Topps Finest Redemptions: Liars & Cheats.
Other than collecting vintage football cards, I’ve got a soft-spot in my heart for Travis Snider’s baseball cards. I wanted to keep this football card journey separate from my daily rambling and rants but after receiving an email from Topps, I can no longer sit back. So when Topps Finest promised me Autographed Letter Patches of Travis Snider, I jumped all over it. Then without warning, I came to learn that Travis Snider was a redemption.
I didn’t have a Topps profile, as I was very new to collecting, so I created one and entered codes a couple at a time as I debated just selling or holding the redemption cards. Since you obviously cannot return opened boxes of baseball cards, my profile came to look like this:
| Product | Description | Redeem Date | Status |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Blue Refractor | 05/27/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Gold Refractor | 06/02/09 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Refractor | 07/24/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Refractor | 06/10/09 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Refractor | 06/02/09 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Xfractor | 06/02/09 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch | 07/08/09 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | Matt Antonelli AU Rookie Letter Patch Xfractor | 05/25/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #10 | 06/18/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #9 | 05/31/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #5 | 05/31/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #4 | 06/19/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #3 | 05/31/2009 | Pending |
| 2009 Topps Finest | MLB Rookie #1 | 05/31/2009 | Pending |
Okay..
For the last month, I’ve been receiving emails from Topps saying,
Dear Consumer.
This email is to inform you that the Topps Company is currently beyond the 15 week processing time allocated for the following redemption card:
PIN #: Product: Card/Player Name
XXXXXXXX Topps Finest Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter PatchOur staff is working diligently to process and ship your redemption card as soon as possible. Please continue to check your Online Redemption account for updates regarding the status of your card.
If you no longer wish to wait for the redemption card, please contact our Consumer Relations team in order to place a substitution request for a card of equal Beckett value.
Obviously, the consumer has to believe that Topps had a contract with Snider and just wasn’t able to get the cards signed in time, right?
Well after complaining about the misleading (and illegal?) sales tactics to support@etopps.com, I finally got an answer about when the cards would (maybe) arrive at my doorstep:
Response (Colin) 11/09/2009 11:52 AM Thank you for your inquiry concerning our current redemption program.
I wanted to apologize for the delay and allay your concerns in reference to Topps having received your redemption claim. Below you will see the entry into our system for your card:
09-BB-FIN-152-RF Backordered 2009 Topps Finest Baseball Travis Snider AU Rookie Letter Patch Refractor 152
This specific card is scheduled to be printed and constructed in November along with the Finest Rookie set. Please allow four to six weeks for us to obtain the autograph and ship the card. If, at the end of that period, you have not received, feel free to contact us again involving the status of your redemption.
Now, I’m fucking furious.
Topps hadn’t even PRINTED the Cards at the time the release, let alone SENT them to Travis Snider.
If this isn’t a severe misrepresentation of a product, I don’t know what is, but I’ll be filing the papers.
Comments