I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Hey gang, I remember seeing a person on here who worked at bob drake and would help members with problems...does anyone remember him or have a phone number?

I bought a upper grill molding kit for my 1946 Ford at a swap meet in Oregon from their vendor booth, and when I went to install it last weekend I discovered it had two left side pieces and no right side. I have emailed the two email address on their site and also called and got a very rude response that beings I got it at a swap meet, they cannot help me. All I want to do is exchange the extra left side for a right side. Otherwise this is 350.00 down the drain. Does anyone have a contact for someone at Drake other then their rude customer service reps?

I posted this on the Jalopy Journal as well as I cannot remember which site I saw that Bob Drake employee

Thanks, Chris

http://i307.photobucket.com/albums/n...pswt5lgquj.jpg

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Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Go to Bob himself. Tell them you would rather go to bob before the BBB.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Call and ask to speak to Bob Drake. I had a problem that was not his fault. I spoke with him at a Hershey Meet and he helped.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

I would if I knew how to get a hold of him directly. The customer service rep that answered the phone greeted me with "good afternoon"...it was 10AM here in pacific time so I'm assuming he's not even in the same time zone as bob drake?

I will be at he Portland swap meet, as will bob drake. If this is not resolved by then I'll see him there but I may be boiling over by then haha

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Could try sending him an email thru the Fordbarn - the email linked to his Fordbarn ID (Bob Drake Repro) is more likely to be a personal one than those on their webpage. He hasn't been on here in almost a year tho (got tired of the bashing?) and could be an old address on file with Fordbarn. Maybe worth a try.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Drakes is in Oregon, so yes it would be Pacific time.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Chris.........Click on the link below for a DIRECT PM to member "Bob Drake Repro". Hope this helps! DD

https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/privat...=newpm&u=10060

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Chris, if you do not get a response from the PM info you received from V8COOPMAN, you may want to reach out to a parts house that is an authorized Drake dealer. Perhaps they may have a direct phone # or e-mail to Bob.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Thanks everyone for the help.

A member on here PM'd me a contact at Bob Drake, who I left a message with last night and he just called me back. He explained that they do not vend at any swap meets except a couple (not the one I was at). He said they have thousands of vendors who buy their stuff, and I must have bought it from one of them. He said beings I bought it from a private vendor, they have no way to know if the item was mix boxed or what happened. He is going to look and see if they have a spare right hand side piece, if they do, we will work something out. If not, I am out of luck.

So, thanks for the help, hopefully it turns out in my favor but you never know

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Chris.....I hope this turns-out in your favor, too. Obviously, you explained the unique circumstances to The Man himself. Sounds like IF you get lucky, and IF one of Bob's boys finds a spare layin'-around, he might do you a favor and "work something out". What the hell does that mean? Seems like Bob's business is probably doing OK-enough selling to thousands of vendors, not to mention the thousands of customers that have made BD the "big boy" in the repro Ford industry today. When is Bob gonna just grab the bull by the horns and do the RIGHT thing for once....when it comes to good customer PR? I don't get it! DD

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Well, I know getting mad, or arguing never gets you anywhere. He said basically I bought them from another party. The boxes the trim come in do not seal, they have a folded flap that closes them, so his point was anything could have happened at any time. He did not say it was not their fault, just said it may not be their fault, either. I agree with you COOP that here is a great time to step up and show some customer service. What would they be out? But, it is neither my or your call to do so. I would gladly send this spare piece back in exchange for the right piece.

I told him I was not looking to get "something for free" or anything like that, and that the trim pieces ($350.00) were basically useless missing 1/3 of them. He said he understood, and would try his best to get me squared away.

If worse comes to worse, I can have my original right side rechromed, but that would probably cost me at least 100.00.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

I hate hearing this and best of luck Chris

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Drake and Vintique both sell seconds and may have a favored vendor who will take them to various swap meets (before Bob's dad passed away he got the seconds to sell). Usually these guys are honest about what they sell. However... there are less than honest vendors who will purchase the seconds and resell them at "retail" OR there are dishonest customers who will exchange or swap or something to a vendor who then thinks the parts are good. Anyone will be reluctant to exchange a discounted second for a good part. Just a caveat emptor.

The second issue is that when we sell thru a dealer (and I assume Bob feels similar) we expect the dealer to be the point for any customer service issues. Hint... if you buy from a dealer keep a receipt and try them first. If they get real "hinkey" about a receipt maybe pass, if a deal smells wrong it likely is wrong.

The third issue I have is relationships. When you buy direct from Bob, or indirect from us, C&G, Dennis, etc you establish a relationship. We all value these relationships and will do what we feel is reasonable to keep them positive. When you buy from an unknown vendor at a swap meet or epay you hopefully are getting a discount in exchange for the lack of a relationship or any effort at customer service.

