MY EXPERIENCE WITH GAI
So the story began back in February when I sent in 15 cards to be pre-graded and wound up having 3
of them slabbed to see how the cards would look in GAI holders. After they were pre-graded and I said
which ones to slab I was told they'd be done in a week. A month passed and I didn't have the cards. I
was then told that the problem was they didn't have the right size gaskets (inserts) for these particular
cards. Okay, no problem. Makes sense.

When I finally got the cards back they had inserted a extra piece of plastic (like a sleeve but open on 3
sides) which I specifically asked them NOT to do. It didn't distract too much so, okay, no problem.
Then they charged me full grading fees for 15 cards instead of 3 slabs plus 15 pre-grades. And they
charged the wrong service tier. Okay, no problem. Easy enough to correct. I wasn't particularly happy
with the holders or the service, but I wasn't upset either. Mistakes happen and the grades all seemed
appropriate to me.

I decided I liked the SGC holder better, but I really had almost nothing graded by any company until
the National in July. I had picked up a very rare Cuban card that was badly trimmed. I also had a
Colgan's square card of Rube Waddell which SGC wouldn't grade because they weren't comfortable
enough on what it was (square card?, sample card?, proof?)

I'd known that PSA and GAI both occasionally slabbed trimmed cards as "Authentic" providing the
card was rare and important. This Cuban card (a 1923-24 La Moda card of Nip Winters) was definitely
both. I asked Danny Fisher, who I'd dealt with earlier when he was at PSA, if they could grade the
Waddell. He said yes. I asked if they could authenticate and slab the Winters. I showed him how badly
it was trimmed (the entire border on all sides had been trimmed off) and he said they could do it. I
dropped the cards off and came back later in the day when they were supposed to be ready. Danny told
me that they would need to take them back to the office to holder and couldn't do them onsite because
they didn't have the right gaskets. He said for sure they had the right ones back at the office.

Remember, this was in July. As the weeks went on and my cards never came I started to become
concerned. I was eventually told at the beginning of September that they had the gasket for the Winters
but not the Waddell yet. It would be any day now. Of course, it had been "any day now" for the past
month as well so I told them to just send me the Winters in the authentic slab and the Waddell
unslabbed. Just get my cards back to me. In the mean time, I picked up a terribly trimmed Oscar
Charleston card on ebay (I personally hate trimmed card for my own collection but realize that there is
a place for them in the hobby as long as they aren't passed off as being unaltered).  Oscar Charleston is
a HOFer and his cards are desirable in any condition so I knew I could easily sell it. Especially if it was
in an "Authentic" holder where it might also have greater eye-appeal.

(sorry this is so long and boring)

I received the 2 cards (Winters and Waddell) back around September 5th. The Waddell was raw, like  
it was supposed to be. The Winters was now in a holder that read "VG 3"!!! This was baffling to me as
I had specifically shown Danny Fisher how badly it was trimmed and even showed an similar
untrimmed card to show what the border was supposed to have looked like. This is after I had given
him measurements I had taken for over 100 Billikens (La Moda is a rare-back version of Billiken) so he
could have some reference should anyone send one in. I've also given these to PSA and SGC so that all
3 companies could be well-informed about this amazing Cuban issue.

Here's a link to before and after scans: 1923-24 La Moda NIP WINTERS

So I wrote a letter the next day explaining that the Winters was trimmed and needed to be put into a
holder that read "authentic" instead of "VG" and sent the card back along with the trimmed Charleston
card with specific instructions to label it as "Authentic". I should point out that if SGC would slab cards
as "authentic" I would have sent both cards to them as I prefer their holder.

I sent those two cards out on September 10th. I had called and told Danny that I'd be sending the cards
back and he said it would take about 2 weeks to send back due to (what else) having to order gaskets
for the Charleston. On  September 22nd I called and talked to Danny to see what day the cards would
be shipped. He told me that it would still be another 2 weeks because he would have to order new
gaskets for the Charleston but was going to place the order right when he got off the phone with me and
should definitely be able to get the Charleston done in 2 weeks. For sure. He'd see to it himself.

