Upper Deck Trading Card Company Redemption Card Department- Lack of honesty and trust Carlsbad, California

I have been collecting sports cards since I was young.  I am now a 37 year old business man raising 2 kids to enjoy the same hobby that I grew up fond of.  I own a total of only 230 sports cards.  All of which are autographed rookie cards and the others which are autographed/patch rookie cards.  I chose to purchase some cards from Upper Deck which are some of their most expensive offered which are called The Exquisite Collection.  These cards come in a box which contains 5 cards and costs anywhere between $300-$600 PER BOX of 5 cards..   The other that I invest in are the SP Authentic Collection.  Part of the fun of collecting is not knowing what will be inside the box..  The dream of a collector is to open the box and find a #1 or #2 Draft Pick in any sport.. 

Well, since February of 2008, I have purchased 14 boxes of these cards, investing well over $5000 and in those purchase, I was lucky enough to find what the company calls a "redemption card"..  In all, I have 6 cards that were redemption cards with the company..  Upper Deck has a website where you go online, set up an account, and then ''redeem'' your redemption card and they will mail it out to you in what they refer to as "reasonable" time..    I have drawn 6 cards of last years #2 NBA Draft Pick Michael Beasley..  2 of the cards are Exquisite Rookie Auto/Patch cards which are limited to only 25 made in the world.. Making them highly valuable. (One sold on ebay for over $800) The others are limited to 299 made in the world which have a value of several hundred dollars a piece and they are his SP Authentic Rookie Auto Patch cards of which I have went online and went through the redemption process.

After several months, I emailed the company to inquire about my cards and when I can expect them..  I received an email back on both occasions saying, "the player hasn't sent us the cards yet, please be patient"  so, I was...

I waited 3 more months and inquired again..  This time, I received an 'auto-response' saying to email another department for a 'replacement' card..   When I began calling Upper Deck, I received this voicemail, "The staff is in a staff meeting, please call back at 4:15 Pacific Time and we'll be happy to help you."   That was 5 days ago and I still get the same message..   I feel the "rip off" is having you spend thousands on the product, and then being asked to take a 'replacement' card of a lessor player, lower draft pick and lessor card..    A year ago, I sent in a redemption card and was told, "the card was no longer available and an equal valued card will be sent in its place"

Needless to say, the card that was sent was not a rookie autographed card like the one I had purchased and redeemed online..  Instead it was of a mid level player and it wasn't even his rookie autographed card.  It was of a 7 year veteran who was over his "hill" in the sport. 

It seems to me if they can charge you $600 for a box of cards and your lucky enough to get a card that is limited to 25 in the world, they should have to give you a card of actual equal value..   I can't be the only person out there who has had this happen to them..  I am hearing now that the company is possibly discontinuing the Exquisite Collection so I'm worried that I'm never going to get the cards that are owed to me and that I paid for..  Anyone else have this issue with Upper Deck Redemptions?

If they would at least have someone call me back like I asked and tell me my options or at least TRY to make this right, I would gladly retract this listing, but right now I feel like I paid over $5000 for the lottery that is card collecting and was lucky enough to get 6 winning lottery tickets.. Now I am redeeming them for what should be a nice return for my collection and instead being told the equivelant to "Yes, you should get a card of Tiger Woods Autographed or Michael Jordan Autographed, but you'll have to take nothing, or agree to take a lessor card like of a player such as Joe Schmo or Kevin Love??  Thats deceptive in my opinion..  I'm not so sure they don't count on this as part of their profit center..  Charge several hundred a box and get people excited about these cards when they get "redemption cards" so they'll think they got their money back from their investment..  leave them on a list for months with no card, yet thinking its coming and guess what, they will go buy more of this high end product..  

Well, thats where I'm at now.. Thousands out of pocket, no cards that I am owed and no real human to explain to me how this will be rectified.. Instead, I get email auto respones and phone lines that tell me they are in a neverending staff meeting..Unbelievable and disheartening.. Especially to my 6 yr old and 12 yr old boys who I have been telling all along that "Card collecting is one of the greatest hobbies to a boy"  Makes me feel like I've been cheated and their dreams of getting the cards of their favorite players are complete B.S.