A Different Kind of Upset Letter

…… send him a message asking if u “upper deck” would pay for a small storage for a year if it would make your wife happy?

I honestly don’t think this deserves a response from Upper Deck. This is an issue that needs to be worked out between the husband and wife. I can understand her concern, you (UD) really have nothing to do with the real issue here. Many ’solutions’ would require suggestions on how to deal with his collection and that’s a bit personal from a customer support stance.

On the other hand, perhaps UD could find a product to suggest to her that may be of interest and possibly create another collector in her? In the end, it’s all about compromising. Darn UD for offering such great products!

I would respond by simply telling her that you do not sell to him directly and that he can and will buy from any local shops as well as online stores and auction sites such as ebay. There is no way for you to control what he gets.

Tell her no problem, but then send the guy a free case of SP authentic!:)

Dear Mrs. ______

While we understand your concern about your husband’s ever expanding hockey card collection, we are unable to refuse to allow him to make future purchases. While we do not take action in situations like these and cannot act based on your feelings toward the collection your husband has gathered, you may want to discuss these feelings you have explained to us with him and help him to understand your position behind your wishes to not purchase our product any longer.

We are very appreciative of the time taken to write to us with your concern and we have reviewed it carefully and thoughtfully. We hope that you understand our position and our inability to act in the manner that you have requested.

Thank you for your time and our regards,
Upper Deck Customer Service

I would have to say that she is wright and dont send any thing else to her husband. But I guess this could end a marragie so i really dont know what to say other than if they pay you have to give them the product they purchased.

Dear Mrs. xxxxxxxxxx,
Thank you for taking the time to write Upper Deck regarding your husband’s hockey card collection. You will probably not be surprised to learn that this is not the only instance of a letter like this we have received at our offices. We do have a lot of “dedicated” collectors and while we certainly appreciate the time, energy, and effort they put into building their collections, we do realize that sometimes a hobby becomes more than that, and can have a negative effect on a person’s family life.
Family is important–many of us here at Upper Deck have them too–and we encourage our supporters to involve their family as best as possible in their collecting. Has your husband shared his box breaks with you and your children? If not, the next time he comes home with a box, ask if you can open a couple of packs of his cards. Trust us Mrs. xxxxxxxxxx, when you pull a Sidney Crosby autograph, it’s a great feeling, and he will love you for being his good luck charm with his future breaks.
Here’s a great thing that you can do with all those extra cards sitting around in your sock drawers and storage bins: plan a day where you can organize them together, keep the ones of your favourite teams and players, and donate the rest of the team to a local children’s hospital. Many collectors do this, and the smiles on the faces of the kids will brighten everybody’s day. It’s a win-win: your space problem gets fixed and you and your husband get to spend a lot of quality time together doing a good deed.
We at Upper Deck like to be a small part of what keeps a family together, not a big part in making it grow apart. We hope that our suggestions help both you and your husband with his collecting situation. A lot of wives find that once they start to participate in their husband’s other passion, they understand where the enthusiasm comes from and this helps them grow even closer. The family that collects together stays together…unless he won’t trade you that card of your favourite player!

Best wishes,
Upper Deck
Lastly, Mrs. xxxxxxxxxx,

Dear Madame,
While we understand and are apologetic to your situation, unless your husband is a licensed retailer, there is a very limited number of sports card products that he can buy directly from us. However, since we do sell autographed and non-autographed memorabilia direct to our customers, we have placed his name on our “Do Not Sell” list.

While this is the end of a customer relationship, we appreciate (blacked out name)’s loyalty to our products and wish you both the best of luck in the future.

Sincerely,
Upper Deck Customer Service

Mam,
First of all we want to thank you for your letter. We always love getting feedback from our customers or spouces of our customers. As far as us not accepting anymore orders or redemptions from your husband, we cant really do that. I totally understand why you are mad about how many cards he has. My ex wife used to get mad at me for the same reason. The thing is my wife spends alot of money on clothes and shoes that seem to pile up in more than a few closets in our house, and i cant really call Macy’s and ask them not to sell my wife anymore shoes or clothes, and expect them not to. So thats basicly the awkward situation you have with your husbands cards. I hope for his sake and the sake of your relationship, he and you can somehow compromise and work out some kind of deal. Im sorry we cant stop supplying your husband with our product, but i do hope he maybe organizes his collection better and maybe condense it, so it dosent take up so much room. Thank you for your letter and i wish you all the best! Sincerely Yours
Upper Deck [Nick Gauder}

The problem here is that the wife fully believes that the husband has a serious problem. While all collectors might want to laugh that off as an overbearing wife trying to kill her hubby’s fun, the fact is that he might actually have a problem.

