Thegradingclub Omdömen 16

At the Scotland Card Show in June 2025, I submitted 8 cards for grading - 7 of them to Beckett and one to CGC. These were either high value cards (to a small-time collector like me) or cards that hold huge sentimental value to me.
Aaron was lovely and after inspecting my cards, he confidently told me that one of them was the best he'd seen at the show and it would likely get a Black Label - I was delighted to hear this as it is one of my favourite cards!

I paid for the 6 week turnaround and, assuming that they were sent to the grading companies at the start of July, I expected them to be returned to me around the start of September (allowing time for shipping etc).

It is now April 2026 and I have no idea where my cards are or if I'll ever get them back.

Initially, one of the cards that appeared in my submissions list on the old website (because this was so long ago) wasn't mine, and one of mine was missing from the list. After emailing Taylor a bunch, they eventually sent me a picture of my actual cards and this put my mind at ease. For a while.

As time went on (and boy, did it!), I still had no updates about my cards. I sent many emails to ask for updates, but I only received "copy and paste" replies or they would tell me that the grading companies (Beckett and CGC) had huge backlogs and the delays were on their end. I have contacted both Beckett and CGC and they have stated that they haven't had any significant delays that would account for the considerable amount of time I've been waiting for my cards. I informed The Grading Club of this and they are yet to acknowledge it.
The Grading Club are now saying that they don't have access to the whereabouts of my cards because of the new website. Ridiculous.

I feel I have been exceptionally patient (as have many others in the same position), but my patience can only stretch so far. I don't like to complain, particularly so publicly, but I feel I have a responsibility to warn others against using this company. I wish someone had warned me.

If I could give this company 0 stars I would.

I submitted a card at Lancashire Card show on 05/04/2025, assuming that if the vendor was at a card show, they could be trusted.

I couldn't be more wrong if I tried. I am aware there were some delays with PSA, which I was absolutely fine with, however I've been palmed off constantly with no real update on my submission.

I have never been able to access the online site and therefore haven't been able to keep tabs on my card, which yes I did raise with the company, to which received no proper response.

I was very patient in the start and didn't chase my card up until 05/09/2025 to which I was given the generic excuse of PSA deadlines, personal issues causing delays, etc etc.

I have since chased this up a further 10 times, and received the same excuses every single time.

I was told my card was in the "final stages" on 04/12/2025, and as recently as 10/03/2026 I was told my query was at the "top of the list" and that I'd receive a "clear overview of its current status". I don't understand how 3 months after being told my card is at the final stages, that I'm being told I need to wait to be told a clear overview of its current status?

I am yet to receive my card back and honestly don't believe I ever will.

I won't make this mistake again and feel it's necessary to warn others of this, given this company are still attending various card shows.

Honestly one of the worst, if not the worst, experiences I've ever had as a customer.

I really wish I could give The Grading Company a good review. I would love to see them succeed, but after the absolutely abysmal experience I've had, It's just not possible to either recommend them to others or ever use them again.

A warning to any potential customers regarding using this company, don't. I submitted cards to them in November 2025. It is now the end of March 2026 and I have received no meaningful updates on where my cards are or whether they have even been sent to PSA. For reference I paid for a 4-6 week turnaround with a PSA submission.

I have repeatedly been told that due to staffing issues or sickness or high volume of submissions that there will be a delay with my cards. I have patiently waited and waited but have reached a point where it's become intolerable.

My last contact with them I stated that if they could not provide me with an update that I wanted my cards returned to me and a refund. The reply I got was a generic email saying their new website had launched and my submission would be tracked on there. When logging into the new website, surprise surprise there was no update on my cards.

It does say on the website that legacy submissions, which I assume mine is now classes as, will take a few days to be uploaded. 5 days later and there is still no update. I'm at the point where the only way I a resolution is involving trading standards.

If you see this company at a card show promoting themselves as as anything please know that they cannot be trusted. I made this mistake so please don't do the same as me.

In December, I submitted 2 cards on the regular service. A pre-grading was arranged at the business premises and was really thorough. I received the cards back in January, and thanks to Aaron and the pre-grading, they both came back a 10. I can't fault the service I received on this order.

Full of blatant lies and complete radio silence to customers. What an absolute shambles !!!!

Terrible communication, process and experience.
Over promises and under delivered.

