Topps Delivers!

For two consecutive years, I've ordered at least one case of Allen & Ginter...and for two consecutive years I've been shorted the promised rip card.  Now though, I can happily say that for two consecutive years Topps has rectified the situation (at least somewhat as I'll note below).

I wrote to Topps and complained about the missing rip cards (the big loss obviously) and to Topps' credit, they did send me two rip cards (after I went though the hassle of cutting UPCs, collating pack wrappers, etc.).

Now, before I start any complaints, I want to make it clear that I am happy to receive the two rip cards.  I haven't decided whether I want to rip them myself or try to sell them to recoup some of my investment.  Suggestions?

As for my complaint, I actually have a few:
1.  I was shorted promised goods, paid to ship "proof of purchase", and then received the goods.  In the end, I'm still out more money than someone who didn't have any issues which is annoying (even if it is only a few bucks, there's also a lot of time involved in gathering the required pieces, documenting, etc.).
2.  You can be fairly certain that whenever you send in for replacements, you aren't going to get any of the "good" cards in return (and I believe there was an instance of someone getting something "good" in some product from a Topps replacement and everyone took up arms, though I forget the details of that story now).  Anyhow, one of the draws of Ginter is the allure of the big hit that will pay for your case (or at least a large chunk of it).  For instance, some of the rip cards numbered out of five sell for $200 or more.  Unfortunately for me, my cases were void of rip cards - and thus I had no shot at the "good" rip cards.
3.  I also complained about a bunch of missing minis - and while Topps did send me some minis to make up for it, they were all regular base minis.  I have no way of knowing what minis I should have gotten in my case, but I'm willing to bet that all the missing ones weren't regular base minis.  Once again, an instance of having to get replacements which virtually guarantees getting low value in return.

I know I sound bitter after Topps did quite well (and the turnaround time was good as well), but to be honest, I still am at least a little bitter.  Maybe there's something awesome lurking in one of the rip cards which will make up for the whole situation... (it's this kind of thinking that makes me buy cases of Ginter to start with).

Anyhow, since I showed off the two rip cards, here's the rest of the replacements.  First, the minis (all regular base minis):

And finally, since I was missing two hits in two boxes, Topps also sent along a pair of relics:

AGR-JPA.  Jonathan Papelbon

AGR-RP.  Ryan Perry

At least both relics were new to my collection, that cheered me up a bit!

In the end, I guess I have to grade Topps as thus (1 low to 5 high):

Response Time:  5

Mailing Time:  5

Replacement Accuracy:  5

Replacement Value:  3

I guess Topps did everything they could to make their customer happy (except cover shipping).  Based on my recollections of what happened when they sent a truly valuable card as a replacement in some other product, I can't blame Topps for making sure they actually pack out all the "good" cards...  I do have to wonder though, since I preordered the cases each year if maybe I should have waited for the second "batch" to be released - maybe then the insertion rates would be truer to form?