I am curious as to why were they sent to ANACS instead of PCGS or NGC to begin with? I doubt PCGS or NGC will put them out of business since their customer service leaves a lot to be desired also at times. I personally have always received better service with ANACS.
Ahem* Guess who just got hired at PCGS? -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I flew out for my interview yesterday, and was hired for the apprentice grading position. I'll be moving to California and starting work in June! Looks like you will get a chance to make that so!
My fiance sent the coins in, because she thought it would be better to go with cheaper service. I had to remind her that I am hired at PCGS, and she should be using them.
Update: I talked to James Taylor today and he said that he knew about how easy it was to open the new holders, and that it had been fixed. Charlie
Charlie---what did you think of Mr Taylor??... The first time I talked to him he was really nice and the last time you would have thought I was going to kill him....maybe I just hit him at a bad time but it wasn't the nice talk I had before. Speedy
Does this mean one should be suspect of any coin as a possible replacement in a new ANACS holder. It seems so. Let me recollect what I have read lately. Speedy says that ICG admits to over grading. GDJMSP offers the possibility that PCGS grades 70's primarily for insider use. Midas has established that NGC grades 5 to 20 times as many coins 70 as PCGS. The top two tiers are looking a little questionable to my untrained eye at the moment.
Yeah, but when you compare them to all the others - they still stand head, shoulders and most of the torso above the rest. Nobody has ever said that the TPG's are perfect - they are not, far from it. Every single one of them overgrades, undergrades, and bodybags coins when they shouldn't from time to time. But when you consider what they do overall - they do a pretty dang good job. No, they are not perfect. But when you compare what they do today to what we had 20 years ago when they didn't exist - I'll take today anytime.
I greatly appreciate the service provided by the major grading companies. It is enormously beneficial to someone like me to be able to buy a coin that has been examined by a team of experts who have determined that it is authentic, not harshly cleaned or damaged, is roughly a high, middle, or low condition uncirculated coin, and is sealed in a tamper-proof holder that also protects the coin. The people trying to make a clear distinction between an MS65 and MS66 because a couple of thousand dollars of value is riding on the difference are playing a different game and looking for assurances that may not be possible. I don't get involved with coins where the conditional rarity between one grade and the next is so great that it has a large impact on the price. That would terrify me. But with that said, the above comments lead me to believe that it is safest to avoid ANACS coins in the new holders. From a business standpoint, they probably should redesign them again so collectors can make a distinction between the new flawed design and the corrected design. Fixing the problem without providing a way to identify the holders that were not tamper-proof is no fix at all. I believe I own more coins in old ANACS holders than any other TPG. I won't be buying any coins in the new holders.
Well, I was told on Friday by ANACS, that my coins were being shipped on Friday. I called again today, and was told they were being shipped in a few hours. I mentioned that my fiance had paid for email service(where they email you the grades), and was told that oh, they haven't gotten the email service set up yet (but they charged my fiances credit card anyway), and that they could tell me the grades over the phone, they didn't have those, so they said they would call me back. My fiance just got a call, saying that the grades were not available, as they needed to be graded once more? This is getting out of hand.
I just got off the phone with Customer Service at ANACS. As of yet, I have not received back the coins which I sent in for the 5 day service back on March 22. She told me that the coin would be slabbed and shipped today. I wonder if the phone call had anything to do with that???
I don't know, but personally I wouldn't get your hopes up. My coins were apparently shipped on Friday, but magically were in the office today waiting to be shipped, and then waiting to be graded, next thing they will tell me is they have yet to open the package.
As far as I'm concerned ALL TPG companies are to be avoided... http://www.cointalk.org/showthread.php?t=12285 ///////////////////// B
I can kind of relate to this. Since the "new ANACS" started I've submitted three orders to them. Order #1: 2-Day Express with faxing of grades on two rare foreign coins. Day 2 or 3 (depends on how you count days) I get a call from ANACS saying that can't authenticate them and they need to be sent out. They say this will take 2-3 weeks and ask if I want that or the coins returned. I needed them back ASAP so I asked they be returned. On the day the coins actually arrive back I also receive the fax with the grades. The grades are "We cannot authenticate this coin". :headbang: ANACS bills my credit card the full charge for this submission. I personally feel I should only pay return shipping for this and I intend to talk to James about it at the next show. Order #2: 5-Day Express on two early US proofs. I submitted them at a show and I think they might have hit the 5-day target. One of the slabs was already scuffed up when it arrived back. The grade was not centered in the white bubble and the bar code was smudged. Order #3: 10-Day Express for some US proofs (1942 proof set, etc). About 15 business days after the package arrived at ANACS I call to see what the status is since I think I should have had it back by then. At first the person makes it sound like it's too early by saying something like "Oh, this is only a 10-day express". When I inform him of the day it arrived at ANACS - which was clearly longer than 10 business days - he says "let's see where it is". It's in the "final grading" I am told. It'll be shipping in the next day or two and he mentions the move, but doesn't outright say the move slowed it down. It's been at least a full business week since that call and I still don't have the package yet. I'm not sure what, if anything, I'll be getting for them missing the turnaround guarantee. If it is nothing, that's what ANACS will be getting from me in the future. While I've found the customer service to be improved (it used to be AWFUL), they clearly need to work on the turnaround times, the poorly designed slab, and the god-awful insert. ANACS is blowing it right now in a big way.
Well, Just got off the phone with ANACS, my coins are in "assembly", and won't go out until next week. That means, that they will have had my coins in their possession for approximately 20 business days, when I paid for 5 day service. I could not be more disgusted right now.
Zane--have you talked to Mr Taylor yet?...if not I would suggest next time asking for him....I used to have his number here so I could get right though but don't think I have that any more. Speedy
I haven't talked to him yet. I was told that the email service (which was paid for) isn't running, so if I want the grades, that I have to call and inquire. I was told on Friday, that they should be available, and if they aren't then I will be sure and get Mr. Taylor on the phone. I personally feel there is no excuse for the length of time that they have had my fiances submission, which unfortunately are my coins.
I should mention on the plus side, that they had charged my fiances bank card, but as of today, that charge has been reversed. That better mean that she isn't getting charged, however there is no way of me knowing, since I was told my coins were being shipped on monday, then told they were waiting to be shipped, then told they were graded, and needed to be packaged, and then told they were being assembled.
