Viewing feedback for: DRD RACING HEADS
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Last Visited: August 21, 2017
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HBwesty
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2006
Posts: 173
Location: HB, CA
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 Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 4:10 pm Post subject: Re: It's been a week... |
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| panzerboy wrote: |
I suppose I'll call and leave a message again today, a week has gone by with no response since the last call.
Three phone calls in a row unanswered at this point and three unanswered emails. I'm beginning to see a clear pattern.
For those of you who missed it Darren has had over $1200 of mine for two years. He refuses to send me my cylinder heads or give me a refund.
Calling doesn't work.
Email doesn't work.
Next we'll try the Orange County District Attorney's office, we'll see if he returns their calls.
You know who this is Darren, pick up the phone and call me back. |
Let me guess...ring...ring...ring...ring. I wished I could of gotten you and him on the phone when I was at his shop, but he knew who I was talking about when I described your situation. He just said that was alot of Samba BS. By the way along with the cracks and the upside down springs the heads had worn out valve guides that he did not find. Good luck with the OC DA. Need any help let me know.
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65 Bug
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HBwesty
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2006
Posts: 173
Location: HB, CA
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| Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 5:23 pm Post subject: |
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| Darren Gurrola wrote: |
Everett, thanks for the heads up on this.
Like this has been said before by many vendors and our company too.
If you have a problem, call the vendor and work with them. You read about all types of these complaints on the internet, pretty standard operation now days. Our phone is open every day, if you have a problem, call to try get it resolved.
These intercircles of all internet guys on all these internet sites, sit around and type away like a bigman on keyboard, but never pick up the phone and take some action to try to resolve these issues. |
I did just as he said and still no corrective action. Only difference is he will not return my phone calls so I went to see him. All I got was booted from his shop.
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Have you ever noticed, in traffic, anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac
69 Campmobile
65 Bug
06 New Beetle |
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Sigurd
Samba Member
Joined: April 18, 2006
Posts: 2639
Location: Rockford, IL
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| Posted: Tue Apr 19, 2011 8:38 pm Post subject: |
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Yeah, his phone is open alright. Not once did he actually pick up when I called him. Maybe one out of three got returned. And they were all stupid, Samba BS questions like, how many more months past your ship date will you ship these, or why are six valves leaking, or why does a "Racing Heads" shop turn out a pair of heads that give different CR on all cylinders, or what kind of cheap guides are you using such that an intake valve will gall in the guide at idle speed in my garage.
Pass on this guy. |
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panzerboy
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2005
Posts: 7
Location: cleveland ohio
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| Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 2:09 pm Post subject: UPDATE: My phone rang... |
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| So I got a call back, Darren is going to send me a refund. I will post an update when the check arrives. |
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HBwesty
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2006
Posts: 173
Location: HB, CA
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| Posted: Thu Apr 21, 2011 3:45 pm Post subject: Re: UPDATE: My phone rang... |
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| panzerboy wrote: |
| So I got a call back, Darren is going to send me a refund. I will post an update when the check arrives. |
Glad to hear that. Hope he comes through for you. I just figured I would write mine off as bad experience, who you can trust, who not.
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Have you ever noticed, in traffic, anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac
69 Campmobile
65 Bug
06 New Beetle |
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michaelf63
Samba Member
Joined: January 06, 2011
Posts: 6
Location: Australia
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| Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 5:07 am Post subject: |
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| I received all the items I ordered eventually however communication very poor and wont respond to my emails when asking for advice. Also there is a few things I am not that impressed with which I havn,t bothered to take up with Darren. Those are oil pump not plugged, charged more for delivery than quoted and no end play shims with kit. The cleaning up of the castings on the heads is a bit rough. |
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HBwesty
Samba Member
Joined: December 29, 2006
Posts: 173
Location: HB, CA
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| Posted: Tue May 03, 2011 1:21 pm Post subject: |
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| michaelf63 wrote: |
| I received all the items I ordered eventually however communication very poor and wont respond to my emails when asking for advice. Also there is a few things I am not that impressed with which I havn,t bothered to take up with Darren. Those are oil pump not plugged, charged more for delivery than quoted and no end play shims with kit. The cleaning up of the castings on the heads is a bit rough. |
As for the heads, possibly he did a lousey job of cleaning to hide any cracks and if he charged you for labor only, he will not back them if you find any cracks or worn valve guids or any other issues with the heads after you bought and paid for them even if they have never been instaled. As explained and worded in his reciepts. I hope you have better luck than I did. As for the heads he 'rebuilt' for me they dont even make good boat anchors however they do make a good door stop
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Have you ever noticed, in traffic, anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a maniac
69 Campmobile
65 Bug
06 New Beetle |
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panzerboy
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2005
Posts: 7
Location: cleveland ohio
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| Posted: Sat May 14, 2011 10:48 am Post subject: Check recieved. |
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Well I finally deposited refund check yesterday. I'm happy to finally have this cleared up. It has definitely taken way too long to resolve. I'm just glad it wasn't another Serrano's situation.
