E-mailed UD and...

[v3rs3]

Did you want a parade in your name for telling to big mean UD that you're upset about their service? You even said you have had great experiences with UD, yet you're only bringing up other peoples problems. It's not really your problem, I really don't see what you were trying to accomplish except wasting other peoples time.

Redemptions really come down to the players, not the company. Would you rather they have a redemption for Wayne Gretzky or a hard-signed card of Hal Gill in your box?

[Qwikflipz]

Did you want a parade in your name for telling to big mean UD that you're upset about their service? You even said you have had great experiences with UD, yet you're only bringing up other peoples problems. It's not really your problem, I really don't see what you were trying to accomplish except wasting other peoples time.

You people need to chill, why don't you get mad at the people in other threads bashing UD? I thought that their response was interesting, that they refuse to answer my questions. And it is my problem, seeing I am a customer of them, and it has affect me somewhat. If you want to bash me, bash other people as well in other threads.

[cathaytrader]

I can tell you why Qwikflipz actually got a response from UD. UD con men (I refuse to call them "customer service" anymore) will reply to emails that they can answer immediately and deal with simply. There was no real or specific "call to action" required in the email. They did not have to check on status of a specific card, assist with a replacement, etc.

I must agree with RGM81 that it was rather rude and would not under many circumstances have received a response. However the UD con man simply had to type in (probably cut and paste) the BS answer that you received and it appears as if they give a crap and are doing something about your concerns.

As soon as he finished typing in his response he went back to browsing through his "Cart and Horses Monthly" magazine.

[agold2121]

But the other people who bashed UD actually had their own problems with UD. You did not. I'm not bashing you, just trying to figure out exactly why you did what you did.

[cathaytrader]

I must say that Qwikflipz only said what I myself have wanted to say to UD many many times. To be honest I would not have been as "polite" as him. Maybe Qwikflipz is a tort lawyer trying to stir up a class action lawsuit against UD.

Qwikflipz, sign me up !

[Qwikflipz]

I do have an issue, I've said it twice. I have sold redemptions, and people want their refund because UD hasn't gotten the card out. But I wrote the e-mail because it is frustrating, and I do not want to buy a box of SPGU and pull a great card that is a redemption and I won't get it for months, years.

I am not a lawyer, but I run a pretty decent card business.

[agold2121]

If you sell the redemption and UD doesn't send out that's not your fault. Tough on the buyer. Sorry.

[Qwikflipz]

If you sell the redemption and UD doesn't send out that's not your fault. Tough on the buyer. Sorry.

I know, I don't issue the refund, but I do want all my customers to be happy, as well as UD should too.

[30ranfordfan]

Wow. I missed out on a good conversation this afternoon :)

I'd like to make a couple of points here.

First of all, the Ranford card you mentioned in your email to them..... I can only assume you were talking about mine. I know I've made comments about it in other threads recently.

While I take no issue with you using my outstanding redemption as an example, please check you facts if you're going to do it. There have been no auto cards released of Bill Ranford in the last two season (09-10, or 08-09). There were several (from The Cup) in 07-08, a year after the SPGU card I'm still waiting on was supposed to be made.

Does that make a difference? No, not to the argument. But when you're pointing the finger at someone you should make sure you've got your facts right.

I do not understand the point of your email to them. You submit a message like that, in a completely hostile tone, and what sort of response do you expect to get? They obviously tried to respond to you (and they got back very quickly, by the looks of things) but what did you want them to say?

You came at them without a personal problem that you needed solved, just wanting to complain about the company.

Going back to my redemption, I have been in contact with the recently (I usually email them every 6 months, or so, to ask about it). Here's what I was told:

Thanks for your message. I was actually just in a meeting about redemptions and these were one of the topics. The cards need to be reprinted and they are trying to find room for them on an upcoming form. They will definitely get made, they just need to be worked in the production schedule. In terms of timing, it could be up to another six months for completion unfortunately. If you want to have it exchanged, let me know what teams you collect and I’ll have Customer Service address. I’m sorry for the delays with these cards.

(I'm not going to bother with the whole conversation - but "These cards" refer to all of the 06-07 SPGU Lettermarks redemptions that are still out there.... not the Ranford specifically).

What does that tell me? Realistically, I might get them in another year. Is that fair? No. Is it right? No. Can I do much about it? Nope. Can the guy I was emailing do anything about it? Also no. He was polite, and quick to respond to me. Gave me information about the problem that I didn't already have. What more could I ask for, from their customer service people? For him to run down to the factory, and personally run the card off?

As for some of the other things talked about here..... I can't believe that a customer would come back to you asking for a refund when they didn't get a redemption. It doesn't make any sense.

For example, you pull a redemption today.... from an 09-10 product, and sell it to me. I get it, redeem the code. It's going to take 6 months, at minimum, before I can fairly say that there was a problem with the redemption. I'm supposed to contact a guy I bought from on eBay 6 months after the fact, and tell him that Upper Deck failed to honour the redemption?? How does that make any sense at all?

Second of all - What exactly is Upper Deck doing wrong? Are redemptions a bad thing? Yes. Are the a necessary evil? Maybe. (The other thing would be to remove them from the checklist).

You know what though? There are some legitimate reasons why cards may not get made, or sent out. Players & Agents lose and damage cards. Mailmen damage cards. Cards are going to need to get remade. In my particular case, it sounds like there was a production problem and several cards from the set were damaged during production (this is my interpretation - not something that I was ever explicitly told). It can happen.

