Really, Panini?

I’m sure that the Panini fanboys think I’m a little hard on the company that they love so much.  Others might call me bitter because I’ve applied with them twice and can’t even get an interview (why would they want someone that likes college football and racing, and also has been a part of the hobby for 30 years?).

However, are either of those the case, or am I just calling a spade a spade?  I don’t need to rehash the list of Panini boners over the last few years because Sports Card Radio has done a great job of that.

One of my favorites was Panini not exchanging a fake Dak Prescott autograph at this years National.  You can listen to details and opinions from multiple podcasts that discussed it after it hit Twitter.

Below is one I found that a Facebook friend shared to his page.  Okay, I admit, it’s not as egregious as many of Panini’s transgressions.  It’s not fraudulent or shady.  However, it’s complete garbage and how does this ever get put onto a card?

I have so many questions, thoughts and comments on this.

• Somebody applied this sticker to the card.  How did they “not notice” this?  What could ever make you think that this is acceptable?
• Does said person not care, or are they just that dumb?  Is it because Panini is paying people (maybe) slightly more than minimum wage and won’t pay for talent that would care?
• Why not pay a decent salary to this person and get someone quality?  By being cheap, you now have more labor spend on your (already bad, by experiences I’ve read about) customer service.  Time they, and anyone else, spend on this is money lost.  It could have just been done right to start with.
• On top of that, people begin sharing these incidents on social media.  That causes more time you may have to spend on damage control.  Also, your already suspect reputation takes another hit.

Maybe Gary Vee will buy Panini, or at least the non-soccer part.  Perhaps he will clean some house from the same “good ol’ boys” that are recycled among companies more than Norv Turner as an NFL coach.  It’s hard to believe that the bulk of people at the companies care (though I can name at least two that I KNOW do) about what’s going out and what consumers think.

Believe me, it’s a “good ol’ boys” network.  Very few actually leave the industry, they just go to another company.  This means that fresh faces and ideas can rarely make it in, unless they’re an entry-level position and willing to work for $26k a year.

I saw a conversation on Twitter about how saying that most “don’t care” is an insult yadda, yadda.  Well, take a look at some of the steaming piles that are put out there.  You can be a fanboy all you want.

I’ll just let the immortal Owen Hart speak the words that I say about all of this.

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