Upper Deck Damaged Card Replacement - Lesson Learned!

[jjas311]

So I had a Thor: Ragnarok Taika Waititi Grandmaster Prize Auto /100 that arrived damaged from Epack. I haven't had to replace a damaged card in at least 10 years now so I wasn't thinking when they asked;

"What is your favorite team? We want to send you a bonus because of the costs of shipping to get the card back to us"

So I said the Boston Celtics.

What I didn't realize is that they would use this information to chose a replacement because they cant replace the Waititi with another Waititi auto.

What do I get? An unnumbered Rajon Rondo base sticker auto from 09 Upper Deck. Sure, its a rookie auto, but definitely NOT something I would have wanted as a replacement or is it even close in value. Plus he is in his UK uniform on the card, not even a Celtics card!

Lesson learned? When they ask what your favorite team is so they can "send you a freebie" - always say "Robert Downey Jr. Autographs and 03-04 Exquisite Lebron James cards"

Their CS said they might be able to get me the damaged Waititi back so I just started that process, fingers crossed, I really wanted a Waititi for my PC and would rather have a damaged card than none at all. They have actually been very responsive and helpful, great CS, just a bad replacement.

[sportzluvr1]

Replacements are subjective

[jjas311]

edit: it isnt even a rookie year autograph, its 09-10 UD, ha. I just assumed it was an 06 because he is in a UK uniform.

And I understand that they are subjective and I get that they go by "book value" and I'm not the first person to point out that book value seems to always favor their replacement.

I just wish they had asked "what kind of card would you like as a replacement if we don't have another Waititi?"

[jubei777]

Yeah that sucks. I got screwed over by them on some outstanding golf redemptions a year ago. I wound up getting absolutely nothing on my request list. I'm glad I don't have anymore UD redemptions at this point.

[BobCollects]

It would be one thing if they sent you the basketball player auto card as a "bonus" for paying to send back the damaged Waititi auto and then sent you some sort of replacement for the damaged Waititi auto as well.

The fact that Upper Deck would replace a non-sports card with a sports card is surprising.

[Rictor]

Huh, I would have replied that I don't collect sports. Seems weird that they replaced a nonsports card with a sports card. I haven't heard of them doing this.

[Deathgate]

Sounds like you got the bonus they were promising, but they forgot your actual replacement.

[jasonplo]

Ive dealt a lot with EPack replacements (a lot of the Waititi and Tessa Thompson autos from Ragnarok were smudged so I got a lot of them replaced) and I always thought they did a very fair job of replacing stuff.

It sounds like maybe that is just a bonus card for the shipping you had to pay and your replacement for it may be being worked on. I know I had instances where I sent in a smudge auto and paid the highest shipping (because I wanted it there and resolved as fast as possible) and they were nice enough to send my some FUXM packs and some older MCU relics for the costs. Then they eventually sent me my replacement after that.

So hopefully that is the case here. Either way, Ive always had a very nice experience with UD customer service and hope it still works out for you.

Edit: after rereading your original post and their response, it sounds like that is the case. They sent the Rondo for your shipping costs, not the replacement itself. I assume you will be getting a replacement (not a Waititi since I think they are out of those but something comparable non-sports I would hope). Hope thats the case, best wishes on a happy resolution for you!

[GoBeavs]

I got the same line from them for my Goodwin Tiger Woods replacement (from Epack). They said I'd be getting a bonus card as well. It ended up being that the "bonus card" of an Aaron Rodgers auto was all I got; and no Tiger Woods card. After it was all done, I would have rather kept the dinged up Woods card.

[jjas311]

Unfortunately the Rondo IS the replacement. The bonus card they sent is a $5-10 Bill Walton auto...which isn't much less than the value of the Rondo. I called them to confirm this. They also sent the "We hope you will enjoy the enclosed replacement" letter that says "Replacement Enclosed" on the top.

All that being said, I am appreciative of the Walton auto, it's a cool PC card to cover the cost of shipping. I just wish they were more clear in correspondence that by saying I like the Celtics they might send me a non-rookie year college uniform card of a player that played for the Celtics at a point in their career, ha.

We'll see, fingers crossed they let me send the Rondo back for the damaged Waititi.