Back order Bob Drake strikes again!

[TonyM]

This ain't the 1970s--no one has "inventory" anymore.
Too much money sitting there tied up.

[V8COOPMAN]

Originally Posted by TonyM

This ain't the 1970s--no one has "inventory" anymore.
Too much money sitting there tied up.

"Advertising" is just that....it's the conveyance of an immaginary, perceived concept between two folks.....the customer (convincee) with the $$$ in his pocket, and the seller (convincer) that wants to "convince" those $$$ over to his own pocket.

That smilin' guy standing there next to all those empty boxes would tend to convince any "believers"....that the ADVERTISED "inventory" is sitting there on a shelf just waiting to be expeditiously packed and shipped-out to happy customers. That single, strategically-placed red bow further suggests that all of the perfectly-fitting inventory will be on your doorstep before you take the tree down. Merry Christmas! DD

[Kube]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

"Advertising" is just that....it's the conveyance of an immaginary, perceived concept between two folks.....the customer (convincee) with the $$$ in his pocket, and the seller (convincer) that wants to "convince" those $$$ over to his own pocket.

That smilin' guy standing there next to all those empty boxes would tend to convince any "believers"....that the ADVERTISED "inventory" is sitting there on a shelf just waiting to be expeditiously packed and shipped-out to happy customers. That single, strategically-placed red bow further suggests that all of the perfectly-fitting inventory will be on your doorstep before you take the tree down. Merry Christmas! DD

Funny (and true) as heck!

For the record, I have never claimed Bob is all bad. His business practices and ethics, well, yes, both are quite lacking.

I still get a chuckle every time someone suggests ol' Bob is making all of these parts out of his love for old Fords. Really? The reality is the love for the old (and new) Benjamin's.

[uncle buck]

This problem also is a side effect of offshore manufacturing. By manufacturing overseas you factor in the need to fill shipping containers for cost effective shipping and the wait at the customs off ice in port upon arrival. Last year I had a tool box supplier that had a container delayed for almost 3 months as it sat at the port for clearance by US Customs.

[TonyM]

Originally Posted by V8COOPMAN

"Advertising" is just that....it's the conveyance of an immaginary, perceived concept between two folks.....the customer (convincee) with the $$$ in his pocket, and the seller (convincer) that wants to "convince" those $$$ over to his own pocket.

That smilin' guy standing there next to all those empty boxes would tend to convince any "believers"....that the ADVERTISED "inventory" is sitting there on a shelf just waiting to be expeditiously packed and shipped-out to happy customers. That single, strategically-placed red bow further suggests that all of the perfectly-fitting inventory will be on your doorstep before you take the tree down. Merry Christmas! DD

Point taken Coopman.
Never had a problem with Bob Drake's.

[stangblue]

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As far as getting parts for old Fords. I always had good luck with Bob Drakes parts. At least they fit not like some other jobbers I dealt with. His customer service always called me back. My hat is off to the people that supply the correct Old Ford parts. They support our hobby and in turn we support them. I would hate to rely on Ebay for everthing.

[laryh]

I used the free shipping offer twice this month. One of those was the 20% cyber Monday sale. I did well. I got everything I ordered with free shipping and a good price. Also got the Drake Calendar and catalog free. Bod did not make money on my orders they were not that big. I am sure the shipping costs amounted to more than Drake made in profit. I will continue to buy from Bob and from the other early Ford vendors that I have bought from. I have always said early parts vendors are on our side trying hard to please every customer. That in itself is difficult.

[Straightpipes]

I have three early Fords. I think one of these is made up entirely of parts from China. If they would just make the entire car over there I could save a pile of money and only make one order.
I did just recieve my Chinese running boards and am very pleased. I can sleep well knowing that the little 8 year old Chinese girl made a couple of Renminbi.

[Barry-ct]

I'm glad for those who got their orders without a problem. It would be better if the ratio of parts received to parts back ordered would increase. I finally found my knobs thru Dennis Carpenter. I paid more, but they're in stock. I originally did not buy them there because I was being cheap!

