Cards: Panini Contenders 2016, Leaf Draft 2016, Panini Prism 2016 Acquired: IP 2019, SA Commanders Team Signing Dick’s Sporting Goods at The Rim
The Commanders big signing event of the season came at Dick’s Sporting Goods and with big names from the team appearing, it made total sense for me to go. Even though the event said NO OUTSIDE ITEMS, I figured I would take my chances and show up with my cards. It turned out nobody cared and I was able to go through the line 2 times to get all my cards covered. Mekale was next to Derron Smith, and they argued over which had the better cards. Mekale was sold on his Prism card, but he got trumped by Derron who had a Prism die cut card that looked like a fence. Overall it was a great event and I was happy with getting all the players’ autographs that were in attendance, as about two weeks later the league would disappear. Mekale’s autograph is very unique. I have never seen an M shaped quite like that.
Mekale was not drafted coming out of Arkansas (2012)/ Cincinnati (2013-2015), where he posted 108 receptions for 2034 yards and 19 TDs over his time between the two schools. A huge target stepping in at 6-5, McKay averaged an improbable 30.3 yards per reception in 2013 when he hauled in 16 catches for 485 yards and 7 TDs. He’d sign with the Colts after the draft in 2016, but be cut after training camp. Mekale then bounced around between the Jaguars, Broncos, Titans, Bears, and Cowboys over the next two years.
In 2019 McKay signed with the San Antonio Commanders of the now defunct Alliance of American Football. He’d post 22 receptions for 375 yards and 4 TDs including 1 2 point conversion. Mekale’s 17 yards a reception also was among the league leaders in that category. After the league ‘suspended operations’, Mekale drew interest from the Buffalo Bills and attended minicamp with the Browns.
Mekale was then selected by the New York Guardians of the XFL 2020, during the second round of the initial phase of the player draft. Over the course of the season he caught 12 passes for 184 yards and a TD, before the COVID pandemic cancelled the season. Two months later, McKay signed with the Blue Bombers of the CFL, but roughly a month later the league suspended play due to COVID as well.
Card: Wild Card World League 1992 Acquired: TTM 2020, C/o Work Sent: 9/16 Received: 10/8 (22 days)
A four-year starter at right guard for USC from 1987 to 1990, Mark Tucker was selected in the 7th round of the 91 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons spending most of the year on the practice squad. The next year he joined the Colts in a similar capacity and then was allocated to the Frankfurt Galaxy of the World League where he spent a season with the squad in 1992.
After the World League reorganized, Mark joined the Arizona Cardinals, playing for them the next two seasons (1993-1994). In the meantime, Mark moonlighted on ‘American Gladiators’ as an injury replacement gladiator named ‘Rebel’. His interesting career journey continued from there spending a season with the Jacksonville Jaguars as an expansion selection in 95. With the following season under his belt with the New Orleans Saints in 96, Tucker decided to take his talents to the Arena Football League, playing for the Arizona Rattlers. He experienced his best football years with the franchise, and played from 1997 to 2006 with the squad.
Mark quickly jumped into coaching offensive and defensive lines for the Rattlers, and then later the New Orleans Voodoo. He moved to the high school ranks, where he has become an acclaimed position coach over the last 20 years.
Sorry this post is going to be different. It’s going off the rails a bit from the usual player biography.
Today we’re going to talk about when paid signings go bad, because I was the recipient of one. I had been after Jermaine Lewis for years, but being a terrible TTM signer, I decided to wait since I wanted him on a sorta rare Texans Inaugural Set card.
After missing out on a signing on a budget for Lewis earlier this year, I was super happy to find an affordable one going on in early November through IPO Sports Marketing. I put my card in the mail and patiently waited. The trade was accepted on October 31st. The event was scheduled for 11/14, but later on I discovered that he hadn’t updated his SCN offer to match his flyer, which said November 21st!) On December 1st I emailed the guy and asked him about the event. He did not respond. The next day I received my card back, with this additional random Topps card signed, and a note stating, “No Texans cards. Sorry.” -That’s it.
I emailed IPO Sports Marketing that day on December 2nd telling him that what I received was unacceptable and that I would like a full refund. I got no response.
I checked my SCN outbox on December 4th and noted that he had not opened any of my emails, so I decided to escalate the situation through Paypal and leave negative feedback through SCN where the trade was facilitated. -I had been more than patient with IPO Sports Marketing, and now it was taking too much of my time.