My own wife thinks I sometimes buy too many cards, but only because I haven’t yet sold any. I’ve only been collecting for the last three years or so, and I told myself I would wait to start selling until I had a decent stash to post on eBay or some other site. When I tell my wife “Hey this card I just got is worth $X.XX”, she always comes back with the same reply: “Its only worth $X.XX if someone buys it for $X.XX”.

Perhaps you should write back to her emphasizing that the hobby of card collecting is a two-way street; her husband should be encouraged to sell or donate some of his old cards, and the more of those cards he sells and donates, the more she should support him getting new ones. If he simply keeps collecting them without selling them, he might honestly have a hoarding issue to deal with, which would make her complaint a lot more understandable.

I think it should be made clear to her, though, that you as a company can’t be held responsible for the actions of any individual. She should work with her husband to set a monthly budget on cards; if he’s spending money on cards that should be paying bills, buying food, or putting clothes on their backs, then he needs help that a psychiatrist should be providing, not Upper Deck.

Thank her for her letter, because what it allows you to do is emphasize to everyone involved in the hobby that issues like budgeting, reasonable collecting limits, etc. should be brought up and discussed by those in the hobby and the people they share their lives with. Aside from that, encourage her to have an open discourse with her husband, and offer to help in any way you can in the future.

Dear Mrs. ****

We at Upper Deck can understand your frustrations. It is understandable to be upset with someone who has a hobby that is all over the place. Maybe rather than cut your husband off completely from the hobby he has loved since a child, why not try to help him better organize his “collection”. Your showing interest in his hobby may give him the jump start he needs to tackle something that may seem overwhelming to him right now. You could also sugest to him possibly donating majority of his 40,000 cards to a childrens charity or hospital. They may be old to him but would definitely be new to some child who has none. That way he could feel good about it and at the same time make you feel better about his hobby. Your husband will probably never stop buying cards and momorabilia but with your help and interest can make it bearable for the both of you. We appreciate hearing from you and hope you accept this pink backpack to use to transport cards to the childrens hospital.

Sincerely,
Upper Deck

Dear Mrs. So and So,

We here at Upper Deck have found the solution to your husbands collection size problem. We are sending your husband a complimentary card house and 10 large super monster storage boxes. We sincerely hope that this solves your problem. If this doesn’t solve your problem we will would be more than happy to dispatch (to him) one of our Corporate Attorneys to handle the divorce proceedings.

We appreciate your husbands business,
Upper Deck Customer Service

First off, I’m sorry UD that this situation had to happen to a great company. Anyways, I know what to tell this lady who seems to be really upset at her husband. The reason why I know is because I, too, have a wife who gets mad at my collecting. So, here is what I would say to her:

Dear Mrs. _________,

First off, as a company we apologize for the inconvenience and frustration that we’re causing you. As a company, we have to honor our customers’ orders when they come in because that’s what a good company will do to satisfy their customers. If we didn’t honor our customers’ orders then we wouldn’t be in business anymore. It’s like when a person buys a purse or shoes off the internet. That company has to honor that customer’s order or they probably won’t stay in business. What we can do though is offer some advice that one of our loyal collectors had to say to help you in this predicament:

“I’ve been a collector over 20 years, and I don’t believe my wife will understand the passion I have for collecting, but what I do know is that her and I have an agreement. First off, I have to keep my collection protected in card boxes, plastic holders, etc. Second, I have to keep my collection neat and in one area of the house (which is on a shelving unit). Third, she told me that I had to downsize my collection to teams, players, sets, and/or items that I wanted to collect. The rest of the cards I would have to donate to charity like the Ronald McDonald House or sell them. Fourth, and finally the most important rule, I have to put family, especially her, first. So, as long as I agree to these terms then she will support me and my hobby. Anyways, as I see it she is my 1 of 1 that I have forever (1 of 1 meaning there is no one else like her in the world). So, what I would do is talk to your husband and set some rules between him and yourself. Maybe even give him a budget of how much he can spend a month on his collection. I would say first he needs to take care of his current collection and spend a little bit of time and money to get it organized. I really do apologize about this situation and hope you all can come to an agreement.”

