Absolutely Horrible Experience With MLB.com AUCTIONS

[frikativ54]

My letter to MLB.com Auctions:


I was very disappointed to receive my Authentic MLB.com Auctions game-used lineup card in the mail today. The lineup card measures at 16 inches tall, whereas the protective cardboard was only 14 inches tall. Since the lineup card was not completely covered, all four corners were bent in shipment. Of those, two were severely bent.

Upon my receipt of this item, I talked to others I knew who collected lineup cards. Three separate people have told me that they bought lineup cards from MLB.com Auctions that were also bent in shipment. To this I have a question: how much would it cost you to put the lineup cards in a protective sleeve like they are displayed in many an MLB stadium?

I know your workers only view this as their job, but for people like me, $150 is a lot of money, and these lineup cards are a treasured part of MLB History. The lineup card that I bought was used in my favorite baseball player's 2,000th hit game, which for us baseball fans, is a not insignificant milestone. With the damage to my lineup card, it has ruined the enjoyment value of an otherwise-treasured item. What can you do to resolve this situation?

Here are two solutions:

1) Please put all future lineup cards in protective sleeves so they are not damaged in transit.

2) Please give me at least a partial refund on my investment. I never would have paid $150 for a damaged lineup card.

Please note that I won't accept any resolution that requires me to ship the item back. I will be searching for ways to display the lineup card that minimize the visibility of the damage. I still want to enjoy this unique - albeit tarnished - piece of history.

You owe it to your own self-respect and that of your customers to provide a better experience for everyone, so that you may continue to be a leader in the game-used memorabilia industry.
Thanks for your time.

Sincerely,




L.A. "Frik" Zukor

A Disappointed Customer

[10thMan]

Frik54, I bought my G/Friend a John Lackey Retail Jersey from MLB.COM it never showed up. They gave me the "run-around" for about 5-6 Phone Calls, Finally I got upset. Being a Notary Public, I got ahold of a Supervisor & explained that a Letter was written to the BBB (better business bureau) All of a sudden, a replacement Jersey Showed up. I wont do Business with them again.

I`m feeling your pain, I`ve bought signed Rookie Cards (that took months to find) that showed up POUNDED. Why damage such a nice Item, it don`t make sense. Many Items can`t be replaced.

Sean

[loumud]

You should try contacting their customer service department to see if you can get some sort of coupon or discount for use on any item in the future.

Frik,

I agree 100% here. First off, I would come to expect that MLB won't do anything to refund or exchange your item, but they might give you some sort of credit or discount towards future purchases. In this situation , hearing what others have said about the responsiveness of MLB reps in the past, you might want to take this towards the top, like a senior marketing VP or someone along those lines. A lot of times the customer service reps towards the lower end of the food chain are doing whatever they can to try and neutralize the situation, and a lot of times that means simply ignoring the problem in hopes of it going away. But, some of the more senior executives might take a more serious look at your compaint. You can try e-mailing, but in this case I think it warrants the age-old art of writing a stern hand-written letter about your experience and maybe including some digital photos of the damage to your item.

I hate to say it, but even though there may not be a happy ending to your situation, it might be the one that will help MLB re-think how they handle their auctions and ship items out to cutsomers. I would also think that you're not the first one to complain about their shipping practices either. In any case, you certainly have nothing to lose by vocalizing your displeasure with the auction, and, again, I would take this to the top. Not necessarily to Bud Selig, but look around and see who might be overseeing the auctions. And, better yet, try and find out who they report to...

[markfd]

One thing that should be remembered here is that MLB Auctions sells items for a lot of different folks, there is not this giant warehouse that they ship everything out of. Teams sell directly on this site, charities on behalf of the team sell on this site, and companies licensed to sell by MLB sell directly on the website, it is rare in my experience that MLB is the actual "seller" for these items, often they are facilitators for the auction to happen.

Complaining that MLB is not helpful or responsive or has sent you damaged goods is akin to complaining to eBay about them shipping an item to you when in reality the seller on eBay's platform has shipped the item to you. Both MLB and eBay can only do so much.

For example the items I have purchased on MLB recently come from directly from the Mets, Locker Room Memorabilia, MLB Advanced Media, Steiner, and All Star Lineup. My point is that NONE of those items came from an MLB warehouse they were simply sold on MLB.com.

[platinum1]

One thing that should be remembered here is that MLB Auctions sells items for a lot of different folks, there is not this giant warehouse that they ship everything out of. Teams sell directly on this site, charities on behalf of the team sell on this site, and companies licensed to sell by MLB sell directly on the website, it is rare in my experience that MLB is the actual "seller" for these items, often they are facilitators for the auction to happen.

Complaining that MLB is not helpful or responsive or has sent you damaged goods is akin to complaining to eBay about them shipping an item to you when in reality the seller on eBay's platform has shipped the item to you. Both MLB and eBay can only do so much.

For example the items I have purchased on MLB recently come from directly from the Mets, Locker Room Memorabilia, MLB Advanced Media, Steiner, and All Star Lineup. My point is that NONE of those items came from an MLB warehouse they were simply sold on MLB.com.

Yes your right I would contact the Astos about this problem. They might be able to help you out better

[cards-bats]

You may want to place the corners of your lineup card between to heavier sheets of paper and then get your iron out & iron them flat. You don't want to get it too hot, but I think that may work for you. I know that people do that with paper currency collections.

[sylbry]

Two words, matted frame.

Won't fix the problem but might be able to cover most of it up.

[camarokids]

You may want to place the corners of your lineup card between to heavier sheets of paper and then get your iron out & iron them flat. You don't want to get it too hot, but I think that may work for you. I know that people do that with paper currency collections.

Yes , the infamous paper doctors can be quite deceptive with their work.

They can make an extra fine note look damn near un-circulated.

Back to the line up card , the corners could have already had some damage?

I have a large line up card from 2005 and the corners are kind of beat up.

[godwulf]

A couple of years ago, I won the auction for Bob Welch's locker tag from the World Baseball Classic - he was the pitching coach for the Dutch team. It is about 12" x 3", and it was simply tossed into a large manilla envelope, with no attempt at packaging whatsoever aside from that, and of course it arrived with a big crease in it. An email to Customer Service at MLB resulted in exactly nothing.

I guess I should consider myself lucky that they didn't just scrawl my name and address on the back of the tag and put a stamp on it.

The problem with a lot of these things is that they're one of a kind items and we don't want to send them back, even if they're a little more "as is" when we get them than they started out to be. Until such time (and I honestly don't see this happening) as we begin to bite the bullet, as collectors, and start demanding refunds from MLB on items that are clearly damaged, not from being "game-used", but from being "shipper careless", they're going to continue to do things on the cheap and blow off the odd complaint as the whining of a few "condition freaks".

[tigerdale]

I guess the only saving grace is we are buying game used items, so they're not perfect anyways....many lineups have tears, tape rips, bends from just hanging & being removed from the dugout...we just wish the abuse would come from the game, not the shipping.