SWAU Autograph Issues... to Vent

[Frog]

This is kind of a long one, so bare with me....

Last year I heard Natalie Portman was signing for SWAU again, which was huge news as she said she would never do a signing again. I was able to get my order in around April. My goal was to have her, Ewan and Hayden sign a trio photo. I knew that Ewan and Hayden both sign a decent amount, so I was going to put my order in for Natalie and then also use that order number to get all 3 to sign the same photo.

The same photo.

This is nothing new for this website. It allows you to add onto your orders and add to your notes of how you want it done. Months go by and Ewan/Hayden orders open. No mention of Natalie yet. I have both of them sign the same photo along with my previous Protman order number.

Now I know this seems confusing, but the website makes it very "easy".

Fast forward to October and I get this in the mail -



Totally badass... but no Natalie autograph. So I email them and say hey, you guys forgot to have her sign it when she signs. They sent me a return label and apologized for their mistake.

I am a bit annoyed, but I get it, things happen. I send it back and wait another FOUR months. I get it, that's when her signing must have been.

I get this in the mail yesterday



My Ewan/Hayden is god knows where. They didn't have her sign the right photo. They even had me put my order numbers on my package I shipped back. I have no idea what they did with the correct photo.

Now the Portman signing is over. I have 1 photo of just hers and my other is gone. With personalizations, this cost me over $1600. I am just a collector and don't resell autos. It's so frustrating because this cannot be fixed. There is no way to have them all sign it again unless Hayden and Ewan have another signing and I can send the Portman one in again....

but what if they mess it up again? I have no words for how frustrating this is and did contact them, but it just can't be fixed. I don't even know if I'll get my other photo back. Even if I do, I don't even care about it as the entire point was to have all 3 sign it out to myself.

Sorry for the vent, but this has been pretty horrible for the past 4 months.

[PrinceVegeta]

Brutal...

No surprise, they lost $2000 in Anthony Hopkins items I sent in last year. Got a refund then they told me to pound sand.

[TimBuckTwo]

I don't understand how companies can be so dorked up.

These are simple things.

Good luck in the retrieval.

[Bosoxfan5990]

Originally Posted by TimBuckTwo

I don't understand how companies can be so dorked up.

These are simple things.

Good luck in the retrieval.

It's easy.

The bigger the company, the worse the internal communication.

[Brobocop]

Brutal, I'm so sorry this happened to you. I'd be beside myself since these are unique items that cannot be easily replaced. Honestly, I was all in on these signings but after getting some back and seeing how lazy some of the talent signatures are, combined with incredibly long waiting time to get items back, I'm just out.

Good example, been wanting to get Joseph Quinn to sign a Stranger Things card. I saw some of his recent private signing signatures, lazy.

It's as if these people and companies don't want our money.

[BobCollects]

I feel for you. This sucks. You'd think a company that focuses on celebrity autographs, where the customers are notoriously obsessively worried about the details, would be able to handle fulfilling a multiple-signers-at-different-times-on-the-same-photograph service that they offer.

If SWAU can't reliably handle getting the same photograph signed by multiple signers, don't offer that service!

Potentially losing your other photograph is unacceptable. Hopefully it isn't lost and will make its way back to you. Don't let up on SWAU about it. Keep e-mailing them weekly. Maybe contact them on social media if that's an avenue you can pursue.

If you do get the other photo back, scan both and either work some digital magic yourself or find someone to do it for you so you can get *something* with all three signatures, even if they're not all on the same actual photo. Then cross your fingers and hope the stars align and you can get Portman to sign the McGregor/Christiansen photo or McGregor/Christiansen sign the Portman photo. Good luck.

[Archangel1775]

I just hope you get your original photo and at least a partial refund on the Portman back

[Bunny Hop]

Awful. Sorry to hear this, Frog. Really frustrating and I hope they find your original submission and try to make things as right as they can.

[kingofsnake]

To echo most everyone else, I hope you get your original back. Sorry that happened to you.

[garpike]

It seems the bigger that SWAU has gotten over the years the worse they have gotten.
I know MULTIPLE people who have had issues with their signings.

[Frog]

Thanks for allowing me to vent and seeing my side of it fellas. They answered me and say they located my triple signed one and I have to send the incorrect one back to receive it.

I don’t think they know it’s personalized to me (the one I have with me), so I sent a photo. I wasn’t able to attach one to the original request. Idk what they’re going to do with it seeing as it has my name on it.

I also asked for a picture of the one they currently located, I don’t fully trust it being the right one after all of this but I’ll keep you guys updated

[seablaster]

So, in theory, they did get Natalie Portman on the correct Ewan/Hayden picture?

[Frog]

Originally Posted by seablaster

So, in theory, they did get Natalie Portman on the correct Ewan/Hayden picture?

They did. They are making me send back the other one before they ship it out, but this is the photo they sent me last night -



I guess it all worked out

[BobCollects]

That's great news that they did, in fact, have Portman sign the correct photo. They should let you keep the other Portman signed photo as well, in my opinion, to make up for the confusion and frustration.

Also, as you pointed out it's personalized to you so it's not like SWAU can sell it to someone else.

Forcing you to send it back before they ship you the photo they misplaced is just petty.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Yeah, I don't get why they want the other one back. Unless there's another Kyle that works there.

[csmtampa]

They’ll just wipe the personalization off and sell it

Glad it all worked out! Photo looks awesome

[Archangel1775]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

Yeah, I don't get why they want the other one back. Unless there's another Kyle that works there.

The Kyle that works there is disheartened. He had no idea how Portman got Ewan and Hayden to sign his photo but he was good with it.

[the mesiah]

Man, that came out awesome! The sig on hers on the triple pops more than the single auto

[Grid]

Originally Posted by PurplesaurusRex

Yeah, I don't get why they want the other one back. Unless there's another Kyle that works there.

If I had it. Id tell people she signed it "For Kylo (Ren)"

[Jaysabz]

Wow congrats!! Crazy turn of events but you have an amazing forever-piece!

Unfortunately, Kyle, you have to open up your wallet one more time, go to a nice framing shop, pick out a sharp frame and a mat of your choosing, and get that thing framed up with some TueVue Museum Glass (I think that's the best they make commercially) so you can display it and never worry about fading.

You didn't go through all that trouble to have that picture sit in an album or a drawer. It must be proudly displayed while being protected.

[Bunny Hop]

Glad that worked out. Agreed on the pain in the butt of shipping but all told I'm glad you'll get your piece.

[PurplesaurusRex]

Originally Posted by Archangel1775

The Kyle that works there is disheartened. He had no idea how Portman got Ewan and Hayden to sign his photo but he was good with it.

"You idiots, you sent the poster to the WRONG Kyle!"

[dd316]

Originally Posted by BobCollects

Forcing you to send it back before they ship you the photo they misplaced is just petty.

Yeah it's BS to make a customer pay for their mistake.

But in the end I'm happy you'll be getting the right photo back!

[Frog]

This story gets weirder…. I heard back from them for the first time since Monday and they sent me an updated photo. They told me there were smudges on the Ewan and Hayden portions that they would try to clean and offered me 50% off. I don’t get what happened since Monday that made the photo smudge lol

I’m glad to take 50% off and save some money, but I just don’t understand how many times they can mess this up. It’s not too bad of signature damage but howwwwww?!



I feel like I’m in the twilight zone right now. I can upload a better photo when I’m on my pc

[PrinceVegeta]

Unreal lol