So, again, we apologize about the circumstances that you’re facing. Now if you have any questions about how to keep the cards better organized then please feel free to ask us, or your local card shop. Also, we have a website that has a few pointers. Here is the link: http://sports.upperdeck.com/collectorszone/tips/tips_valuesgrading.aspx#safe Thank you for your concern, and we’ll try our best to keep our customers and their family satisfied.

Sincerely,
Upper Deck

So, this is my suggestion, or letter, on how I would respond to this lady. I give my permission for you all to use it if you want. Another suggestion would be give her a pink backpack or something that she might like along those lines. Try to win her over as a supporter and customer of Upper Deck. It’s just a suggestion. I hope that you all can resolve this conflict into a win/win situation. Good luck!

Dear Madame

Thank you for taking the time to send us a letter.

We understand your concern over the size of your husband’s collection and, if you would like, we can offer ideas on how to better store or reduce the amount of cards he owns.

We wish we could comply with your request to stop sending your husband cards but as a company which sells product we cannot, in good conscience, stop sending product to a customer who has paid for said product.

We hope that you and your husband can come to a peaceful agreement that makes you both happy and, hopefully, keeps your husband buying our products.

We appreciate your husband’s business and the time you took to send us this letter.

Sincerely, Upper Deck.

here is what i would wright to this couple who are seriously in trouble.

Dear Mrs.soandso we do apologize for the situation you are in.We here at Upper Deck love helping our customers and are willing to do what we can for them.To be quite frank with you it is not an issue for our company to resolve.These matters are more for you and your husband to work out and come to a reasonable conclusion.If there are any other issues in the future please do not hesitate to contact use again.

sincerely your Upper Deck Representative.

Dear Mrs. ,

Hello, I am sorry that this issue has come up. Perhaps a talk with your husband about the issue would help, and maybe limit the collecting. If the cards are everywhere, a cleanup would be helpful, storing as many as you can in boxes in a small closet. These are just some suggestions, and we hope that this helped.

As for not sending, unfortunetely, we cannot just not send someone something they have won or already bought. If you can talk to your husband about this, the issue may be resolved.

Sincerely,

The Upper Deck Company

Facebook response:
Dear Customer
I would like to thank you for your letter of concern to the Upper Deck Company. I am sorry for any inconvience this hobby may bring to you and your family; however, we are required by law to honor any and all redemptions or sales that have been taken place on our website. There is no way for the service members at UD to individually check all redemptions and orders to make sure they are not coming from certain sources. We do value your concerns; however, we are unable to abide by the request stated in your letter. Again, UD would like to appologize for any inconvience this may cause for you and your family.
Sincerly.
The UD company…

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Jonathan, UpperDeckBlog.com. UpperDeckBlog.com said: How would you respond to this upset letter from the wife of a hockey card collector? http://cot.ag/bkJQrl #NHL #Hockey [...]

Dear _____

We here at Upper Deck are always striving to give our customers the best satisfaction we can. We however in your situation cannot intervene. As a company we do not a “Restricted Buyer List”. Any orders than come in must be accepted as per company regulations. We do understand that sometimes collecting can almost be like an addiction and sometimes is overdone somewhat. The best way to resolve this situation in our eyes would be to come to some sort of compromise with your husband. As we can tell from your letter he is an avid collector and perhaps has been collecting too much in a short span of time. This has caused a lack of storage space to keep all the cards well kept and organized. We would suggest perhaps he cut back on how much he is buying and perhaps takes time to get his current collection in order and tidy. Another idea would be to reduce his collection by selling or trading the cards that he doesn’t care for or has doubles of. Other than that we cannot provide any further guidance in this situation. We hope that you can agree on something with your husband which will please both sides.

Thanks again for your letter and we appreciate your comments. Also Feel free to contact us in the future if you any further questions or recommendations for others in similar situations.

Kind Regards,
Upper Deck Customer Service

Greetings Upper Deck! Thanks for the great contest – you will find my entry below! This would be an excellent contest to win as my wife recently ’stole’ my backpack, so she could use one of her own – and I’d love to bust a few boxes of great Upper Deck product! My own collection has taken a hit lately due to household budget restraints and I haven’t opened anything all season!
Anyways, on to the letter:

Dear Mrs. Smith,

Thank you for taking the time to contact Upper Deck Customer Service. We understand your growing concerns over the size and disorganization of your husbands collection and wish to do what we can to help.

