Whether it was your 25th Anniversary SAE sets or other submissions, what do you think when you read the turnaround time on NGC's web site?

A question for the group, and I am having this post to the Message Boards as well. I welcome your private responses as well.

When you submit your coins, say under Modern or Modern Special (or any other) tiers, and NGC's site says 12 Working Days, like it does here:

http://www.ngccoin.com/services/services.asp

What do you take that to mean?

Do you think it means that 12 business days is the general average turnaround time for that grading tier?

OR

Do you think it means that 12 business days is the CURRENT turnaround time for that grading tier?

This would apply to the other grading tiers as well -- whichever you might use, have recently used, etc.

I know that like me, many members received their 25th Anniversary SAE Sets from the US Mint at the beginning of December and got them to NGC just in time for the December 8th cut-off. I am curious how long it took for others to get their sets returned.

As a follow-up question, I am also curious how the group feels on the issue of WHEN NGC's clock starts, or SHOULD start, ticking? Specifically an example like this:

Does the clock start ticking on the turnaround time the day NGC receives the submission, as long as it is a business day?

OR

Does the clock start ticking on the turnaround time the day NGC puts the submission into their system as "received"? Before answering, take a moment consider the following:

1. What if the date the submission is being entered into the system is days, a week, or even two weeks later than the submission was ACTUALLY received by NGC?

2. Would you feel the same way if it was your insurance company processing your claim(s) if they didn't start counting until they got to it, rather than the date it was actually received? What if states have laws which mandate a time to process your claims?

3. Consider another industry leader in the field of coin grading. PCGS posts the following on their web site about their TARGET turnaround time, and their ACTUAL current turnaround time here: http://www.pcgs.com/Statistics/

Considering those additional factors, does your answer change as to when NGC should start ITS clock?

Lastly, I included an image of one of the coins I submitted which was delivered to NGC on December 6th and was mailed back to me on January 9th - a tad longer than 12 business days, at least by my count. In NGC's defense, I recognize that by having the coins imaged, their published information indicates that it would add ONE BUSINESS DAY in addition to the Tier turnaround time. However, December 6th to January 9th still seems a bit lengthy to me, that is, WITHOUT changing the published turnaround times at all. That's just my opinion, I could be wrong. That's why I am curious how the group feels about it.

Mike B.