I think that volume is the magic word...

... especially with Modern and Early Bird. They can hire more world class graders, but I think it boils down to the volume of submissions coming in. I mean, I'd be lying if I said that I don't check my status every day to see if they've come out yet.

500 world class graders and probably hundreds, maybe even thousands of submissions per day (NGC also accepts foreign submissions, remember?) probably still can't get it all done unless maybe you force them to work 24/7 (wherein disgruntled customers will probably be the last thing on your mind after various government agencies are done with you 8-))...

Vicious cycle really --> hire more graders (who will want more money) and prices will probably go up again, with little or no significant change to turnaround times (leading to more complaints, etc etc etc etc)

I've submitted one or two coins via express a few times. They all come out 48 hours later... of course, sending 20 coins at $55 a pop is a different matter altogether...