[Kube]

Originally Posted by laryh

I used the free shipping offer twice this month. One of those was the 20% cyber Monday sale. I did well. I got everything I ordered with free shipping and a good price. Also got the Drake Calendar and catalog free. Bod did not make money on my orders they were not that big. I am sure the shipping costs amounted to more than Drake made in profit. I will continue to buy from Bob and from the other early Ford vendors that I have bought from. I have always said early parts vendors are on our side trying hard to please every customer. That in itself is difficult.

Don't kid yourself in to thinking he did not profit. He should profit even during a sale.
Typical mark up to the retail end is 100%. When selling things made in China that number is most often skewed much higher.
When places like Walmart put those big screen tvs on sale for $100, rest assured there is still profit there. Most folks simply do not realize the markup on retail goods.
Furniture is in the 300 - 500% range. Clothing? Typically 200 - 300%.

[rockfla]

Not necessarily defending "Bob" but.......As a industrial fastener distributor it would be wonderful to know exactly what my customer needs in the exact quantity and the exact moment he needs it! AND......that my supplier knows exactly what I need exactly when I need it in the Quantity I need it in!!!! That would be perfect!!!!! And to think that Bob Drake sells "World Wide" and tries to meet "Worldwide Demand"!!!!

[Doug-F1]

I was a distributor of equipment and parts myself and that is so true Rockfla. If you had three in stock the customer needed five, or if you had square they needed round ones. Just the same it's a pain in the butt.

[expavr]

Originally Posted by rockfla

Not necessarily defending "Bob" but.......As a industrial fastener distributor it would be wonderful to know exactly what my customer needs in the exact quantity and the exact moment he needs it! AND......that my supplier knows exactly what I need exactly when I need it in the Quantity I need it in!!!! That would be perfect!!!!! And to think that Bob Drake sells "World Wide" and tries to meet "Worldwide Demand"!!!!

I agree and would add how many customers intend to buy the product I offer at my "sale" price? Even Best Buy and the large retailers get that wrong.....

[Barry-ct]

No one can anticipate what the demand is on a product. But with inventory control, it will show a trend in sales of an item. you can order based on that trend. Maybe he has to order a minimum of an item, but that is part of retailing. They all sell wholesale between each other and that can break up the minimum.
I last worked for a small Ford dealer that did 2 million annually in parts sales. I was in charge of ordering what we needed. I would run a suggested order off the computer and adjust it as these programs tend to over order. I had to check the shelf on everything it wanted to order and see what was there and check the trend on the sales. Ford's back order ratio to available parts was very low. We could order small amounts as our facing depot was nearby and we had daily deliveries at 5 AM.
I realize BD does not have that kind of back up we had from Ford. But if you're going to have a sale to boost your sales, you need to have stock to fill orders. He can't have everything all the time, but reading here, there are items he continually has on Back order. Gas tanks come to mind. That's where trend analysis would help. If you have the sales of an item, order a higher amount. I think he waits until he reaches a minimum amount he needs to order, then orders. If that's the way he does it, call the item, "special order item". Then it's not a back order. I know he can't label all the items that way, just maybe the bulky things like gas tanks, for instance.
No one knows his business plan but Bob. It just seems there is a high amount of back orders vs in stock items.
Boy, I opened a can of worms on this subject. I only posted to vent my frustration on the item labeled as in stock and it wasn't. I am grateful he is there to have stuff made for us to help get our projects done. Time to put the thread to bed!

[rockfla]

At Barry-CT

As I said, not necessarily defending Bob per se', just random thought and I would imagine, For "Bob" knowing how many 48-53 F1 pickups are being restored and how many of those people are gonna buy parts and exactly what parts or for that matter any year 32-48 etc etc restoration project that may or may not have been sitting for years before now? Has to be a daunting task. I just hope that there is enough "Bob's", who for WHATEVER reasons for doing so, keep doing it for us EFV8 guys........and don't get discouraged/or take the "constructive" criticisms and strive to improve.

[Barry-ct]

I understand what he goes thru, as I worked in a lot of dealerships and customers pissed off at us for not having what they wanted. They expected us to every part Ford ever made. We went thru trying to anticipate what would or wouldn't sell. So, don't think I am griping about him not having the knobs, It's more about my luck or lack of, the knobs were back ordered. I don't want to get anyone mad, but let's not over analyze this. Nobody knows the reasons why but Bob Drake.

