MLB hologram problems

[JasonHalliburton]

I would like to hear about your problems with MLB hologram numbers being uploaded into the data base. Does anyone else think that the time it is taking to put items in is ridiculious?

I have a 2005 Nationals Inagural game used baseball with a hologram on it. As I feared, the hologram number is not found.

All e-mail's I send to the authenticaters are returned, saying it will put the account over the quota. How am I suppose to tell them about the ball not being in there?

I also have a Zimmerman game used bat from this season that I have had for more than2 months....Number not found either.

I am beginning to think this system is a joke....Since the prices that are being paid for MLB authenticated items.

What do you think?

[dcrules01]

Re: MLB hologram problems

I would agree even better I won a Damion Easily bat off of Steiner auction and it is listed as a game used ball from the Mets Braves game earlier this year.I have 3 Wright bats and 2 of them are in the system my 3rd which I just bought is not still waiting...I know Steiner is working on there hologram system but everything I have with a Steiner hologram does not show up in the system.I guess it would be a work in progress

[Vintagedeputy]

Re: MLB hologram problems

I have a Brian Schneider bat that I bought at RFK stadium in July. The "tamper proof" hologram is smeared and I can't read all of the numbers.
I emailed MLB 2 months ago and got no response. I called MLB 2 days ago and they said that since I didnt purchase it from them, they couldnt help me and they referred me to the team store, even though its their damn hologram. Some guy at MLB actually "interrogated" me as to why I want to know what the number is and whether or not the fact that it had a hologram that I could identify to a particular game mattered into my purchase decision. It was like he was trying to analyze my purchase habits.

I called the Nationals team store yesterday and I'm still waiting for a call back as to whether they can identify the numbers for me.

To sum it all up, I think the MLB's system stinks. I could buy a pretty colored sticker at Wal-Mart and it would have the same value.

Jim

[JasonHalliburton]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Jim,

I agree with you, it stinks, and it stinks badly. I don't know about you, but in my job, if I performed as poorly as they do with the hologram system, I would be fired! Maybe someone needs to lose their job at the authentication place....

[allstarsplus]

Re: MLB hologram problems

I had the same problem last year with the Nationals. The Nationals said it was a MLB problem so I called the MLB main number several times and emailed. I got an email from Michael at this email address that helped:

From: MLB Authentication authentication@website.mlb.com

He told me all the information was in the system but wasn't uploaded. Shortly after his email, I had several 2006 items which then showed up on the system.

Andrew

[Vintagedeputy]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Thanks Andrew - if the team store doesnt bother to call me back, I'll try him.

Customer service really seems to be at a premium these days

Jim

[allstarsplus]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Thanks Andrew - if the team store doesnt bother to call me back, I'll try him.

Customer service really seems to be at a premium these days

Jim

Jim - Here's what I believe to be the facts.

The Nationals Team Store is run by a 3rd Party company called FMI. FMI actually runs the game used concessions inside stadiums for a few MLB teams. They have nothing to do with the authentication or holograms as they receive the product generally from the locker room already with the holograms on there.

By the way, I put in a hologram # today and I got this message:

The MLB Authentication Program Database is currently undergoing maintenance. During this period, there may be delays in publishing updates and additions to the hologram archive.

[allstarsplus]

Re: MLB hologram problems

I called someone at MLB who has also helped me in the past. If you send me your missing Hologram #'s she will research it for me.

thanks. Andrew

[Vintagedeputy]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Andrew - the number ends in 409. I cant tell anything before that.

Thanks,
Jim

[JasonHalliburton]

Re: MLB hologram problems

It looks like they could design a hologram that the numbers and letters don't come off. I have some items that have holograms that are pretty beat up badly. It looks like they applied the hologram PRIOR to the ball or bat being used!

[Vintagedeputy]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Jason - thats what I thought too because mine looks like it has a bat rack mark right through it.

[brianborsch]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Hearing all of these problems gets me concerned. I recently won two auctions for game used balls that from actual hits in a game. My concern now is that once the hologram serial #'s get registered in the database they won't have the detail of who the player was and what kind of hit it was. I am confident it will have the date it was hit and the game it was used in as all of the MLB authneticated game used stuff has that. It better have the detail documented as thats why I bought them. If I can't verify who hit the ball and what hit it was, then what's the point, right? I don't want it registered as just a "Game used Ball".

[Tedw9]

Re: MLB hologram problems

I purchased a couple of Red Sox game used items last year and found that they were not in the database. I emailed the MLB site and someone got back to me in a couple of days and had my items up within a couple of days after that. When I talked with him, the gentleman told me he was a couple of weeks behind in uploading information.

One of the things I suggested when I wrote a thank you email is that they use more detail about the items, like who used the baseball, what inning and such. He replied that they would take that into consideration for future use. I have a baseball that I know is game used, but by who, what inning and such, I have no idea. Thats ok though, I know it was from a game Jonathan Papelbon won so I had him sign it.

[brianborsch]

Re: MLB hologram problems

But my ball (2 of them) were auctioned from mlb.com as being a ball that was actually hit by the said player. The auction even mentioned what inning and what kind of hit. Als I am saying is that if they have that detail in the auction to sell the item, they better have that same detail in the authentication database.

Brian B

[Tedw9]

Re: MLB hologram problems

Brian,

I am curious to see if that information is listed in the database. Please let us know if it is shown, it would be great if it was.