breakerbreaker
New Member, Must Send First
This has been a long time coming, but definitely worth the wait!
Last spring, I broke a box of Trilogy- hoping, like everyone else in the hobby, to hit McDavid.
While it wasn't to be, I was nevertheless thrilled to pull a redemption for an Oiler I do have a small PC of: his now-linemate Leon Draisaitl.
While my focus had primarily been on collecting Draisaitl's rookie year cards, I figured this one- a 15-16 Trilogy Signature Puck- would make a nice addition to my collection.
However, my enthusiasm for this particular card was dampened shortly after I submitted the redemption as photos of the actual end product began to hit the web. I'm sure everyone remembers how bad the initial run of Signature Pucks looked:
Indeed, for a card that is intended to highlight an auto, the decision to make the background darker than the pen used to sign it was extremely poor.
Despite this QC issue, I held out hope, figuring I could at least say I had one. The alternative wasn't exactly enticing; knowing how close UD sticks to BV when choosing replacements- and knowing the Signature Puck only booked at around $25-35 USD- I figured the odds were high the card I received in exchange would be something I already had.
It wasn't until my wait stretched into September that I started to change my mind. Finally, in October, I e-mailed UD Customer Service. Although they promised the Draisaitl Signature Pucks were close to being finished, I decided to pull the trigger on a replacement gamble anyway.
And... that's when the real waiting began. Having heard the spiel about long wait times previously, I decided not to bother UD again until after Christmas. December turned into January, and finally, in February, I reached out to see what had become of my request.
In March of this year- a full 365 days since breaking that fateful box of Trilogy- UD responded; after an investigation, they had determined the initial redemption replacement was returned to their warehouse due to an incorrect address and promptly forgotten about.
The rep who I dealt with was extremely apologetic, and promised to have something out to me right away.
Well, "right away" turned out to be nearly four weeks later, but the card finally arrived yesterday and...
WOW!
UD catches a lot of flak for their redemption practices, but I have to say that this replacement certainly exceeded my expectations.
Part of their willingness to go above and beyond, obviously, has to do with the mailing error; however, for a card that booked at around $25 to be replaced with a FWA is outstanding- especially considering how much Draisaitl's stock has risen since this time last year.
Only a handful of these have hit the secondary market, with prices in the $100+ range. However, I won't be selling this one, as it was one his few rookie cards to evade my grasp- yet another reason why this is a major win in my books.
All in all, I'd happily wait for another replacement if it meant a result like this- hopefully not take any longer, though!
Last spring, I broke a box of Trilogy- hoping, like everyone else in the hobby, to hit McDavid.
While it wasn't to be, I was nevertheless thrilled to pull a redemption for an Oiler I do have a small PC of: his now-linemate Leon Draisaitl.
While my focus had primarily been on collecting Draisaitl's rookie year cards, I figured this one- a 15-16 Trilogy Signature Puck- would make a nice addition to my collection.
However, my enthusiasm for this particular card was dampened shortly after I submitted the redemption as photos of the actual end product began to hit the web. I'm sure everyone remembers how bad the initial run of Signature Pucks looked:
Indeed, for a card that is intended to highlight an auto, the decision to make the background darker than the pen used to sign it was extremely poor.
Despite this QC issue, I held out hope, figuring I could at least say I had one. The alternative wasn't exactly enticing; knowing how close UD sticks to BV when choosing replacements- and knowing the Signature Puck only booked at around $25-35 USD- I figured the odds were high the card I received in exchange would be something I already had.
It wasn't until my wait stretched into September that I started to change my mind. Finally, in October, I e-mailed UD Customer Service. Although they promised the Draisaitl Signature Pucks were close to being finished, I decided to pull the trigger on a replacement gamble anyway.
And... that's when the real waiting began. Having heard the spiel about long wait times previously, I decided not to bother UD again until after Christmas. December turned into January, and finally, in February, I reached out to see what had become of my request.
In March of this year- a full 365 days since breaking that fateful box of Trilogy- UD responded; after an investigation, they had determined the initial redemption replacement was returned to their warehouse due to an incorrect address and promptly forgotten about.
The rep who I dealt with was extremely apologetic, and promised to have something out to me right away.
Well, "right away" turned out to be nearly four weeks later, but the card finally arrived yesterday and...
WOW!
UD catches a lot of flak for their redemption practices, but I have to say that this replacement certainly exceeded my expectations.
Part of their willingness to go above and beyond, obviously, has to do with the mailing error; however, for a card that booked at around $25 to be replaced with a FWA is outstanding- especially considering how much Draisaitl's stock has risen since this time last year.
Only a handful of these have hit the secondary market, with prices in the $100+ range. However, I won't be selling this one, as it was one his few rookie cards to evade my grasp- yet another reason why this is a major win in my books.
All in all, I'd happily wait for another replacement if it meant a result like this- hopefully not take any longer, though!
