Customer Service Comparison

[bwmechtech]

Hey All

Happy New Year everyone!

It's rare, but I just had a couple redemptions come in, and I thought I would throw in my thoughts on the two companies involved. I hear both positive and negative about both firms, I'd love to hear what you think on these two situations.

First off, I had a redemption for a 13-14 UD Ultimate Collection John Gibson RC auto /99. After 6 years or so, they decided to send me a replacement, as obviously it was never going to be made. Out of the blue I received a package from Upper Deck with a 13-14 SPA John Gibson RC auto /999 as a replacement. I know SPA is well collected, but the print run is over 10x that of the Ultimate RC. Not impressed UD. :foottap:

Jump forward a week or two and I receive two packages unexpectedly from Panini. About a month before, I took advantage of some good sales and picked up an inner case of 12-13 Certified. Figured it would be an entertaining break. I hit two redemptions for a Jakob Silfverberg RC Jersey Auto, one a regular version /499 and one from a hot box numbered /10. I thought it would be a long shot to submit redemptions from a 7 year old product, but I certainly didn't have anything to lose. Low and behold they did not send me replacements, they sent me the exact cards on the redemptions! Now that is how redemptions should work! Thanks Panini for such awesome service.:clap:

 

[odjickfan]

I had some great experiences with old redemptions from Panini. A few times, they weren't able to send the original cards, and they asked me what I wanted as a replacement. I remember getting a couple of Jarred Tinordi Totally Certified autos replaced by decent autographs of retired Canadiens players, like a Cournoyer Private Signings.

UD is usually decent with me. I pulled an expired redemption for a no-name rookie auto from Premier 14-15 and participated into the raffle. I got an hard-signed Varlamov auto. Also, I pulled an expired Metro rookie redemption from MVP 17-18 last month. I emailed them, they replied quickly and will honor the redemption. Some decent names like Hischier, Patrick and Dubois I think.

In your case, I would call UD and explain them the situation. I think you deserve a bit more.

 

[creasecollector]

For the Gibson, it was nice that they gave you a Gibson auto in return for the UC Auto /99. It sucks that the print run is a lot higher, and I think they could have included something else in the package to make up for that. Not a bad replacement though. They are still in demand from set collectors and do command a premium, which is very nice.

As for the second situation, I'm so glad Panini came through for you there on those redemptions. I'm not sure what their hockey inventory is like right now since they've been out of the game for years, but they must have had those cards sitting around from all those years ago. Nice to see they made good on those expired redemptions.

I think both these scenarios the company involved did a good job. Sure, the Gibson auto maybe could've had a sweetener inside the package, but overall I think these worked out much in your favour here. Congrats!

 

[webottew]

First off, I had a redemption for a 13-14 UD Ultimate Collection John Gibson RC auto /99. After 6 years or so, they decided to send me a replacement, as obviously it was never going to be made. Out of the blue I received a package from Upper Deck with a 13-14 SPA John Gibson RC auto /999 as a replacement. I know SPA is well collected, but the print run is over 10x that of the Ultimate RC. Not impressed UD. :foottap:

Don't be too quick to dismiss the Gibson FWA. They sell quite well (~$100 CDN) and have at least 10 times the demand compared to the Ultimate RC with set collectors. Also, it was a post-release replacement to another FWA redemption (Vatanen). Gibson was never scheduled to be a FWA in the set (he also has a FW in the same set). Thus, to receive a Gibson FWA you had to redeem the Vatanen FWA redemption. You can read more about it here Beckett: John Gibson replaces teammate in 2013-14 SPA

Panani may be slower and harder to get a hold of for redemptions, but I have found they have been more than fair. Perhaps because they have been out of the hockey market for years now, and are happy to move some of the inventory they are sitting on

 

[Nick2317]

Gibson FWA was never supposed to be made to begin with his card is a replacement for Sami Vatanen