The Yak Shack Forum

I know I asked this before but I cant find the info!

What do I need to do to see if i can get this card replaced?

i have a malfoy costume card (365/628)

Here's the email I received from Artbox:

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry about the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban Trading Cards, Collector’s Edition Update Set.

We apologize for the inconvenience and will replace any damaged cards, while supplies last.  If we do not have the same for replacement, it will be replaced with an alternate card.

Please mail in the damaged card(s) to the following address, and allow 4-6 weeks for delivery.

Artbox Entertainment
12 Hughes, Suite D-101
Irvine, CA  92618
Attn:  HP Update Damage

We appreciate your interest in our product.

Artbox Entertainment
Customer Service

If you only want an exact replacement, I'd suggest sending them an email to see whether than have any Malfoy cards left.  Also, I sent them a damaged Daily Prophet prop three weeks ago and have yet to receive a replacement, so the 4- to 6-week delivery time appears to be accurate.

cool thanks, does anyone have an email addy for them I could check?

thanks!

thanks again!

don't hold your breath though I sent in over 20 damaged cards before christmas and still have not heard a thing. But I have received all my redemptions

Bad customer service on the damaged cards front.

That's not good! :-\ Were they all inserts?  Have you sent them an email to find out when they're going to process your request?

I sent a couple of costumes off before Christmas and haven't had anything back yet either (I think I sent mine a couple of days after Chris'.

KB bearing in mind Chris currently has enough cards to make up around  660 base sets I don't think he'd bother sending in damaged base cards... but you never know ;)

Hi everyone
Sorry about not replying - have been very busy [fairs etc.]
However I am now sifting through emails and will be in contact with everyone shortly.Jason I have a load of cards for you !!
On this subject though I think people are in for some bad news.I have a feeling that there are no spare costume cards as all were inserted .Dont take this is gospel but I have my hunches!
Thanks Richard
P.S.Anna I will be in touch also and yes sounds fine if you still want it!!

If your hunch is right, then anyone who sent in a damaged costume card would get a prop in return?  It will be interesting to see what replacements are comparable to the inserts people sent in.

On another note -- 660 base sets? :o That would make a heck of a bonfire!  Maybe there's a children's hospital or some other organization that would take a donation.

I have a lot of base sets also.  Does anyone know of an organization that would want the cards?

You'd probably have to call around your area -- hospitals, Boys and Girls Clubs, YMCA, maybe even a DARE program.

Thanks kbmum!  I'll try that route.

I hope Richard is wrong as that implies they'd rather send nothing... and if so ... it's pretty rubbish when often you can just get a Harry Quidditch robe mashed up in a box... that's £40 down the drain for nothing.

I think a lot of the more dedicated Non Sport specialist trading card companies have guarantees and go to the ends of the earth to replace items.

I sent an email to Artbox last Friday, asking about the status of my Daily Prophet replacement.  I also mailed in a Diggory costume last week, although I don't expect them to know much about that one yet.  If I hear back from them, I'll post the response.

I just can't believe that they won't eventually make adequate replacements for the damaged cards.  To not do so would destroy their reputation, which has already taken a beating over this set.

If they really don't have any costumes, for those who sent emails, they should not have got an automatied response like that.  Please let us all know what you end up getting in return.

I got the email from artbox to send it in and asked if they ahd these in stock I got this

We keep a few numbers in stock, however will not be able to "reserve", so please send it in as soon as possible.

Thank you.

So what are the chances I send in malfoy and get malfoy? or a better or worse card? I dont know if they would give me a worse card ( #/628)

what do you think?

I would go ahead and send it.  I had them replace a card for me from the first set, that they did reserve for 10 days for me.  However, since this is a pretty new release, they are probably getting too many returns to reserve for anyone.  I would go ahead and send it.  If you get something else you don't like, either sell it or trade with someone here for Malfoy's robe.

and if i get a sh*tty one who would trade :P

Artbox didn't say that they no longer had a Malfoy robe.  If you sent it priority mail today, there's a good chance you could still get one.  Since the card is damaged, you wouldn't get much for it anyway, so to me, it's worth the chance to send it in.

