Boo COMC, and Boo Hobby Insider!

It's amusing and sad at the same time. I have had several posts in recent months deleted from Hobby Insider.

The topic?

The terrible service with COMC.

My story is no different from any other's. I placed a shipment request back in early January for a little over 100 cards. They were supposed to ship in mid-April. That sort of three-month delay is laughable, but at least they told me up front.

Then April came and went. Emails to COMC went unanswered. The president (or CEO?) of COMC goes on Sportscards Live and answers some softball questions. You know, the answers that don't really answer anything. People praised him for being transparent with their problems.

All I heard were excuses. I had been pretty critical on Hobby Insider about COMC. Others were, too. I'm pretty sure I had a couple of thread replies removed, but never thought much about it. There are weekly complaint threads about COMC, so I'd have another chance soon.

Eventually I resort to Twitter DMs to try and get an update on my shipment. This is in June. Why Twitter? Because I still don't have my cards and get no responses to emails. Twitter must have been the way to go, because I get a response to one of the previously unanswered emails.

They can't tell me when my cards will be mailed, but they were kind enough to refund my shipping costs. Thanks. I'd rather have my cards, though.

Just this past week COMC sent an email out saying they are essentially focusing on the two fastest shipping methods. So screw those of us who have been waiting months, I guess. I'd pull all of my cards out of COMC if I knew I would get them in a reasonable time frame. Oh, and great news, they are increasing their Customer Service team from 4 to 20. Why would they need to do that? Because people are complaining. Why are they complaining? You got it, the abhorrent delays. What happened to the 50 people they proudly claimed they hired back in the January timeframe?

Meanwhile I have cards sitting on ePack for my personal collection, too. Who knows when (or if) things will return to normal for me to send them home.

COMC use to be an integral part of the hobby. Now they are a joke. Go check their Better Business Bureau profile (link). I am far from the only person who thinks so. My how they have fallen. They blame staffing, blame Covid, blame moving warehouses.

I blame inadequate planning. I blame them for implementing eBay auctions. Despite what was said on the first Sportscards Live interview, yes, yes you could suspend your eBay auctions. Even for just a few months. Want to know how great the service is on their eBay auctions? Go check out their feedback.

Perhaps most importantly, though, I blame collectors for not having other options.

I have said this before, though some of the veteran HI members disagreed--aside from their relationship with ePack and Upper Deck, there is nothing proprietary in what COMC does. I have done web development for 2-decades and could sketch something pretty close to COMC functionality on the back of a napkin using off-the-shelf software for inventory control. And make some improvements along the way, too (ever try and search sketchcards by character names?).

Am I just impatient? Maybe. But is it reasonable to expect your customers to wait months for a shipment? Is it reasonable to let that date pass with no updates? I am now almost 12-weeks past my expected ship date, and if I am lucky enough to get an email response, there is no useful information in it. They told me they cannot tell me when amything will ship. Why don't they know? Maybe that says more than anything.

In the meantime, COMC is going on Sportscards Live again this weekend. I'm not going to listen because I can predict what will be said. Meanwhile, I am still waiting. And I'm sure my posts on Hobby Insider will continue to be removed. And I know exactly why (and probably by whom). For those who happen to see them before they are deleted, let me ask you: Am I wrong?

Maybe if I had my own podcast COMC would be able to give me an update on my shipment. But then I don't think I could publicly complain, either.

So I have left the Hobby Insider group on Facebook, as well as the Sportscards Live group. I'll unsubscribe from the podcast and delete the ones I have yet to listen to. Eventually I'll probably leave the HI forums, too. I know no one cares about one person, and that's fine. But seriously, removing my entirely factual posts because I speak ill toward COMC is childish.