Rob Ida = Flake

[johnkszabo]

Nice article in the the most recent issue of Pano on Rob Ida's SEMA 930 car. I wanted to put out there my recent issue with Rob Ida's operation, in case any other Pelican members might be tempted to do business with him. Back in November a good friend of mine asked me if I would help him put together a 78 SC wide body Hot Rod car. I had just completed one and my friend Sal liked the end result. He was going for a somewhat IROC look, complete with a 993 engine. We sourced steel Turbo flares for the front and rear of the car. For bumpers he wanted something of an IROCish look. He then saw the article on Ida's 930 that had been built for the 2016 SEMA show. He fell in love with the front bumper on the car. I personally did not like the look, but hey it was his car and he wanted something different. I contacted Ida's shop and finally was able to speak with Rob. He told me that was thinking of making a limited number of the front bumpers. I was told by Rob Ida that the bumpers would be priced at about $500.00. I told Sal and he asked me to order him one, if Ida decided to produce them.. I stayed in touch with Ida and members of his staff over the next month or so. I finally got the answer we were waiting for, Ida was going to make a limited run of the bumpers. The price however was now going to be $2,000.00. I thought this price was crazy high, but Sal really wanted the bumper, so I placed his order. I was told the bumpers would be shipped late Febuary or early March. I did follow up with Ida's shop for updates on the production schedule. This whole time I kept getting the same story, Febuary or March.At the end of Febuary, no news yet from Ida's shop. At this point the car was already painted and the only part we lacked was the front bumper. Same thing in March, now Ida's shop was not even answering their phone. I thought perhaps there was a health emergency or they had went out of business. In the second week of April, we were somewhat jammed up and really needed that front bumper. For the heck of it, I called Ida's shop from a different phone number and my call was answered on the third ring. The employee who answered the phone asked me how he could help me and I asked to speak with Rob to check on the status of our bumper. After a few moments he got back on the line. His response was not what I had expected! He said Rob had changed his mind about producing and selling the bumpers. When I asked when Rob made this decision, his reply was yesterday! He then hung up on me. Moral of the story is the guy leads us on for six months and then randomly decides not to keep his word! Nice was to run a business!

[Bob Kontak]

Did you send money or just experience promises broken?

[McLaren-TAG]

Sounds like a fair head's up. No money seems to have been exchanged but I agree it would suck to have been led that way and then wasted months when an alternative route could have been pursued.

PS- break that wall of text into a couple of paragraphs, please. Would make for much easier reading.

[RSBob]

In the day and age of suits for defamation coming from bad Yelp reviews, I would urge caution on calling people out by name. Typically perps are not named directly, but their City is and then tell people to PM you for the specifics. Don't need to be sued for helping out a friend.

[1979-930]

Rob has every right to change his mind on producing a custom bumper. The way he drug you along sucks, but it's probably for the best.
The bumper is ugly and the car looks like a Sperm Whale. I think the owner "Sal" dodge a bullet.

[tobluforu]

Like stated, that bumper is ugly, and he probably figured after people told him that, that he would not be able to sell them. But yeah, that does suck, the good thing is that there are plenty nicer looking bumpers to be had.

[johnkszabo]

RSBob thanks for the tip on defamation,however I said nothing that cannot be proven. In addition we are still permitted to exercise our right to freedom of speech! One last point I think my project cars turn out better then that SEMA 930 car, and I only do cars as a hobby!

Best John Szabo

[Dpmulvan]

Maybe he thought you guys where flakes and didn't want to deal with you?? How many times did you call him?

[billh1963]

LOL...only in the Porsche world is the customer ridiculed and chastised while the vendors are protected.

And that bumper is ugly as hell. The car looks like it has a swollen lip.

[Stophos]

Originally Posted by billh1963

LOL...only in the Porsche world is the customer ridiculed and chastised while the vendors are protected.

Second that LOL...Has everyone here lost their minds?? Guy promised...Guy changes his mind at the after committing....unless the other side has a different story, that BS..
Deciding you need more money to produce the part...Okay
You commit and realize you can't get it done early on and let the buyer know...okay
But when it is time to deliver say you changed your mind...not okay.. your word is your bind and your reputation so you build it!

Unfortunately this happens all too often. Kind of like the shop that only works on your build when you sit there..... (been here more then a few times)

[jgilliam914]

I see this as Rob got in over his head thinking offering something at 500 that he could not produce at a profit. Thinking 2 grand would scare you off. When it didn't he didn't know how to tell you no. Bites to wait for something that long that you wanted only to be told you are never going to get it.

[1stgear]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Maybe he thought you guys where flakes and didn't want to deal with you?? How many times did you call him?

"Where" do you come up with this rational? The shop should have told him no deal much earlier so he could finish the project.

[NYNick]

Talk is cheap...so are promises. No money was lost, just aggravation. Another live and learn lesson.

[Peter Zimmermann]

So we all know what car we're talking about. And, how about that ride height, and why haven't the rear tires burned off the paint, during hard cornering, on the quarter panels? Bump steer kit? Raised spindles?

And the inside rear view mirror is a cute addition. Maybe because the outside one is borderline useless? Or...?

[Matt Monson]

Originally Posted by Peter Zimmermann

So we all know what car we're talking about. And, how about that ride height, and why haven't the rear tires burned off the paint, during hard cornering, on the quarter panels? Bump steer kit? Raised spindles?

And the inside rear view mirror is a cute addition. Maybe because the outside one is borderline useless? Or...?

Pete, don't you know, Sema cars don't need to function.

[75 911s]

Get an SCRS bumper fitted and painted for 2k and call it a day.

[john walker's workshop]

Some people's taste is all in their mouth.

[Peter Zimmermann]

Originally Posted by Matt Monson

Pete, don't you know, Sema cars don't need to function.

LOL! You're right, I forgot about that!

[Canada Kev]

That's some kind of ugly. But each to their own, I guess.

And the sunroof is cockeyed, as well. I thought SEMA was supposed to bring out all the polished iron?

[Cook&Dunning]

I don't know the named dude who produced this bumper / valance combo. I am also not a fan of the style - so I won't try to buy one. For me the bigger issue is that the quality of Panorama magazine has gone in the dumper since Pete Stout left. I don't think this car would have made the roster (because of the whole style over function thing going on - as others have eluded to) The magazine is morphing back in to the small style is was before - and I don't mean that in a good way. A bit of a rant, but there you go.

PS for $2000 I would see if I could buy the new RUF yellowbird CTR bumper. Very cool