An hour or two later, I got an email from Paypal indicating my refund. Then shortly afterwards IPO Sports Marketing put my SCN email on blitz. He responded first to my email on 12/1 about where my cards were with a tirade:
I was not aware that he did not sign Houston cards til signing. I tried to give you a free card and refund. But you gave a negative?? Insane. We have had countless signings this and last month. Now you to will receive a negative. I have lost a childhood friend to Covid. But hey your card is more important!
– IPO Sports Marketing
Ok let me lay this out since he subsequently blocked me:
a. If he wasn’t aware that Lewis didn’t sign Houston cards, why didn’t he contact me over the next two weeks after the signing to let me know?
b. He sent me that autographed card, but did not tell me I’d be issued a refund, nor did he do it until I requested one.
c. Yes I patiently waited for his service that he did not fulfil correctly or with customer service.
d. I don’t care if he had countless signings. – This is called an ‘argument by authority.’ I can easily say that I have gone to HUNDREDS of in person signings, but does that give me any credo: Nooo.
e. Negative feedback? -That’s retaliatory.
f. Sorry, I didn’t know he lost somebody to COVID. -That’s his personal business though and isn’t material to the transaction.
g. My card is important to me. -Why is he belittling me for his failure? Maybe he’s really only interested in the big fish that he’s cooking and not little guys like me? I mean just says more about him.
His next email was one telling me to be patient and they’d offer me a refund AFTER I got the card in the mail. The problem was the email he responded to was the email that I told him that I had already received the card and it was not acceptable from 12/2.
His last email was notification of the negative feedback he left me, where he claims to have offered me a free card and a full refund- and that I am just a crazy person.
So I immediately contacted the admins at SCN, and after investigating they removed his retaliatory feedback (not to mention it is clearly stated not to do it in the rules). IPO Sports Marketing attempted to explain a revisionist history of the situation, trying to make it sound like they had offered me the card for free and a refund and that I was just a crazy person who ran off and hammered them with Paypal and negative feedback.
Now why would I do that when I just want my autographed card? Why would I create unnecessary drama for myself like that? This has happened to me in the past, and you know how the seller handled it with me? COMMUNICATION. And you know what I did? – I didn’t leave negative feedback. That’s for sure. (What IPO Sports Marketing failed to understand as a retailer is with every customer service mistake, there’s an opportunity to fix and an opportunity to make another sale- but he didn’t.)
All he had to do was say, “Hey couldn’t get this done. I’m so sorry. Here’s a free autographed card. I’ve already refunded you your money (and gone through with it).” That’s the tragedy of it. It became a mountain for me to stand on because he refused to deal with the mole hill in front of him.
I do not take negative reviews lightly and I do not like issuing them whether its SCN or EBay or whatever. I am exceedingly patient, so when I decide I am unhappy with a service, it is not done lightly. It is done after methodical documentation and an opportunity at every corner to give the retailer a chance to communicate with me or make me whole.
Thankfully with the available time date stamps from the emails that I received from both my personal email and SCN, I was able to compose a timeline for them to review, so they could understand that his timeline of events was not accurate. My negative feedback was accurate to the situation and the moment, but after this happened, I felt I should write about it, so others would be aware that there are bad signing situations that happen.
Later that week, a Ravens fan posted all his Jermaine Lewis autographs that he obtained from that signing. Curiously, he included 3 signed Texans cards that Lewis had penned. What took the cake later, was one of my friends also experienced a similar situation with the IPO Sports Marketing. IPO offered to send him any Jermaine Lewis autograph that he had- and sent a photo grouping of all the cards, and among them again was another Jermaine Lewis Houston Texans card.
Why would IPO Sports do this to me? Coupled with my friend’s issue, I am led to believe that IPO Sports forgot to get our cards signed, then sloppily tried to cover it up.
There are a lot of people out there who shouldn’t be handling signings (especially now during the days of COVID). There are people who don’t understand customer service, who are overwhelmed by their own lives, problems, or underlying issues that they didn’t understand about handling autograph signings.
Be patient with them. Go easy on them, but don’t let them gaslight you when it is their fault. Tolerate to a point and don’t be afraid to hold them accountable when you’ve been more than reasonable and had enough.
That being said I’ll wait until some other time to write about Jermaine, when I have another autograph in hand of his on his Texans card. In the meantime, and I say this with conviction: Beware about doing business with IPO Sports Marketing.
Celebrating the game, the players, the cards, and the autographs for over 25 years.