[BlueSunoco]

Originally Posted by stangblue

As far as getting parts for old Fords. I always had good luck with Bob Drakes parts. At least they fit not like some other jobbers I dealt with. His customer service always called me back. My hat is off to the people that supply the correct Old Ford parts. They support our hobby and in turn we support them. I would hate to rely on Ebay for everthing.

I fully agree. Have used Bob Drake parts on our Mustang and they were very good quality parts. Parts were bought thru a Mustang parts house, not directly from Bob Drake's but I was very satisfied w/ the quality of the parts.

[1938 Coupe]

Bob Drake Reproductions Inc. makes a claim that 100% customer satisfaction is our goal. In my case it was the opposite experience.

I am in the process of restoring a 1938 Ford Coupe with the Road Runners car club in my local town. Over the passed few months I purchased many reproduction items including a front chrome bumper. When it arrived I carefully opened the box and removed the paper it was rapped in. I called them and was told that my original bumper guards will not work on their reproduction bumpers. I asked if I could return it for a refund and was given a authorization number. I returned it in their original shipping box and insured it for $350 with FedEx.

After it was returned to them another week went by without a word and then I received a phone call from the sales manager whose name was Pete.
I was told they found a scratch in the chrome and would be returning it to me without a refund. I questioned how the scratch got there because It wasn’t there when I shipped it back to them.
Was the package damaged when it arrived? Pete said he didn’t know but will return it to me for my inspection.

A few days latter I received the bumper back in a completely repackaged new box. Now if it had been damaged by FedEx during shipping I can’t even make a claim for the insurance.
I called again and Pete said he didn’t know why it was returned in a new box but there is nothing he can do. When I asked him what was I suppose to do now, his smart answer was “You Can Always Sell It On eBay”

This return was totally mishandled and I have never experience a company that treats their customers the way this transaction was handled!

It seems they have no interest in customer satisfaction. I had pending orders for the Road Runners Car Club so I canceled them and all future orders with Bob Drakes Reproductions.

[uncle buck]

Originally Posted by BlueSunoco

I fully agree. Have used Bob Drake parts on our Mustang and they were very good quality parts. Parts were bought thru a Mustang parts house, not directly from Bob Drake's but I was very satisfied w/ the quality of the parts.

Those would actually be from Scott Drake , Bob's younger brother. Scott got his start working for Bob many years ago and has built himself a First Class Wholesale only operation in Nevada and supplies parts to all the Mustang parts retailers.

[Steves46]

Originally Posted by 1938 Coupe

Bob Drake Reproductions Inc. makes a claim that 100% customer satisfaction is our goal. In my case it was the opposite experience.

I am in the process of restoring a 1938 Ford Coupe with the Road Runners car club in my local town. Over the passed few months I purchased many reproduction items including a front chrome bumper. When it arrived I carefully opened the box and removed the paper it was rapped in. I called them and was told that my original bumper guards will not work on their reproduction bumpers. I asked if I could return it for a refund and was given a authorization number. I returned it in their original shipping box and insured it for $350 with FedEx.

After it was returned to them another week went by without a word and then I received a phone call from the sales manager whose name was Pete.
I was told they found a scratch in the chrome and would be returning it to me without a refund. I questioned how the scratch got there because It wasn’t there when I shipped it back to them.
Was the package damaged when it arrived? Pete said he didn’t know but will return it to me for my inspection.

A few days latter I received the bumper back in a completely repackaged new box. Now if it had been damaged by FedEx during shipping I can’t even make a claim for the insurance.
I called again and Pete said he didn’t know why it was returned in a new box but there is nothing he can do. When I asked him what was I suppose to do now, his smart answer was “You Can Always Sell It On eBay”

This return was totally mishandled and I have never experience a company that treats their customers the way this transaction was handled!

It seems they have no interest in customer satisfaction. I had pending orders for the Road Runners Car Club so I canceled them and all future orders with Bob Drakes Reproductions.

I am sorry to read of your experience. Did you write to or speak with Bob directly about this?