PCGS submission times INSANELY slow

I am just posting to complain about how frustrated I am with PCGS. An order I sent was logged by PCGS on 12/29 and was supposed to be 30 day turnaround. I am now at business day 56 with zero movement in 30 business days. I typically prefer NGC but because PCGS estimated wait times were less than half of NGC, I decided to give PCGS a shot. Turns out that may have been a mistake. I am just here to vent, so pease share any recent TPG frustrations.

 

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And mine logged in 12/1 not encapsulated yet....

 

I’m in a similar boat-mid January for me when PCGS acknowledged receiving the package. NGC is just as slow. I waited around three months in the middle of 2021 and their times have only increased since then. It’s a slow process at both places. I believe only ICG is meeting their wait times and doing it within a much shorter time frame.

 

Wow, guess I'll be waiting at least 3 more weeks then. Hopefully my grades aren't knocked down because I've called like 3 times about this lol

 

I know both are slow right now but I am most disappointed and frustrated by the misrepresentation by PCGS. At least NGC acknowledges their turnaround time is about 60 days, where as PCGS claims only 30.

 

I hear you. When I sent my NGC order last year, it ended up going over their estimate too. I wasn't happy then nor am I now. Unfortunately there isn't much to be done besides wait or not submit. I'm actually not submitting to NGC since that experience last year. I debated doing the PCGS sub but ended up caving as I wanted some coins graded and hoped that the times wouldn't be too extreme.

 

I am sure they have business decisions to make about how many graders they need - what if the market were to take a downturn and they still had expanded payroll or other such? And I am sure the sale of both of the major TPGs to investment cooperatives will not serve the collector in the long run.
A shame as I have toyed with the idea of putting some of my sets into the Registry of either but the cost and time and intransigence have dissuaded me. Also, in some specialized areas they have no idea (IMHO) what they are doing grade wise or in figuring out the types or varieties.... Blah, blah, blah....

 

Neither are fast right now with the insane amount of submissions and I think there may be some supply issues with the slabs/gaskets, but PCGS is still significantly fast than NGC right now. The big thing too is NGC charges you as soon as they open the submission, PCGS doesnt charge until it ships

 

That's pretty funny. "If you phone us, you lose that + we were considering. One more call after that and we phone up CAC too."

 

It's usually not a grading issue even though thats by far and away the hardest position to hire for. The photos and stuff take more time for most things. At one point last year NGC was taking 2 months just to open your package and enter it into the system as just one example

 

I had an order for 11/20/2021 that was just returned to me today. Total business days is 81 so expect around that ballpark. FYI that is for a regular order.

Total calendar days is 122.

 

That's about where I am at. I have a few coins that need graded to sell so I am basically screwed one way or the other from a timing standpoint of getting them back sometime in the next 10 years...

I know they are both slow, but my frustration is more so that they estimated 30 days turnaround when they know darn well its not even remotely close to that. At least NGC admits to their super long wait based on their estimated times.

I don't think its realistic they would do that as a company, though I could see an individual being petty like that even though I don't think its likely. Its just a funny thought I had while calling for the 3rd time or so.

Insane. Maybe sometime before I die, I'll get my order back. I had hoped to get it back to consign 1 or 2 coins to the Stacks Bowers Hong Kong auction, but that's looking unlikely at this point.

 

I hear you. The only saving grace at this point is that we are in a hot market that has continued to rise. So when we get our coins back in 3-6 months, the prices might be up some more. ...and I know prices can go back down at any moment; I'm just trying to put a positive spin on things.

 

Hey! I'll take any positive spin I can get. Overall it's ok, I just had to vent and hoped I wasn't the only one having wait times at least double what their estimate it. I do think I may realistically send my next order to NGC though.

 

Hey we all need to vent and where else besides a coin forum could you do that about grading. I did just check my order and it's still stuck in the same grading status.

If you end up sending to NGC, let us know how the wait times turn out there. I'm still not ready to send anything their way-my one modern set that is all NGC, I'll just wait until an example shows up graded and buy on eBay.

 

Makes you wonder if someone sees this as a business opportunity. More competition will help lift the game.

 

Its a rolling average they show that for the most part is pretty accurate. The crappy part that a lot of people forget or dont know is that show days do not count just like holidays dont. So the week of Fun basically the whole week didnt count, Long Beach shows etc. Next week Thursday and Friday arent going to count because of Baltimore.

Between the holidays and a bunch of shows that start early in the year a lot of days just dont count which is one of the things that slows things down to start the years

 

Uh that still is a rough one and problematic in many ways and as an example, although I dropped my PCGS submissions at the last Baltimore show they were logged in 11 and 12 days later. This has made 123 calendar days since drop-off and technically 113 days since log-in.
Not that my business matters in the slightest although perhaps I have some sway with collectors in my area but at the very least will slow the "velocity" of submissions by me - again I am sure that does not matter to them, but then this is part of the problem of not responding to your customer base I would think...

 

Turnaround times can be all over the place. I have an Economy World that was received 2/28/22 and it posted grades today. Other submissions from the same date are in both Received and Grading.

All my invoices from 1/13 are in various states of Grading/Encapsulation/Quality Check.

Most shocking was a US bulk submission that was received on 2/15 and was in Encapsulation/Quality Check the very next day. I don't know the normal turnaround time for bulk, but I sure wasn't expecting them to go from Received, through Grading and into Encapsulation/Quality Check in one day.

If you want your submissions to go faster, use the online submission form and if possible, make sure all the coins on that form already have a PCGS #. I've been told that having to create a new PCGS # is a major slowdown for a submission.

 

Ha, joke is on me as I dropped them at the PCGS booth at the last Baltimore show! Another show is coming up & I have a certificate for 8 NGC submissions so will use that on a some I guess...