Writing this review because I understand people get nervous when waiting for their cards to return when poor reviews are received. I can't give 5 stars sadly because the communication has been poor and things have taken much longer than we expected(I think Grading Club already know this and have acknowledged that, hopefully you can make big improvements in this space?) But we received the 1st of our cards back today from Worcester show in November (son over the moon with PSA9!) Others still not arrived but these are in a slower category so that's ok. So this review is more to give people the confidence that the company is not a scam, they just have some work to do to improve on their communication. Your cards will come :)

Really disappointed with the lack of communication from the grading club. It’s been incredibly frustrating trying to get updates, responses, or even basic information. Messages go unanswered, timelines are unclear, and there’s no sense of accountability or transparency.

If you’re going to offer a service that people rely on, communication should be a priority — not an afterthought. The silence and delays have made the whole experience stressful and unprofessional. Definitely not what I expected, and I hope they seriously improve how they communicate with their members.

I am writing this as a final warning to other collectors: Do not trust The Grading Club with your cards.
​I submitted my card in July 2025. We are now well into 2026, and I am still no closer to getting my property back. What is most frustrating isn’t just the delay—it’s the blatant incompetence in their customer service.
​Lack of Transparency: Despite numerous attempts to get a status update, I am met with total silence or generic, automated "group emails." They refuse to provide personal correspondence or specific details regarding my individual order.
​Poor Communication: It takes days, sometimes weeks, to get any response at all, and even then, it is a "copy-paste" reply that ignores my specific questions.
​Mounting Red Flags: As other negative reviews continue to pile up, it’s clear this isn't an isolated incident but a systemic failure of the business.
​Entrusting a company with high-value cards requires trust, and The Grading Club has completely broken that. At this point, their lack of transparency and refusal to provide a firm return date is professional negligence. I want my submission returned immediately

I submitted my cards at the Scotland card show in June, and what followed was an 8-month ordeal defined by broken promises, personal excuses, and a total lack of business contingency. While I sympathize with personal struggles, a professional grading service handling high-value collectibles must have foundational processes in place. The Grading Club (TGC) does not.

The Timeline of "Updates" that Weren't:

June – October: Initial intake was fine, but by August, "updates" became a string of personal excuses. In October, I was promised improved communication and status checks that never materialized.

November Stalling: On Nov 3rd, I was promised a status email that never arrived. By Nov 12th, they admitted to being severely understaffed. On Nov 22nd, an email literally said "please don't shoot the messenger"—an incredibly unprofessional way to address customers who have no idea where their property is.

The Grade "Reveal" Ghosting: On Dec 23rd, I was told I could reveal my grades. I opted in immediately. As of mid-February, I still haven't received that email.

Support Failure: After the owner took a personal hiatus in January with no business coverage, I opened a support ticket on Jan 21st. It was closed the next day and I was told to "join the Discord." The Discord staff were unable to actually help, providing only one empty acknowledgment.

Logistics & Red Flags:

Finally, on Feb 4th, I was told my cards had shipped from PSA. On Feb 9th, I paid for Next Day Delivery (£7). The package didn't arrive until Feb 13th. Even at the final hurdle, they failed to provide the service I paid for.

Final Verdict:

Looking at their Companies House filings, there is a clear lack of cash on hand. There is a growing sentiment among the community that new submissions are being used to fund the return of old ones, which would explain the constant "stalling" emails and delays. Whether or not that is the case, the reality is a service that is beyond subpar.

Do not trust this company with your cards. There are far more reliable middlemen in the UK who respect your time, your money, and your collection.

I submitted my card to them in October at a card show, paying extra for an express grading service advertised with a 5–8 week turnaround, as the card had already been sold.

I received an initial confirmation email stating that my card had been received, followed by another email advising it would be returned within 2–3 weeks. Since then, there has been no record of my card appearing on their online portal and no further updates provided.

I sent multiple follow-up emails requesting clarity, all of which were met with vague responses that raised further questions rather than providing answers. Much of the correspondence appeared to focus on suggesting I had not set up my account correctly, while avoiding providing any concrete information about the status or location of my card.

Eventually, after yet another chase email requesting any update at all, I received a grading notification. However, the grade referenced did not correspond to the card I originally submitted. Even following this, there has still been no confirmation of my card being returned or any clear timeline provided.

Avoid at all costs if you actually want cards graded and good service doing so

EDIT in response to the owners reply:

Aaron, I do not need you to "correct" anything for me. My review is my account of your service and it is all very true.

