My BCC Experience: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

abby99 · Tweet this Post! #1 05-15-2012, 09:22 PM

A respected member of this forum convinced me to tell my story, not to bash BCC, but as a heads up to others. I had not planned to post about this in a public forum, but I understand his point.

Many of you are familiar with my Lady Luck Club cash set from BCC on the MGK mold. Gorgeous chips, if I do say so myself. Although the chips are not perfect, I willingly overlooked the flaws because, on balance, I was thrilled with the final product.

In summer 2011, I ordered a companion tournament set using the same artwork as the original set except for the denominations, along with a nickel add-on for the cash set. Let me repeat, it was the same artwork. The very same artwork.

The Good: The new chips were beautiful (and yes, the white chips were all snow white). Absolutely stunning, especially the T25: 414818, TRK Light Turquoise base, BCC Gold outer spots, and Sherbert Green inner spots, a combo that I had been lusting for ever since I got my BCC/TRK color sample set.

The Bad: The inlays looked as if the artwork had been converted to a low res raster image (real low, like 50 dpi or something) and printed on a 20-year-old inket that was running out of ink. The images were pixilated, the black areas were grainy and full of stray colors, the "solid" areas had banding, and what should have been beautiful red denoms looked like a faded, grainy version of BCC gold. Around 50% of the chips had inlays that had been cut so far off center that part of the image had been cut off. Unbeknownst to me at the time, that was the second, improved run of inlays. I can only imagine what the first run looked like.

BCC never acknowledged the cause of the problem with the inlays, and I will not speculate on the cause in this thread.

The Ugly: BCC refused to remake the chips. The inlays didn't look that bad, they decided. I was being too picky, they claimed. They had already rerun the inlays once and weren't going to run them a third time, they stated flatly. Mike did offer to redo the chips with the worst miscut inlays, but I feared that I could easily end up with half a set with bad inlays and half a set with good inlays and declined his offer.

The Outcome: After considerable strained discussion/debate followed by weeks of silence, BCC sent me an RMA and I returned the chips for a refund. I'm out the mold rental fee, which is not an insignificant sum of money, but the outcome could have been much, much worse.

The Lingering Question: What did BCC do with the chips? Land fill? The dark closet of Lessons Learned?

Pics? Sorry, no. They're in a long forgotten corner of my computer's hard drive. I can't bear to post them on the interwebz. Please don't press me on this.

Considering placing an order with BCC? I won't try to dissuade you. BCC has made many spectacular sets of custom chips, and I'm delighted to own one of their successful sets. It's unfortunate that they don't consistently deliver the quality product that they're perfectly capable of producing, but it's even worse when they don't stand behind their work.

ttttubby · Tweet this Post! #2 05-15-2012, 09:41 PM

Oof this story makes me want to throw up a little. So sorry that thingS went so bad on something that could have been so good. Would love to see pics but totally understand why you would want to put that behind you. It's too bad you couldn't keep the chips with a partial refund and relabel them. Thank you for sharing.

jldecarlo · Tweet this Post! #3 05-15-2012, 09:47 PM

I'm sorry that you won't get the chips you wanted and that you are out $$. Is there any hope of remaking them (with ASM I guess)??

L

courage · Tweet this Post! #4 05-15-2012, 09:48 PM

Thanks for sharing, Marsha. A tough story to share and sorry for the outcome. Hopefully it helps others.

chipNAchair · Tweet this Post! #5 05-15-2012, 10:03 PM

It's unfortunate that with all the awesome BCC sets out there, that this kind of crap happens. The simple solution would be for BCC to own up, offer to fix any bad chips and then issue a partial refund for the bad ones. #thatsinaperfectworld

I agree that it's only speculation as to what BCC did/does with any "bad" chips. For all we know, they're melted down for ink with the printers they use.

Their QC has always been an issue and probably the main reason I never went with a complete custom set. Even if things improved, I'd be more likely to go the blank route (MGK) before anything else.

I guess that the main upside here is that you managed to find a small resolution to a huge problem. It wasn't much and it really sucks that you're out some scratch. For what it's worth however, your Lady Lucks are tops!

I'd be curious to see if ASM could've re-made them also.
Were they done on the MGK mold?? If so, I remember talking with joshuadalton regarding the possibility of ASM doing customs with the mold.
Wouldn't work, something to do with the mold size (or something like that).
That's too bad 'cause if ASM could use the mold, I'd be all over it!

jbutler16 · Tweet this Post! #6 05-15-2012, 10:24 PM

thank you for posting this, Marsha. i hope everyone reading knows that this is from the mouth of one of the kindest and most diplomatic members of this forum.

it's the most brutal double whammy that this happened to one of the absolute nicest people in this community and to one of the most gorgeous chip designs produced in the last several years. that tourney set could have been truly amazing. and those nickels! it hurts my head just to think about the awesome chips lost in this debacle and the disgusting way BCC mangled the "resolution."

Jeff · Tweet this Post! #7 05-15-2012, 10:38 PM

Marsha handled this very respectfully and I saw the inlays, and they were a bona fide QC problem. A very puzzling one.

I would guess that the only solution is to do it right the first time 100%. I don't know their financials, but I can't expect their margin is such that they can remake chips and make a profit.

The green chip with the gold and light green spots was a thing of beauty.

JM · Tweet this Post! #8 05-15-2012, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chipNAchair

It's unfortunate that with all the awesome BCC sets out there, that this kind of crap happens. The simple solution would be for BCC to own up, offer to fix any bad chips and then issue a partial refund for the bad ones. #thatsinaperfectworld

No, the simplest thing would have been to not use those horrible looking inlays in the first place and redo them until they were right BEFORE you pressed them into the chips! I've seen a picture of them and there's no way they should have been used.

Thanks for sharing Marsha, I know it wasn't easy for you. I see a lot of similarity to Gil's (Albino Dragon) experience with his BCC order and non-resolution as well, both in the problem and how you both feel about them and can't bear to post pics.

chipNAchair · Tweet this Post! #9 05-15-2012, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JM

No, the simplest thing would have been to not use those horrible looking inlays in the first place and redo them until they were right BEFORE you pressed them into the chips!

I agree, no arguements here.

BillJr106 · Tweet this Post! #10 05-15-2012, 11:04 PM

[quote=Jeff;1144549]
I would guess that the only solution is to do it right the first time 100%. I don't know their financials, but I can't expect their margin is such that they can remake chips and make a profit.
quote]

But if you really think about it, remaking the chips and breaking even is better than a refund and a total loss... it just doesnt make sense. Sounds like a grumpy person running a company, not a businessman. Would you rather break even, or waste money and time making a product that in the end you give all the money back for...