To resolve your issue I would try again at Bob's (ask for a supervisor if needed) and ask them to bring a replacement (if they have one) then do a hand to hand with Bob or his staff at Portland... Then begin building a relationship.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Thanks Karl. I do see this point, honestly I thought I was buying from Bob Drake themselves. The vendor had probably 6 stalls, a box van, and tables and boxes full of Drake parts...much like they do in Portland. Even a Drake banner if I remember...and this swap meet was probably 4-5 hours North of Grants Pass OR where drake is located. I had no reason to feel the need to open and inspect the product. All pieces were still in the wrapper, in the styraphome, and appeared new. I don't see how this would be a "second" as clearly all you would have to do is swap the L trim piece for the R and close the lid and it's ready to sell. But I don't make those calls nor run a manufacturing business. I truley think this is just an honest mistake or error, and just waned to see if someone wanted to make it right.

Like I said above, I'm not mad or pointing fingers or trying to pull a fast one on anyone. I was just hoping that maybe someone there would actually listen to me and see if they could help (which has happened, but no guarantee). I have done a lot of business with Drake, and while never 100% smooth most all transactions have been pleasant and I do like the quality of most of his stuff. Plus, he is somewhat "local" to me being a state away, and I do see value in putting money into my local economy.

Having said that, I can choose to buy from whoever I want to. If I feel I got "burned" over this, then maybe I will start shopping other suppliers.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

I will also say that these are beautiful pieces, and fit very well. Now if only I can get the missing piece so the whole thing shines haha

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Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Chris,
I had a near exact situation happen to me.. and please let me state that this is not me bashing Bob Drake or his business as I can easily understand why they steer clear from swap meet purchased parts issues.

I purchased a rear sway bar and tube shock kit for a 39 Ford at the Louisville swap meet. There was denying it was a Drake Booth. Paid cash. Returned home to find that one shock mount (not sold separately) was missing. The end result was the issue was never resolved as I paid cash, received no receipt from a swap meet so had no proof it came from them. There again this was definitely a Drake booth full of his catalogs and even Bob himself standing in the booth.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

That does sound just like this. I think my only saving grace is that I ended up with two left sides, and no right side. I think if it was missing or blem parts, it may be a different story. But, we shall see. The gentleman I spoke to said he would get back to me but it may not be until next week

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

While I hope you can get satisfaction with your problem I think many of us have purchased at swap meets from sellers that appear to be dealers given the amount of name brand items they have. How often have any of us gotten, or even asked for a receipt? If I was placing an order and paying for things not available right there then yes, of course I would expect a receipt. People go to swaps looking for a favorable deal, or ready access to what they need.
What I am wondering is whether or not Drake, or any repro producer actually packages all their items. If for example the grille in question was produced and packaged overseas then I think it reasonable to assume that a mistake may have been made. When you think about it a mistake could have been made anywhere, so hopefully this will be resolved happily.
Chris, do not take this next statement as an indictment against you, I post it as a reminder for all- You will always get more with honey than you will with vinegar so act accordingly.

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Somewhere there is a box with two RH units.

Last summer, on the way to Deuce Days in V, BC, we stopped at the Drake facility. We got a tour from Mr. Drake himself. I will NEVER bash his business or products ever after the tour. He has a small number of employees with few who are old Ford fanatics like his customers are. When he decides there is a need for a particular item, he tries to acquire a representative sample of the item to measure for his patterns. For instance, he may buy two or three of a certain hood ornament original...to find out that the two or three vary considerably....all the automakers had multiple sources for trim stuff...Ford didn't make '54 hood ornaments...they bought them from a couple of vendors. Those vendors didn't always make the tool exactly the same....remember this was before CNC machining centers and SolidWorks CAD. He showed us examples of hood ornaments...visibly they were different...so which one do you copy? If he copies style A and you have a car that had style B, you are pissed that yours doesn't look original to you.

He told us the story about rear fenders....he decides how many he can sell and contracts a stamping plant to run his die. (expensive die) Let's say he orders 750 of a fender. If you are order number 751, you wait until a lot more orders come in to justify another run. You think he backorders on purpose? He has to pay the stamper for a run of xx parts. Running a die for just one part gets really expensive. AND, Kirksite dies only have so many strikes in them....at some point he has to make a decision to remake the die. It's all economics, folks. Mr. Drake is a real car guy but he has to stay in business too. Like I said, I will never criticize his operation again. I wouldn't want his job!

Re: I need a contact for help at Bob Drake
 

Chris, it sounds like you may have bought those grille parts at the Albany Swap Meet. The vendor (I don't know his name)you speak of is there every year in the same spots. Why not try to contact the group that puts on the meet and they should have a list of vendors. They can tell you who that vendor is that uses those spaces. The Linn County Fairgrounds people should be able to tell you the group who does the swap meet and can probably give you a contact phone number.
Personally I've never bought from this vendor as he appears to be very disorganized. His stuff is strewn all over the tables and there is no organizing of the parts. Every time I asked him for a part he didn't have it. He also has a bit of an attitude.
Hang in there and I think this will get resolved.