Again - is there a valid excuse for waiting 3 years to make a card? No. There's been plenty of time for them to do it. The people (or person) responsible for that, are never going to be the ones you'll be able to talk to. Getting hostile with an Upper Deck Customer Service employee makes about as much sense as complaining about the high gas price to the kid working at the gas station (which is pretty much a sport in Canada). All you do is create ill will between yourself, and the level of the company that you CAN interact with, and who CAN help you. Get them ticked off at you, and guess what's going to happen? They're not going to go out of their way for you, at all.

One last point I want to make - if you don't want to wait, ask for a replacement. After 6 months, you're perfectly within your rights to ask for one. Is it the same thing? No. Should it have to happen? No. Reality shows us that it does happen though. Another thread suggested that legal action could be taken against them for them. Not a chance. Their redemption policies have always clearly stated that you might be asked to accept a replacement instead. When you buy their product you should know that. When you buy a replacement on the secondary market..... you should know that there's a chance you may have to take a replacement.


I don't care if it's hockey cards, gasoline, running shoes, or your cable subscription...... if you're going to deal with front line customer service employees, be polite. It's the only you'll get results.

[Qwikflipz]

Wow. I missed out on a good conversation this afternoon :)

I'd like to make a couple of points here.

First of all, the Ranford card you mentioned in your email to them..... I can only assume you were talking about mine. I know I've made comments about it in other threads recently.

While I take no issue with you using my outstanding redemption as an example, please check you facts if you're going to do it. There have been no auto cards released of Bill Ranford in the last two season (09-10, or 08-09). There were several (from The Cup) in 07-08, a year after the SPGU card I'm still waiting on was supposed to be made.

Does that make a difference? No, not to the argument. But when you're pointing the finger at someone you should make sure you've got your facts right.

I do not understand the point of your email to them. You submit a message like that, in a completely hostile tone, and what sort of response do you expect to get? They obviously tried to respond to you (and they got back very quickly, by the looks of things) but what did you want them to say?

You came at them without a personal problem that you needed solved, just wanting to complain about the company.

Going back to my redemption, I have been in contact with the recently (I usually email them every 6 months, or so, to ask about it). Here's what I was told:

Thanks for your message. I was actually just in a meeting about redemptions and these were one of the topics. The cards need to be reprinted and they are trying to find room for them on an upcoming form. They will definitely get made, they just need to be worked in the production schedule. In terms of timing, it could be up to another six months for completion unfortunately. If you want to have it exchanged, let me know what teams you collect and I’ll have Customer Service address. I’m sorry for the delays with these cards.

(I'm not going to bother with the whole conversation - but "These cards" refer to all of the 06-07 SPGU Lettermarks redemptions that are still out there.... not the Ranford specifically).

What does that tell me? Realistically, I might get them in another year. Is that fair? No. Is it right? No. Can I do much about it? Nope. Can the guy I was emailing do anything about it? Also no. He was polite, and quick to respond to me. Gave me information about the problem that I didn't already have. What more could I ask for, from their customer service people? For him to run down to the factory, and personally run the card off?

As for some of the other things talked about here..... I can't believe that a customer would come back to you asking for a refund when they didn't get a redemption. It doesn't make any sense.

For example, you pull a redemption today.... from an 09-10 product, and sell it to me. I get it, redeem the code. It's going to take 6 months, at minimum, before I can fairly say that there was a problem with the redemption. I'm supposed to contact a guy I bought from on eBay 6 months after the fact, and tell him that Upper Deck failed to honour the redemption?? How does that make any sense at all?

Second of all - What exactly is Upper Deck doing wrong? Are redemptions a bad thing? Yes. Are the a necessary evil? Maybe. (The other thing would be to remove them from the checklist).

You know what though? There are some legitimate reasons why cards may not get made, or sent out. Players & Agents lose and damage cards. Mailmen damage cards. Cards are going to need to get remade. In my particular case, it sounds like there was a production problem and several cards from the set were damaged during production (this is my interpretation - not something that I was ever explicitly told). It can happen.

Again - is there a valid excuse for waiting 3 years to make a card? No. There's been plenty of time for them to do it. The people (or person) responsible for that, are never going to be the ones you'll be able to talk to. Getting hostile with an Upper Deck Customer Service employee makes about as much sense as complaining about the high gas price to the kid working at the gas station (which is pretty much a sport in Canada). All you do is create ill will between yourself, and the level of the company that you CAN interact with, and who CAN help you. Get them ticked off at you, and guess what's going to happen? They're not going to go out of their way for you, at all.

One last point I want to make - if you don't want to wait, ask for a replacement. After 6 months, you're perfectly within your rights to ask for one. Is it the same thing? No. Should it have to happen? No. Reality shows us that it does happen though. Another thread suggested that legal action could be taken against them for them. Not a chance. Their redemption policies have always clearly stated that you might be asked to accept a replacement instead. When you buy their product you should know that. When you buy a replacement on the secondary market..... you should know that there's a chance you may have to take a replacement.


I don't care if it's hockey cards, gasoline, running shoes, or your cable subscription...... if you're going to deal with front line customer service employees, be polite. It's the only you'll get results.

I didn't use Ranford for the whole autograph example. I was meaning other cards that have redemptions. Malkin's Crosby's etc. That has to be because of production, and not because of players. My biggest beef is if you can't even get the card made, don't put out a redemption.

I did what many people do when they are upset at a company, send an e-mail. Was a polite, no, but is what they do great in the customer service side of UD? No. I had my facts straight (I believe). I understand if an athlete cannot sign that isn't UD fault. But to redemption's for cards not even made? Not good.