To begin, I would like to take a moment to explain that Upper Deck does not supply cards to individual customers directly. The collectibles are designed and manufactured here and shipped to local card shops and mass retailers for customers to purchase – similarly to the way automobiles are not purchased directly from the plant in which they are manufactured. Having said this, I feel your concerns would be best directed to the location your husband purchases the majority of his collection as they may be able to work with you to limit your husbands spending.

At Upper Deck we pride ourselves on World Class Customer Service and have begun to focus even more closely on public relations via social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter. With this enhanced relationship with our customer base we encounter stories similar to yours each and every day. Collectors around the world have given us many tried, tested and true methods of managing a sizable collection like your husbands as well as ideas on how to manage a relationship with a spouse who is a card collector. Here are some tips for your consideration:

- It’s important to try to understand why your partner is obsessed with collecting. This may be a way for him to support his favorite team or players, or it may be something he shared with his father when he was young and/or would like to pass along to his children as well.

- Discuss your partners collecting habits with him, perhaps allowing him a certain section of the house to store and display his collection. This way he will be able to maintain his collecting passion without cluttering up the entire house.

- If you follow the sport he collects, try taking an interest in his collection as well. Ask to see some of his favorite cards and perhaps start a small collection of your own. This can develop into a great bonding experience!

- See his collection for the investment it may become, he may even be willing to sell some of his collection at some point to help finance a family trip or assist children going away to college.

- Set a budget for your collecting spouse to follow and help him stay within this budget as it will allow the necessary budget for the rest of your house.

- Above all else, try to remember that there are worse habits he could have than collecting. Try to work with him to keep his collection under control while still allowing him the passion of sports memorabilia.

We hope that the above tips will find success for you and encourage you to seek others advice via the internet or your local card shop dealers. Please do not hesitate to contact us again as well if you have any further questions.

Sincerely,

Mr. UD

Dear ______,

We are sorry to hear about your situation with your husband. It would be impractical to try and cancel all orders he makes with us, but we do have a suggestion. Try and talk with your husband about the issue. If these thousands of cards are not important to him, let him know that many children’s hospitals accept these types of things as donations. If he would like to get something for them, consider selling them in bulk.

Upper Deck product offers a great chance at pulling fantastic cards. Please consider trying to resolve this issue in a different way.

Thank you,
Upper Deck

There are several possible solutions to this situation. The obvious one to me is to try and include her in your hobby. That could make her accept the hobby and quantity of your cards more. Or, perhaps you could liquidate some of them to make room for more. Perhaps trade or sell some sets or cards and make room for more. Just some thoughts on the easiest way to handle the situation.

Here’s how I’d probably handle it.

Dear Mrs…

We are sorry to hear your husband no longer wants to collect hockey cards produced by us. It sounds like he has been a devoted collector over the years and for that, please accept our sincerest gratitude. Moving forward we strive to make great products and to make collectors happy and we are sorry you and your husband are not happy with collecting any more. Unfortunately if your husband orders from us we have no way of making a “Take no orders from” list, and his order would still be processed. Most of our cards are sold through hobby shops, retail locations, and internet auction sites, not sold directly through us so the cards may not be coming from us at all. We assure you, if he doesn’t order from us we aren’t going to solicit him to do so. Again we appreciate your letter and if there is any more information you need please feel free to contact us.

Sincerely,

Upper Deck Ltd.

Madam,
Although we are very happy and pleased with you’re husbands passion for the sport of hockey, we would like to apologize to you. We realize that card collecting does take time and resources away from a very healthy relationship, but in the end it makes that bond even stronger. Could you imagine the benefits you would reap when you husband pulls the #1 rookie he’s be looking for? Fireworks can’t even begin to describe.
Until then, a peck on the cheek and a “way to go” slap on the butt, should be suffice.
Thanks for your understanding
Sincerely
Upper Deck

dear maam..
we find it hard to belive that your husband no longer wants hockey cards from us. unfortunatly we cannot moniter/decline anyone that wants to buy merchindise from us.we are sorry for any inconveince this may cause you. ud

Dear Madam,

Thank you for writing to Upper Deck.
I understand your concerns, but you have to understand that
many people like to have a hobby, to make life more exciting.
Without hobbies our lives would be boring,
some people go hunting, others go bungee jumping,
your husband has chosen to collect cards.
If you love your husband and you want him to be happy,
Please, let him enjoy his hobby.

