Originally Posted by 5280
In the fall of 2018, I noticed Walmart had these holiday-themed boxes. Like many, I was hooked on the theme and bought a few boxes. In one of the boxes to my surprise was a redemption card for an Autographed Golden Metallic of Bryce Harper A-BH from a 2018 Topps Baseball Holiday Walmart Mega Box. This to me was the hit of a lifetime.
I have never before or since pulled such a rare card from a player I PC. I entered the redemption code the same day I pulled it and waited patiently for it to be fulfilled. When it came time to renew my wait, I did so because I wanted the card more than anything. Waiting seemed like the least I could do.
In between that time, I wrote Topps to see about the status as well as inquired about it at the Topps booth at the National. Each time I asked about it at the booth I was told "That is another department altogether, we do not handle redemptions." This answer always puzzled me as I thought if they cared enough to give proper customer service they would get my information and have someone call me about the card. However, I followed their instructions and used the website to start a correspondence. Each time I did so, I was asked a bunch of questions to verify that I was the owner of the redemption. Once that was verified they would tell me, that I needed to be patient and the card would be fulfilled once the player signed the card.
I still did some due diligence and sent messages via social media, called, and was transferred many times to different voicemails where I left detailed messages. None of these correspondences bore fruit, and the phone calls were never returned by anyone at Topps. I was frustrated with this outcome, but I continued to follow up and contacted customer support. I also made sure I renewed my redemption wait as I wanted the card and I didn't care how long I had to wait to get it.
Last year's National in Chicago I was determined to resolve the issue. I went to the booth with my scratched redemption in hand. I wasn't going to leave until I had an answer or at the very least a phone number to call. After speaking with two different people on two separate days, they both gave me the same information and phone number. It was the Topps toll-free customer service number. This was not the answer I had hoped for, but I was going to make sure to let the customer service person I was calling know these were my instructions.
When I came home I got a nice gift from the National and spent the next two weeks quarantined after testing positive for Covid. While I was home I caught up on some emails and noticed that I had one from Topps. Had someone at the booth contacted someone else and started the process? Well, no it was a message to say they had fulfilled my card order and shipped the card before I had left for the National. But I did not have the package, did not have notification in our apartment mail locker, or a peach card from USPS saying I needed to pick up a package. I went into research and found it was shipped to a prior address of mine.
At this point, it had been 30-plus days since it was delivered. I went to my old apartment and knocked on the door many times, after my third time knocking a gentleman came to the door. I explained I lived there about a year ago and that I had redemptions that possibly were shipped there. He said, "Yeah uh-huh." and closed the door. I thought maybe he didn't understand. So I turned around to go to the leasing office to see if they could help. Before I could get completely out of the breezeway I heard the door open and the guy saying "Hey, is this what you are looking for?" He had the package and all was right in the world. That is until I got home and opened the package. Inside was a Bryce Harper autograph. But not the 1/1 Golden Snowflake. It was a 2015 Topps Heritage 1951 Bryce Harper autograph. But it was not numbered 1/1 of 5/5 or 10/10, or 25/25 not even 50/50 it was numbered to /75. Topps had sent me a card that sold for $50 to $100 in place of a 1/1 autograph that on the low end would sell for $500 and the high end $5000 (These are confirmed 1/1 Harper autograph sales from eBay.)
My stomach and heart became sick from what I considered a betrayal of my 30-plus years of being a customer of Topps. Spending thousands of dollars a year on products in the hopes of getting a "golden ticket hit" like I did with the Harper redemption. I immediately called customer service and was told it was a 3-hour wait, this wasn't something I wanted to do. I then filled out the customer service message and waited for a reply. Once again no reply, I followed up and filled out 5 more messages about the issue and did not receive a reply. I then thought maybe a snail mail letter would get this resolved.
I wrote a nice 2-page letter explaining my issues and what happened. I never received a reply to that message.
So I am not writing to the forum in hopes that someone had a phone number, email, or way of contacting representatives at Topps to make good on this issue. I am not asking for anything crazy or outlandish, I am looking to receive fair compensation for the card I should have received. At the very least a 1/1 Harper autograph, because that in itself is what I should have received in the first place.
If someone at Topps is reading this, please make this right, please give me faith that Topps as a company cares about its customers and cares about its reputation as an industry leader.
I await a reply, again please do what is right!
Christian Bakken
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06-21-2024, 06:39 PM
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