Pokemon TCG - Shining Fates (Elite Trainer Box)

Pokemon Company is now about “quantity over quality”. I bought a few of these Shining Fate ETBs on Pokémon Center because I could not find any in stores due to scalpers. Despite the positive reviews, I’m sadly one of those who got ETBs that were missing items. Each pack should have included a reverse holo but majority of them were missing. Every single pack had a white code card which was odd because neither of the other sets had this problem. White code card indicates you’ll get a holo rare, v, vmax and so on… but end up getting a regular non-holo every time. I have seen many live openings that people had great luck with and some not so much. I feel like my situation is getting common. Pokemon Center has no solution… I had to open a case with the bank I paid with. ... MorePokemon Company is now about “quantity over quality”. I bought a few of these Shining Fate ETBs on Pokémon Center because I could not find any in stores due to scalpers. Despite the positive reviews, I’m sadly one of those who got ETBs that were missing items. Each pack should have included a reverse holo but majority of them were missing. Every single pack had a white code card which was odd because neither of the other sets had this problem. White code card indicates you’ll get a holo rare, v, vmax and so on… but end up getting a regular non-holo every time. I have seen many live openings that people had great luck with and some not so much. I feel like my situation is getting common. Pokemon Center has no solution… I had to open a case with the bank I paid with. I will be returning all items as agreed. But now Pokemon Center is trying to make me responsible for return shipping cost for something I didn’t do. Customers pay an expect to get what’s stated but end up loosing money due to the company have poor quality control <- JAPAN does not have this problem. I’m lucky to be getting a reimbursement from my bank for the return shipment cost. Pokemon Center lacks of customer service!

When I received my package, the box was damaged as if it had been opened forcefully and shoddily re-sealed. After removing the product from the box, there were clear signs of tampering with the packaging (i.e. resealed plastic wrap on the outside of the box, ripped/bent cardboard divider inside the box, resealed booster packs). If I had ordered this from a third party website, I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this, but this is basically coming directly from the source. I understand that once a package is shipped out it is out of Pokemon Center's control, but it's incredibly frustrating that I can't even purchase TCG products directly from the Pokemon company without falling victim to tampering and theft. I'm not here to offer a solution or demand a ... MoreWhen I received my package, the box was damaged as if it had been opened forcefully and shoddily re-sealed. After removing the product from the box, there were clear signs of tampering with the packaging (i.e. resealed plastic wrap on the outside of the box, ripped/bent cardboard divider inside the box, resealed booster packs). If I had ordered this from a third party website, I wouldn't be surprised to see something like this, but this is basically coming directly from the source. I understand that once a package is shipped out it is out of Pokemon Center's control, but it's incredibly frustrating that I can't even purchase TCG products directly from the Pokemon company without falling victim to tampering and theft. I'm not here to offer a solution or demand a refund, or anything like that, but rather just to vent my frustration in a setting where someone might see it, as well as let the Pokemon Company know that they need to do something, since they also don't offer any place to voice concerns about matters such as this on their support page. That is all.

I was finally able to get a couple of boxes of shinning fates after months and months of searching. I got close a coupe of times, waiting in line at Target, but each time a scalper ahead of me would just take everything and clear out the inventory.Initially I had bought two of these; one for my nephew and one for myself. But with Christmas around the corner and with the difficulty of finding any of the new sets, I decided to gift both boxes to my nephew. It's much more important to keep this hobby alive for the new generation. Thanks Pokemon Center for combating scalpers and stocking these for the holidays. I know my nephew is going to be so hyped.