My dealings with Steiner today

[Tedw9]

Generally, I've had pretty good luck with Steiner and purchasing from them. But today's dealings left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth.

I purchased a NY Mets game used hat from one of their recent emails. I really wanted this hat and have anxiously waited almost 2 weeks for it to ship from NY to Maine.

Today my hat arrived and they sent me a RETAIL hat. So I contact one of the good reps, who refers me to another rep. I explain what happened, give him the order number and he goes away for a minute. He comes back and basically tells me that he sees they couldn't find it, so they replaced the GAME USED hat with a RETAIL hat that was the same size. And I could keep it and he would knock a few bucks off or I can send it back. He says he can't find the hat either. I find it hard to believe he went to the warehouse, looked, and got back on the phone that quickly.

I ordered a GAME USED hat, why in the world would I want a RETAIL hat in replacement? Why would someone think it's ok to just send a retail hat?


Like I said, overall, I've had good experiences, but this one stunk. Sure, it was a small amount of money, but I do make other purchases through them. This will make me think twice before I just quickly purchase and item or recommend them to any of my collecting friends.

[Skizzick]

Welcome to the club, man. Steiner has screwed so many people over.

[BULBUS]

They have too many deals like this. I'm sure the hat you ordered went to someone else.

[michaelpbell]

Hey Ted,

I have a contact at Steiner that I told about your issue and he is very concerned. Do you mind if I get your name and phone number and pass it along to him so he can call you??? My email is michaelpbell@msn.com

[momen55]

why does everyone continue to buy from these companies? yes they have a monopoly on everything but it is all overpriced stuff of modern players. avoid the headaches and don't buy.
they have plenty of stuff i would like but not for the money they are asking. they can keep their stuff and i save my money.
these comapnies know that someone is paying the price they ask so they keep doing it. am i the only one that thinks this way?

[HawaiiSportsNut]

why does everyone continue to buy from these companies? yes they have a monopoly on everything but it is all overpriced stuff of modern players. avoid the headaches and don't buy.
they have plenty of stuff i would like but not for the money they are asking. they can keep their stuff and i save my money.
these comapnies know that someone is paying the price they ask so they keep doing it. am i the only one that thinks this way?

I agree with you 100%... They do have lots of stuff that I want as well. Steiner is way over priced. I get all of my game used stuff from the members here or on eBay.

[tbone90]

Not to go against the grain but every situation can be different or unique. Now admittedly I have not bought many items from Steiner directly. I prefer to spread my limited hobby splurging funds around to help stimulate the ecomony . But just recently I had an excellent experience with Steiner. There was a particular player that I had been looking for a game used bat of with little luck for quite some time. Then one day I received a call from a gentleman at Steiner. He was getting some bats in and wanted to know if I was still looking and interested. He gave me as much detail as he could and even looked up the MLB holograms and read them to me. In the end I bought two bats and for a price that I was very happy with and glad to pay. The bats arrived about a week later without incident.

Even if the price was a little more than I was wanting or expecting to pay i still would have made the purchase. Sometimes the chase just gets the best of me. It all seems to even out in the wash with the items I've gotten good deals on and the others that I may have paid a bit of a premium for.

I am very sorry though to hear about when any of us on the forum have a bad buying experience. While it's an ugly situation now hopefully Steiner will make it right.

[MLB~NUT]

WOW, Yeah I wouldn't blame you for felling discruntled....

[sox83cubs84]

I agree with you 100%... They do have lots of stuff that I want as well. Steiner is way over priced. I get all of my game used stuff from the members here or on eBay.

Of course, sometimes you can end up getting both. Almost any visit to eBay will show at least a few items from companies with direct connections to teams/athletes that the current owners end up auctioning knowing that they will take a loss.

Dave Miedema

[Tedw9]

Well, the UPS lady just left with the hat. I showed her that it was in the box before handing it over and she gave me a receipt.

Some have asked why deal with them when the prices are so high. Well, sometimes you can find a deal, which I do now and then. Your idea of a deal and mine may be two different things. I don't buy a ton from them, but I do spend now and then when I find something I want at a price I think is fair.


michaelpbell, thank you for your offer to help. I dropped you an email with all my information.


I will keep this thread updated when/if anything else comes of this. Thank you to all that have replied so far, I do appreciate it.