1) Okay, well if this wasn't the case then I was mis-sold. I agree - you should have been more up-front about this.

2) I did not "generally estimate" the CGC times, I literally spoke to them on the phone and they told me that the timescales at TCG could not be right. Again, I agree that the delays must have been caused by yourselves with whatever else you were doing.

3) At least you are admitting fault for something.

4) Why do you need my submission reference if you know you provided me with a part refund?

5) You didn't just address a "heated thread" Aaron, you specifically and very rudely blamed me for causing additional delays in front of all the other customer and then muted the channel. This is wildly inappropriate and certainly not reflective of a good business leader or good customer service.

Anyway, I can see all the other negative reviews absolutely pouring in so I suppose you better go and "correct" those, as well.

REVIEW:

This was, quite frankly, one of the worst experiences I've had with a company. My cards took over 6 months to be graded - a lot longer than what I was told when I handed them over at the card show in Scotland in June. But the lengthy timescale isn't what I would like to address in this review; it's the lack of proper communication and the conduct of the owner of the company I'd like to discuss.

Communication: from the get go I was worried. I was promised my cards would be uploaded onto their website and that I would be able to track the progress of the cards when they were shipped to CGC. This never happened. I sent my first email to the company on 4th of September asking for an update (3 months later). Over the course of the next few weeks I sent multiple other emails. I didn't get a response until 14th October. This response stated that that there was a backlog at CGC. Seeing that my friends who had sent their cards to CGC after me had received their cards back from CGC already, I decided to speak directly with CGC. CGC advised there were no backlogs and that their turnaround was 6-8 weeks. After threatening to TGC to small claims court, I eventually received my cards back on 12 December (6 months and 13 days after I handed them over at the card show).

Conduct: I was blamed for everyone else's cards being late. Yep - in the TGC discord server I mentioned that I had spoken with CGC and I wasn't happy because there was no communication and I hadn't received my cards. The owner Aaron decided to then mute the channel and posted a message saying it was people like myself that were causing additional delays, holding them back from doing their job responding to customer etc. So basically, Aaron responded to an upset customer by accusing the customer of causing additional delays. Publicly. In front of hundreds of other customers.

I won't be using TGC again and I definitely would not recommend them to anyone else.

i submitted some cards about 3 months ago and on the day i was assured photos of my cards would be uploaded to my account on their own in house application. after 3 weeks i thought i would just give them a nudge to see if it was an error on their part and they assured me it would be done in 2 weeks. Right so nearly 4 months have passed ( well over the turn around time for the cards to be graded ) and they haven't even uploaded the photos or reference numbers to my account. So that means no updates of what stage my cards are in at the graders. Now the reason why this is such a big issue is because my cards could of been swapped for worse conditioned ones. this happens are the time in the 3rd party grading world!! im not saying this has happened but nobody providing this service should be doing this. you must make sure they give you updates from the moment they are accepted by beckett / psa etc. and you can follow the process form start to finish to make sure the cards you gave them are the ones being graded. Now ive contacted them multiple times about this and they say " join our discord" like that does anything to help my current issue. i dont want to join your discord i want you to do what you promised. ive seen so many reddit threads and google reviews about people in the exact boat as me. Now some people are getting a good service, photos uploaded to the app and good turnaround times. Now why would that be? IMO its because if you have an expensive card they keep it for themselves and then have to source a worse condition one so they can give that to you. ive just had some cards back from beckett. i paid for base about 45 days ago and they have come back quicker than the ones i sent to the grading club. So its not a issue of beckett being busy, somethings going on here and i wish i just stuck with subcentre.

I submitted a card in September with a different company, and by December I had the card back from PSA, with regular updates in between. Sadly, the same cannot be said for TGC, who has unfortunately provided a very sub-par service. I submitted a card (for PSA grading also) in July, I am writing this review in January and the card still hasn’t arrived. Further to this, there are no updates on the journey of the card, where it is, what stage it is at. I have emailed, I have downloaded discord and submitted a ticket like they asked, and I still have no idea what’s happening. Very poor, I just hope I get my card back eventually.

I’ve used these guys a couple of times, and have no issues with their service. Every time I go to a card show, I use them. Trustworthy, regular updates, near spot on evaluation, if there was any delays or any concerns they reached out or responded promptly. If you see any negative, reviews just try to put it to the back of your mind. It’s a small business trying to navigate a high demand and build a customer base. Rest assured if there is an issue they will sort it, every business has a hiccup here an there.