We wish you all the best,
Upper Deck Company

My husband does not need any more hockey cards, football cards, basketball cards, baseball cards or any other worthless pieces of photo copied cardboard–but I would sure like one of those electronic gizmos to turn off the games from another room! My husband’s passion has taken over every shelf in our home and garage.

I really wish that the key words weren’t, “…who provides the response we end up using…” lol ~shrug~ but I might as well give this a shot anyhow, sooo here it goes…

Thank you very much for taking the time to write to us about your situation. At Upper Deck we actually receive a variety of letters concerning this matter. However, yours caught our attention for a number of reasons and we began to realize that this case is quite serious. I mean, if some guys such as your husband order even one more pack, they could quite possibly end up sleeping on the couch for the rest of the year…err…unless of course they already are.

Although we technically do not have any real power over whether he orders more from us, I believe that there are a number of options that you could consider. Allow me to suggest one viable option. Create a compromise with him that would benefit both of you. For example, each time he orders cards, he has to take you to the local mall, jeweler, or car dealership and you can pick out whatever you want. Never know, maybe this deal or one like it could ultimately end up working out for both of you.

Best of Luck,

Upper Deck

yupyup that’s about it. -MoldyHeady

How about something like this:

Dear Ms. (Smith)
Thank you for sharing your thoughts and concern about your husband, and his love for collecting. You are a very loving and patient spouse to put up with such a cluttered and time consuming hobby. Unfortunately we are unable to stop any orders that your husband may place with us in the future. Since he is an adult, if he places an order, and pays for that order in full, we are by law required to fulfill his request. However, please let us reward you for your hard work and patience in caring for one of our good customers. Let us know either one of your favorite places to shop, or eat, and on your husbands next order, we will include a Gift Certificate in the amount of (insert dollar amount here) addressed to you, for the place of your choice. We wish you and your spouse the best in the future.

Regards
UD Customer Service

What do you guys think????
B-

Dear Madame,

Thank you for contacting us here at Upper Deck. We are sorry to hear that your husbands hobby is causing friction in your relationship. Unfortunately, we are unable to filter purchasing in a way that will effectively keep your husband from making future purchases. However, we are able to assist you in finding effective storage solutions that would help alleviate the clutter that is being caused by your husbands collection. As well, perhaps you will find a recent blog post on the topic of balancing the sports card collecting hobby and marriage of some help if your husband is unable to stop collecting completely. For storage solutions you can contact your local hobby store by using the store locator tool found here, or by contacting an upper deck representative at this email address.

Thank you very much for taking the time to contact us and we hope that we will be able to assist you in resolving this issue,

Upper Deck

Dear Mrs……..

We at Upper Deck understand your concern for your husband, while still appreciating your Husband’s passion for the game of hockey. We do not offer our product with the intention of causing problems in a relationship, but simply to connect fans with a love of their sport to the game. Perhaps there is a way you could see to enjoy this hobby with him, see what he finds so enjoyable with collecting hockey cards. Maybe allow him to have some of the more valuable or appealing cards on display in his own area, and the two of you can come to some agreement on his hobby.
While we understand that collecting of sport cards, and in this case, hockey card collecting is not for everyone, many couples do end up enjoying the thrill of opening a pack together, hoping for that great card! Either way, communication between a couple in this hobby is key, and we her at Upper Deck believe there is room for you both, whatever decision you both come to.

Sincerely,
Upper Deck.

Dear Madame, first off we at Upper Deck would love to thank you for your letter. You letter is very inspirational for wives that have sports card collecting husbands all over the world. We have found that card collecting has become an epidemic of men between the ages of 14-45. To this day there is still no cure to card collecting but our advice to you to try and ween him off his obsessive collecting. Some advice that we have shared with other wives, is to work with your husband to try and donate some of the less desired cards that he has. There are many groups and organizations out there that would love to take them . There are also support groups called “Local Card Shops” that should help take some of his collection, and the win win would be is they would pay for the cards. Again, once the collecting bug has bitten a man it is hard for him to stop. We will try our best not to fill his orders but unfortunately, customer service and delivery is what we stand behind. Thanks again for your letter and good luck with your “Bug bitten” husband

Dear Sir/Madam,

While we appreciate and understand your concern, it is not our position to mettle in personal matters. We cannot refuse an order because of personal differences in the home. While we do understand your concern, this is something where we cannot intervene. Thank you for taking the time to write The Upper Deck Company, and have a great day!