I also heard from Artbox today:

We apologize for the delay, however we have your damage replacement in our system, and it is in the process to be mailed out.  Depending on the card type, some may take a bit longer.

Thank you for your understanding and patience.

Roz and Chris might want to contact them, just to make sure Artbox received the cards.

Yep shall do - cheers Cindy :)

I've reread the message from Artbox, and this line bothers me:

Depending on the card type, some may take a bit longer.

Why?  A card is a card.  Pick it from the bin, put it in a top loader and an envelope, and send it out the door!

I sent in 10 or so damaged foil cards sometime at the very beginning of December and haven't received anything back yet.  I'm not too worried as it's not like I don't already have more foils than I know what to do with, but it sure is taking awhile.


Mark

They have to wait for someone to send in the same damaged card that is slightly better than yours so they can send it out to you.   ;)


Mark

Oh, aren't you a funny one today! ;D

Just what are you planning to do with all those foils? :)

Make sets, list them on ebay, and actually sell maybe one a month for the next 25 years.  :D


I bought too many cases.


Mark

That's a lot of foils! :D

Goofyjas -- There is something else you could try.  Send the card to Artbox with a note stating that if they don't have a Malfoy robe, you would like them to return your original, damaged card.  That way, you won't have to worry about getting a replacement you don't want.

2 of my cards have big glue Drops on the front of the cards beside the swatch, but i didn`t  sent the cards back to Artbox (to expensive)

So i try to get the glue from the cards and find out it works fine with a Cleaner for InkPrinter.

The Cleaner remove the glue without demage the Card (no scratches or remaining clue).

So the 2 Cards look like new ones  ;D

Yeah, that line in Artbox's letter confuses me very much.  Why would some cards take longer? I mean, what is the difference?

Too...  much... sides... splitting...

I actually wondered if they would really do that.  I mean someone might consider something very minor to be damaged, but it might not be noticed by someone else... hmmmmm.  What do they do with all the damaged cards anyway?

Bin them I should think. If they aren't worth anything to Collectors then they really aren't worth much at all  :-\

We could ask Sketchqueen what they do at Rittenhouse.  My guess is that they inspect the cards coming in and possibly recycle a few.  Say you had a badly damaged permission form.  If Artbox no longer had any mint cards in stock, you might consider taking a card with a slightly rounded corner or a small scratch on the back.

And I am sure there are some people who wouldn't mind a damaged card if they really wanted that card and could not get it any other way.  I mean, don't throw them away, I will gladly take them!!! ;)

I'm pretty sure she shreads them all.  Even ones with very minor defects that some people would find perfectly acceptable.

One day in a post on another board she decribed what was in her to be shredded pile that people had returned for replacement and most of them didn't sound too bad to me.

Thinking of that shredder makes me cringe.    :'(  Poor cards.

Mark

You'd think that they could give them away.  I'm sure there are people, besides RNS, who wouldn't mind a slightly damaged card! :D

I mean, who here wouldn't want a triple auto that has a scratch say on the back of the card?  If you could get it free or cheap................

Of course! No one is going to turn down a good card like that - I remember a while back Ferdinand The Yak bought a VERy cheap Aragorn Fellowship of the Ring auto - because it had a repaired tear in the card. I think she got it very cheaply (about 6-7% of the mint price) - so she has it on display.

After all we are all too scared to leave our cards in the light so buying a cheap display one is actually very cool!

Back on topic though, I've just had an email out of the blue from Kay at Artbox to say my replacement cards are ready and on the way which is very handy :) so Chris I'd expect yours very soon, and Cindy yours not too long after :)

I also got an email that my card is being shipped today!

Whoever handles the returns must do other things as well, and so the returns were put on the back burner.  Now that they're getting inquiries, they're processing the returns.

They were all too busy chopping up Sorcerer's/Philosopher's Stone custumes and props into 3000 pieces each for the unprecidented 5000 case release of the next set!


The above statment was made EXTREMELY tongue-in-cheek. (At least I hope so).