He asked me if I wanted him to send out the Winters now and I told him to just wait and send it with
the Charleston in 2 weeks.

Three days later I received a package from GAI containing the Winters card. I thought it was strange
but figured that Danny must have thought I said I did want him to send it out now. As long as they
were paying for the double-shipping it was fine with me. I was expecting another package containing the
Charleston to arrive in a few weeks.

After a month I still hadn't received the Charleston so I called Danny to ask why I hadn't received it
yet, fully expecting to be told some story about gaskets. He went to check on it and to my surprise
came back and said that it had already been shipped. "Oh, okay, well...good. I'm glad to hear it's on its
way. What day was it shipped? Can I get the tracking number?" I said. After checking on it he told me
it was shipped on September 23rd. Hmmmmmm................

And this brings us to the crux of the matter.

I told him he must be mistaken because that was the package with the Winters. I figured he just looked
at the wrong shipping receipt or something. He said no, that there were two cards shipped out on that
date, the Winters and the Charleston, it said so right on his invoice. I reminded him of the fact that the
Charleston needed a new gasket and how long that always takes and how he said it would be done it
two weeks. I reminded him that that was one day after I spoke with him on the phone. I asked him if
the Charleston had miraculously been authenticated and slabbed in 1 day, especially when they didn't
even have the right gasket the day before. To all of these I was told that the Charleston was definitely
shipped with the Winters.

I happened to still have the original box it had been shipped in so I double-checked to see if I had
somehow managed to overlook a card of Oscar Charleston in a box that had 1 card in it. Of course, I
hadn't.

I was convinced that the card had been misplaced at GAI and would likely turn up if they started
looking for it. It was so badly trimmed (from a card shaped like a T206 the top and bottom borders had
been severely trimmed making it the shape of W555) and was such a unique card I doubted any foul
play. If you were going to steal a card, it wouldn't be a trimmed Cuban card of a Negro League HOFer
from the 1920's. I asked Danny to look around and honestly expected to hear back in a few days saying
they found the card.

After a few weeks, I started to lose hope that the cards would be found and began talking to Danny
about other alternatives. He said it might have been mistakenly shipped with someone else's order and
that he would contact everyone who had packages shipped to them that day to see if they'd received it.
I figured if someone had mistakenly received someone else's card and hadn't immediately returned it,
they certainly weren't about to do it now. But I waited a few more weeks to let Danny investigate.

By the end of November it was clear that nothing was coming of this and it was time to talk about what
to do. I told him that the value of the card was around $1,000 to $1,500 and that I would probably
have priced it at $1,200 and sold it for no less than $1,000. The idea of getting a bunch of cards graded
in exchange was discussed and we agreed on that. I was to get the following:

(10) 2-day
(60) 10-day
(60) 30-day

The total value would come to $1,160 which left $40 for shipping to reach the $1,200 I wanted for the
card.

So on December 1st I sent in the 10 cards for the 2-day service. On January 13th I finally received my
2-day order. Here are some of the highlights:

Star Player Sisler   (back)

Nacionales Mendez (back)

Toleteros Coimbre & Seay (backs)

I immediately called Danny and told him to return the other 100 cards I'd just sent and give me a check
for $1,000, the least I would have considered selling the card for. Enough was enough. That was on a
Tuesday, January 13th. He said it would be a few days. I said Thursday at the latest. He said it would
be Friday. I did receive my 100 cards back the next day (Wednesday) but Friday came and went
without any call or e-mail.

I sent numerous e-mails and phone messages after that and still have yet to have a single call returned
or an e-mail replied to.

I felt other collectors should know about my experience with GAI. I'm sure they are not usually like
this, but I doubt I'm alone.

-Ryan Christoff
1/23/04