Sincerely,

John Doe

Dear _____,
Thank you for the note regarding your concern (and request) about your husband’s passion for sports card collecting. And while we’re sensitive to your frustration, we can’t deny him the opportunity to purchase Upper Deck products in the future. However, we’d like to share a few thoughts to help you better understand the satisfaction we see collectors deriving from a hobby that is shared by millions. First, many collectors find that sports cards are another way for them to connect with the sports and players the love. They enjoy reading the stats, a player’s milestones, or even getting and autograph or a piece of memorabilia. Second is the ability to share their passion with other collectors through trading, buying or selling cards to each other. Lastly, sports cards provide a collector with a with a way to hold on to some great memories of players and teams they follow now or as a kid. Again, we appreciate your feedback and hope this helps with your feelings toward your husband’s passion for collecting. Regards.

Dear Mrs. ,

We here at Upper Deck are much appreciated of your husbands long term customer loyalty. We can not deny any purchase request from a customer new or otherwise. However, I can recommend that maybe you try to show an indterest in your husbands hobby rather than trying to cut him out of it. Since uou do not like the cards stored the way he is currently keeping them maybe help him organize them into collectors books. This will also allow him to sort though the cards and see if there are any he is willing to maybe sell in order to fund his new purchases.

Best regards,

Upper Deck

But then again being female I guess I am part of the 6% who are female collectors…

Dear Mrs…..,

Rest assured we do somewhat understand your problem but can guarantee you that there is no such thing as “too many cards”. Your husbands collection is still in the building stages and as any good supporting wife can do i would strongly urge you to help him get them out of those rubbermaid tubs and shoe boxes and into more conventional storage containers to assure that his investment will stand the test of time. Instead of making this a negative situation i would like to help you fix this misunderstanding and suggest you turn this into a family bonding opportunity. Thank you very much for your time to write this letter and good luck to you both in the future.

-UD

Dear —–,

As a company, we stand by the products we sell and the collectors who support this great hobby. Clearly your husband has a deep love for collecting hockey cards and memorabilia and you find it difficult and at times impossible to deal with.

In the world we live in, its tough to find something that makes a person truly happy and has little negative effect on the world, but sports card collecting is definitely one of them. We would suggest that if your husband is happy that he maintain this hobby.

However, its also very clear that the vast surplus of cards in your home is upsetting, and if they are merely sitting around, its arguable that they are not being enjoyed by him. Perhaps he could donate the cards to a children’s hospital to brighten the lives of those who could use some cheer. Or even talking to a local vendor about setting up a contest to win a mass of these cards with the proceeds going to charity.

While it would seem reasonable to simply cut off your husband’s collecting at the source, we cannot control his actions. He will have full reign over whether he collects or not. The best thing you can possibly do is work with him to make the situation more palatable to you.

We at Upper Deck enjoy nothing more than making our collectors happy, and we hope that even if your husband isn’t purchasing cards anymore that he can continue to enjoy the hobby in some form.

Best regards,

Upper Deck

Dear Concerned Wife,

I’m sure my own wife may feel the same way as you at times. She has often threatened me with trash cans full of lighter fluid but I explain how this is a healthy hobby as long as it doesn’t affect paying the bills. If it is an addiction, Upper Deck’s soon to be released program called “12 step program to reduce pack ripping” could of use to your husband and all it costs is 100 empty Upper Deck wrappers.

We do thank you for your business and for that we enclose a box of BAP hockey and NHL Ice for your husband as well as tickets for you to see “Thunder from Down Under” when they visit your city.

Kindest regards and best wishes,
UD Customer Service

Dear [name],
While we sympthize with your plight, you will forgive us for feeling a bit proud at the same time. After all, we are a sports card company whose purpose is to make cards that consumers want to buy. It sounds like we have been doing a good job with it in your husband’s case. However, we are unable to restrict his purchases as we do not sell directly to him so there’s no way of knowing where he is buying our products. However, the best solution is to simply talk to him about it. Please understand that your purchases and outside endeavors (nails, hair, shoes, clothes, etc.) will come up during said talk so you may want to be prepared or perhaps just agree to disagree on the subject and move on. If you still want to pursue the discussion, you are going to need to get his attention so here are some ice breakers that will help garner his attention as they are on his level…