Mark

Now that is a scary thought! :o

I would love to know what pieces they are using for these new sets though.  I just love these cards!!!!!

There has to be a Hogwarts letter in the prop set.  Not sure what else could be used.

And they should get some variety in the costume set.  How many black school robes and quidditch robe cards do we need?  I understand that they need to get the costumes from the 3 principals in there, but how about a Snape, or a Dumbledore, or a Hagrid, or a Dursley.

Oh, invisibility cloak, duh.

Mark

Invisability cloak would be the one card I feel I would have to have.  But yes, what other costumes? Professor Quirrels Turbin and some stuff from the adults since they aren't really in robes.  The ties would be okay since they were different ties used then, and actually the Quidditch robes are different too.

Well, when everyone gets their damaged cards back undamaged, please let us know what you got in return.

well i received my replacement cards today and the daily profet card i got was numbered 006 / 480 that is the lowest numbered card I have ever seen

What's on the swatch?

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v424/chrischidgey/profit.jpg)

it is a nice card

That's a beautiful card!  Did they send you anything else nice like that?

Maybe I can send in my Marauders Map with a blank swatch and claim I suffered emotional 'damage' by not receiving a swatch with anything printed on it and they can send me a better one.

No?


 ;)

Mark


Nice card Gimli.  All they probably have left for replacement are all the super low numbers they held back for themselves.   ;D

That's not a bad thing, if you're lucky enough to get one!  Although, it's sort of payback for pulling a damaged card and paying the shipping to return it.

Did the one you send in to be replaced look as nice as that swatch?

well i got
3 sleeping bags 0510, 1203  & 1201/1980
1 hermione uk incentive 454/830
1 hermione punch film card 025/900 with harry in the knight bus
1 neville costume 0157/1170
1 hermione jumper 451/730
1 fudge costume 182/830
1 ron sweater 294/731
1 lupin jacket 2634/2900
1 daily prophet 006/480

I thought i sent more than that in but i may just be mistaken it seemed a lot more then but i think i forgot to record what i sent but i will check to see if i did

yes the one i sent in was a nice swatch so i am happy to get a nice one back

I wonder if they take that in to consideration.  Like, if you sent in a plain swatch, do you think they would have still sent you the one they did?

Artbox should take the swatch into consideration.  If someone sent in a damaged variant, I imagine they'd try to replace it with a variant as long as one was available.

The Daily Prophet I sent in did not have a good swatch, and the Cedric robe was plain like almost everyone else's.  It will be interesting to see what I get back.

ohhhh gimli very nice....are you going to sell that daily prophet??

They don't just have low numbers.  I had to send back a Weasley Quidditch card from the first set, numbered to 1300.   I got back card number 998.

You'd certainly hope so, but I wouldn't expect so  :-\

Yeah, that might be one of those situations where if you were afraid to lose the variant, damaged or not, you might just want to keep it instead.

If it was an outstanding variant then I'd be tempted to keep it. I suppose it depends on whether you're selling the cards to earn a living or just collecting them out of interest.

That's a luvverly card though Gimli and I'd be lying if I said I didn't want it in my collection! ;D

Gimli, take note on your new DP card that it looks like there is an "X" on the other side of the swatch.  If I hold mine up to a light, I too can see this "X". I wonder if production of the movie did that , or if Artbox did that so they knew which side was the side that should befacing out on the swatch.  Any ideas?

I received the 9 hobby foils back today that I sent in for replacement.  They were all in soft sleeves and put in a standard business size envelope with a form letter.
They were all fine and it wouldn't have been a great loss if any were damaged in shipping.

I was just curious though, did Artbox send replacement costume and prop cards better protected?  How about autograph redemptions?  I'm just getting ready to send my 3 off.

It looks as if they may even have used the same soft sleeves that I sent the damaged cards in.  Maybe it's a case of them using the same protective devices that you send your damaged/redemption cards in when they package up the replacements?

