, if he hits a superfractor without opening the amount of packs listed as the odds for a superfractor... should he send that superfractor back since the odds stated he shouldn't hit it?


Come on. This is such a can of worms that the suggestion is nonsensical. He is owed 15 autographs. They will send him 15 autographs as per the standard.

The problem is, Topps will most likely not send him 15 random autos but rather, they will find the 15 cheapest to send. Or maybe even some of those bastardized autos with no set affiliation. That's not fair either since if you buy a case, your chances of getting something other than base worthless autos is decent. At least one or two of them should be better players and of color.

 

[predatorkj]

How is this any different from people that box out cases? If each person that bought a single box was shorted an auto - all they'd get is a single auto replacement. Topps doesn't owe him anything more because he purchased the whole case from a distributor.

To me, the biggest problem is Topps is being truly random in their replacements. How many(everyone can raise their hands) missing autos have been replaced with anything other than junk? Yeah, I'm not going to bother looking for raised hands. When you buy a box, you have the "chance" at a good pull. If it's missing and you have to settle for a replacement, that "chance" is gone because you can bet you're not going to get a good card in return. Yes it helps circumvent people from lying just to get free cards if all they will get is crap. But when the rules you use to enforce that severley screw up what your product is supposed to be about, the "chance" or the "chase", or the "gamble", then you have problems that need to be handled differently.

 

[predatorkj]

Quick question.
Let's say that someone brings a laptop to me that needs hardware replacement.
I replace the piece of hardware and tell them I will cover the warranty offered by the part's manufacturer.

If they get home, and the part goes bad a week later... should I give them a whole new laptop because their experience browsing the internet was ruined?

Bad example. Let's say you go to a Casino and the slot machine you're feeding hits jackpot but no money comes out. You have to tell the people at the front which naturally means you have to up and leave the slot machine. They come back and of course somebody else has taken your spot. They offer you $5 for your jackpot even though it might have been for more. They take the chance right out of your hands because you may well have won more. Is that fair? Is it good business? Will you continue to go to that Casino?

 

[predatorkj]

Yeah. Your description is completely off from the example I gave.
My example reference a single part malfunctioning shortly after a warrantied replacement that happen to negate the enjoyment of using the laptop for entertainment purposes.

That means you know the product you SHOULD have.. the product IS there.. but one essential part did not serve its purpose. Even though it is warrantied (much like Topps replaces missing cards promised by odds), should I give the person a new laptop for the sake of - let's say - a hard drive? The guy didn't get boxes upon boxes of emptiness. He even received SOME autos. So comparing it to a completely non-functioning laptop makes no sense. If you're going to spend 20 minutes typing out a response that completely ignores (for a second time) the qualifications of the example - save yourself the time. It's not that important to me.

His point was yes you get a replacement but no chance of a good one.

 

[MansGame]

oh my.

Really?

 

[A_Pharis]

Bad example. Let's say you go to a Casino and the slot machine you're feeding hits jackpot but no money comes out. You have to tell the people at the front which naturally means you have to up and leave the slot machine. They come back and of course somebody else has taken your spot. They offer you $5 for your jackpot even though it might have been for more. They take the chance right out of your hands because you may well have won more. Is that fair? Is it good business? Will you continue to go to that Casino?

Casinos can verify wins. An unpaid jackpot would be paid out.
Like I said, you cannot attack a business practice that is legal - even if it "isn't fair". All Topps has to stick to is that they don't assign secondary value to the autos and boom... there you go. So, as a customer you are going to feel entitled to "better" autographs... but they have no obligation.

 

[A_Pharis]

He received XXXXty entertainment because the case did not contain everything it was supposed to.

I continue after long years to fail to understand why the sports card industry is the only one that seems to get a pass time after time for putting out substandard product.

You want an analogy that works for you Adam?

Go to the store and buy a box that says it contains 24 cookies.

Take it home and open it and discover it only has 9 cookies.

Take it back to the store and complain.

Do they open another box from the shelf and hand you 15 cookies?

No, but that is because the store is not the company that created the cookies or packaged them. You could call the company that made the cookies - and yes - they probably would send you a coupon for a whole new box of cookies. But that's because a company that manufactures cookies is not going to have a system in place for replacing individual cookies. Topps has a replacement program for individual cards.

It's really not that complicated. No one is giving Topps a "pass". It's realistic expectations of a business' obligation.


Also, cookies are a consumable and have no value assigned them them - at all - beyond being edible. Non autos in a case of cards still have the arbitrary per card value that isn't wiped by consumption or handling.

 

[A_Pharis]

I see a lot of people saying that they should send him a new case due to Topps likely sending him dud autos.
Look at it this way... go buy enough boxes of the product to pull 15 autos. In that size of a sample, I would almost be willing to bet that most people end up with 15 trash autos. My question is - if they were to send him 15 super high-end cards - would there be complaints? No, everyone would be whooping and hollering about how great it was. Not considering that would mean that many other people would likely be stuck with the duds.

15 trash autos can still be plenty "random" when you're talking about such a small portion of the total amount of autos available.

 

[predatorkj]

Casinos can verify wins. An unpaid jackpot would be paid out.
Like I said, you cannot attack a business practice that is legal - even if it "isn't fair". All Topps has to stick to is that they don't assign secondary value to the autos and boom... there you go. So, as a customer you are going to feel entitled to "better" autographs... but they have no obligation.

One could argue that on average, a case of any product containing chrome would normally at least have one or two of the autos being a higher end parallel.

 

[MisterT]

I see a lot of people saying that they should send him a new case due to Topps likely sending him dud autos.
Look at it this way... go buy enough boxes of the product to pull 15 autos. In that size of a sample, I would almost be willing to bet that most people end up with 15 trash autos. My question is - if they were to send him 15 super high-end cards - would there be complaints? No, everyone would be whooping and hollering about how great it was. Not considering that would mean that many other people would likely be stuck with the duds.

15 trash autos can still be plenty "random" when you're talking about such a small portion of the total amount of autos available.

I cannot speak for everyone, but what gets me in this process is that, with the current way it is handled, Topps will CHOOSE what autos they send. I think he should have the same chance, good or bad, that we all did in our breaks. Hence my previous comments about sealed packs, etc.

 

[A_Pharis]

I cannot speak for everyone, but what gets me in this process is that, with the current way it is handled, Topps will CHOOSE what autos they send. I think he should have the same chance, good or bad, that we all did in our breaks. Hence my previous comments about sealed packs, etc.

I don't think Topps chooses what they send. I think they pay someone with little knowledge of the hobby to grab a bunch.

 

[MisterT]

I don't think Topps chooses what they send. I think they pay someone with little knowledge of the hobby to grab a bunch.

It is all conjecture but I think the small team of people (who are here in the US) that fill the missing hits have a good idea of the valuable ones. The design, manufacturing, packing and quality assurance may fall to the group you describe, but when it come to filling missing hits I think they watch that pretty closely.

To be fair, there are absolutely people who claim to be missing hits when they are not, and they should not be rewarded. This case seems pretty extreme.