1. “I hope you don’t mind, but I used this Alexander Ovechkin card as a coaster. The fabric soaked up the moisture but the scribbling didn’t fare as well.”
2. “Is Sidney Crosby related to Bing Crosby?”
3. “I saw this hot Pavel Bure card where he has roller blades and looks to be outside. I thought hockey was inside on ice?”
4. “You were right, trading is fun. I traded your Patrick Roy card in the super thick plastic for cash and then traded it for new shoes”
5. “I found a bunch of Brodeur cards and remember you saying how that’s a t term for those homemade fake cards so I pitched them all.”
6. “I see you have an Evgeni Malkin card. Wasn’t he also the villain in Harry Potter?”
7. “Who came first, Super Mario the video game guy or Super Mario Lemieux?”
8. “Come here, you have to hear how cool a Gretzky jersey card sounds in my bicycle spokes but wait, the thick patch card is even better, come hear for yourself!”
9. I’ve heard you talk about Bobby Hull as the Golden Jet, and his son as the Golden Brett, so will our financial situation be known as the Golden Debt?”
10. “I don’t know why they call them ‘Cup’ cards because I’ve tried dozens of them and they don’t hold water at all!”

Please keep us informed about how we can continue to assist you in this endeavor.

Sincerely,
Upper Deck

Dear Mrs. X

Here at UpperDeck we can honestly say that we have not experienced a letter of concern such as yours. And it really “boggled” our minds,(no disrespect.)We have took the time to circulate your letter to varying members of our UpperDeck team,other than us at customer service.The opinions were quite different in all….but the census was telling us that we should try to help you by giving back a response that may seem a bit personal.

We can assume your husband has been collecting for years and loves the hobby.
Compromise with your husband.He may never want to stop.You could take advantage of the situation to better your relationship.Trade with him a night on the town,for one box of cards. Or a walk on the beach for a box of cards.The possibilities are endless.He will be happy with his hobby and you could be happy with the time you get to spend with him.

We sincerly hope this advice helps resolve your concerns.As no other response would be just,in our opinion.

With great respect,
The UpperDeck Team

Dear customer,

Thank you for your recent letter of concern regarding the amount of hockey cards in your husband’s collection. While we had a very hard time in responding to your request, we think we have a solution to your dilemma. Many of our customers, who obtain too many “unwanted” cards, often donate them to a local charity, children’s hospital, or school. Many of today’s sports cards collectors often open boxes and packs in search of the big find, which is part of the excitement of the sports cards hobby.

Please consider the donation suggestion, as many deserving kids fighting illnesses and other problems would be absolutely thrilled to benefit from your donation. At least your husband’s collection won’t take up so much room and needy kids will be blessed at the same time.

Sincerely,

Upper Deck

Dear:_________

We here at Upper Deck think we have come up with a great solution you can propose to your husband. He can continue to buy are cards but he must collect only his favorite team/player and special inserts. The rest (commons) MUST be given away to a local school or your local Hockey organization to be given away to the kids that really want them and that way they will find a good home. Were sure this will not only bring a smile to the faces of some kids who might not otherwise have an opportunity to purchase them but also to your husband who can continue his hobby.

Thanks for your continued support,

Upper Deck

Dear Ma’am,
Upper Deck would like to thank you for your letter. Though the situation you are in with your husband is a serious one, hearing from somebody with a different view on collecting, is at times what we need. Sometimes a company like ours, your husband, collectors and people in general can fall victum to tunnel vision. Maybe over the years, like your husband, we have grown a bit oblivious to the plight of our collectors better half’s. Though we appriciate their passion for our products and love for the sports they follow, it is all too often that the ones who suffer go without being heard.
Taking your feelings, and the many like you, into consideration we here at Upper Deck will take your letter as a suggestion. A suggestion that in the future we not leave you out. Maybe in the form of a online forum, a blog written by people in your situation, maybe then you wont feel hopeless because you would be able to interact with people like yourself.
All this said, unfortuneatly we cannot deny your husband from purchasing our products. Though we will hope, for your sake, that he at least starts to pace himself with what he buys from us.
Thank you for your time and I apologize for your inconveniance.
Sincerly,
Upper Deck

Congratulations to Jenn V! We will be using your response to the customer and you’ll be receiving some great items for helping us on this situation. We really enjoyed how much time everyone took to provide great feedback here. This is something we will likely do again in the future, thanks again for all of your help!

Awesome! Thanks UD! This was a great contest and I really enjoyed entering. I’m so excited to get my cards and backpack – I hope to pull a BAP RC of my buddy Mark Letestu, along with a host of other awesome UD cards. Hope to hear from you soon!