Mark

Hi Mark,

I have sent two from the first set to Artbox for replacement.  Even though the cards were damaged, I still packaged them very well.  Each replacement came back to me exaclty as I shipped it out to them.  Bubble mailer, soft sleeve, top loader, bubble wrap.  and cardboard.  Looks to me like they send the new card back in the same stuff you send the damaged one in.  Luckily for me, I sent the damaged cards well protected.

Don't know about the redemptions though.

Uh oh.  Because my prop card was damaged, I didn't bother with the top loader and bubble mailer.  The scratch was so bad, there's no way they could reuse it.

Don't get too worried.  The bubble mailer they sent the cards back in was not the same bubble mailer i used, so I assume you wuold still get it in a bubble mailer.  As far as the card will be packed on the inside, I am nt so sure.  Maybe Gimli can help us with this one.

My cards were in soft sleves and then in two envelopes but each cide of the cards was a very stiff piece of card.

What I find a bit odd is that rns, Dewdude and others in the US received their cards via first class mail, but Artbox said that mine is being shipped via UPS.  Generally speaking, UPS is more expensive than regular mail.

Perhaps they've had problems with cards going missing or getting damaged in the mail? :o
That would be ultimate irony ... you send in your damaged card for a replacement which in turn gets damaged on it's return journey! :-\
*Fingers crossed* yours (and everyone else's) is fine. ;D

That's possible.  I've never had a problem getting cards in US Mail, and as long as it's shipped in a bubble envelope, it has to be hand sorted (generally, it's machine sorting that damages mail).  

Maybe Artbox has a deal with UPS for cheaper shipping.  My parents owned their own business before they retired, and it was considerably less expensive to ship packages directly with UPS than to go to a UPS Store or use US Mail.

"curiouser and curiouser" they've been sending the international packages by Fed-Ex...


Hmmm!

Ahh well each to their own - whichever postal service is "Artbox flavour of the week" is fine by me as long as it gets returned safely :)

well i decided to sell that Daily Prophet card numbered 006 if your interested here is the auction

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=6150514710&ssPageName=STRK:MESE:IT

Well dtcutler007 again.

He won auctions end november. Did not pay, did not recall on all my mails and no reaction on the paypal invoice.

But good luck

 ;)

Really?

I sold a card to d-cutler once and it took AGES for payment to come through, I am talking about 2 months, but it did come through  :-\

I'm not sure who this person is, but he is one of my fiercest competitors when bidding for cards, especially variants.  He bids on an average of 10 to 20 cards a week (I know this from "watching" cards for the price guide).

I have to say i have sold to this buyer many times and have found him to be very reliable. Only one I have had a problem and he sorted it out quickly and I am happy to deal with him any time. He does buy a lot from me at times and has always paid for his items although it can take a little while to recieve payment through the post as the postal delivery times from where he is can be a little longer than most international buyers

But he did`nt reply on all my mails, my mails over ebay and over paypal.

So for me this is definatly a ebaymember for my "Ebayblacklist".

My Daily Prophet replacement came a few minutes ago.  It's number 004/480.

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v451/kbmum/DP004.bmp)

(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v451/kbmum/DP004swatch.bmp)

For the record, it was sent UPS Ground in a large cardboard envelope. It was inside a regular business envelope with both a sleeve and top loader.

Number 004.  :o

I should damage my card and send in.  ;D

WOW! What a great replacement card! :o

Are you trying for the elusive number 001? :D

Considering the nearly blank swatch with a couple of small, squiggly lines I sent in, I'm shocked to get this back.  I expected a swatch of the same quality as the damaged card.

I think that's an outstanding replacement then!! ;D
Definitely one to cherish. ;)

Perhaps JKR herself has that one?! :o

Well done. :)

And 001 would be nice. ;)

But i'm satisfied with Whomping Willow 172/172. :)

Anyone else get their damaged cards back yet?

I got the Daily Prophet card, but I'm still waiting for the Diggory robe.  I know I sent them in at different times, but you'd think they would have mailed both cards in the same envelope to save on shipping.

They may not have realized that they were both from you if you sent them at different times.  I mean, they may realize it is the same address when they get to it, but might not know until they get to it...if that makes any sense.