I do hope that Darren can get his outlaw head program up and running at some point, it's a product that the industry sorely needs. |
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W1K1
Samba Member
Joined: March 04, 2004
Posts: 4919
Location: Southern AB
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jamesadamseod
Samba Member
Joined: December 26, 2010
Posts: 37
Location: Nicevillle, Florida
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| Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 2:46 pm Post subject: |
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Unlike some of this feedback, I have had nothing but top shelf service from Darren. I ordered his 180hp 2276 engine kit and couldn't be happier. He said it would be a few asks to a month before everything shipped and that was correct. Everything has arrived and looks great. Packing was nice and tight. I think you could airdrop this into a warzone with it packed like that. Heads look great and measure out perfectly. Not one complaint.
I have been working with him for 9 months trying to decide what I wanted. As long as I call during business hours, he answers. All emails have been answered within a few days.
The man has a job to do and if you expect an email returned in 15 minutes then you will be disappointed.
Service was fast for a custom machined piece and I will buy from Darren and DRD Racing Heads again. I recommended DRD to all the VW guys I know. |
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knightly1
Samba Member
Joined: March 18, 2005
Posts: 33
Location: Jacksonville, NC
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| Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 12:09 pm Post subject: |
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| I recently ordered his L5 top end kit. Order was placed September 20. Items were shipped on the 27th and I received the parts October 3rd. This was a lot quicker than I assumed it would be (parts were shipped to NC). I ordered a 2276 kit from him two years ago and went back to him this time because of the past transaction. I read the feedback after I placed the order for the top end kit and started to worry about what would happen. I am very glad I did not read the feedback and be too afraid to order from him again. Great items and excellent customer service (answered all emailed questions and recommended which kit based on my wants). Thanks again Darren. As I already said, I will be contacting you very soon on parts for the wife's Notch engine. |
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-Alex77-
Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2008
Posts: 513
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Mon Feb 27, 2012 4:26 am Post subject: |
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For a long time i refused to write here.. But i would like to tell about my situation. I would like not bash DRD, but here is my story.
I did order 9-10 months ago bugpack flanged crank, scat h-beam rods, flywheel and small parts for 2854cc engine. I paid in advance..
I havent got the parts, i havent really complained, but i dont hear from him very often, mostly it takes weeks to answer emails. Wonder what's wrong.
I would like not to call, because long distance call from Finland is not cheap, and my spoken english is not good. Email is only option.
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sts9292
Samba Member
Joined: March 15, 2004
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Sun Jul 01, 2012 2:34 pm Post subject: |
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After several months going over reviews, references and the likes, I decided to order a set of heads from DRD. I spoke to Daren on the phone and he was very helpful in making a recommendation based on the information I supplied to him. The heads arrived on April 17, 2012. After opening the box I noticed that one of the heads had some bent fins. It appeared that the head was dropped BEFORE shipping. I send Daren an email and pictures. He offered to replace the head or to give me a $50 credit, which I agreed to.
Quote from email: “After looking at the pictures, this dosen’t appear to be a shipping problem. We can offer to replace the head for you, or give you a $50.00 credit back. The bent fins will not affect cooling, and we often see heads that are bang up, and bend the fins back”
Unfortunately, I have left him 3 voice mails, 5 emails and no sign of the credit yet !! I think two months is enough time to post a $50 credit when he charged my credit card promptly after the order.
Come on Daren …. That is one of the reasons why some business go under … lack of customer satisfaction !!! At least you should acknowledge my communication 
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panzerboy
Samba Member
Joined: May 17, 2005
Posts: 7
Location: cleveland ohio
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:00 am Post subject: Not a shipping problem... |
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| Yeah that's clearly a "head hit the floor" problem. |
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-Alex77-
Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2008
Posts: 513
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 2:50 pm Post subject: |
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I would not order from DRD. He is a great headporter for sure, but his customer service sucks big time.
I did order year ago some normal stuff, like crank, flywheel and rods. I paid the parts ($1610) immediately. At winter time he usually answered to me in a once month or so, and always same excuse.
I newer got the parts, so almost two months ago I asked kindly about returning the money, and he promised to return the money .
I have asked once In a week or two so that it won’t be forgotten. I haven’t seen the money yet, wonder why :LOL
I see that way that nothing will happen. This makes me angry. I have asked many times nicely from DRD. So stay away, if you want avoid similar!
I would get engine or parts from someone else, like veedub parts or aircooled.net, they have excellent customer service.
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sts9292
Samba Member
Joined: March 15, 2004
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:06 pm Post subject: |
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It is sad, very sad that a large umber of the so called "good" vendors and VW parts suppliers are going down the drain because of the poor customer service, lack of professionalism and a neglect to keep the hobby honest. I am seeing this trend year after year. In the end is the consumer that suffers because they get ripped by these scum bags. Even after they know they are out of a viable business model they can keep hiddding behing the internet wall !!
Shame on you !! The Samba should take action and ban these folks from doing business on this site. Come on EverettB ... take a stand !!! This is not the first time the issue has surfaced. Stop them before it gets to be the doom of the site .... What else do you need? |
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EverettB 
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69809
Location: Phoenix Metro
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| Posted: Tue Jul 10, 2012 6:17 pm Post subject: |
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I only see 2 recent issues and one from a year ago that is posted above as resolved.
I sent him an email about the recent posts in this thread.
It's best to email me directly if you want me to contact a seller or address some feedback postings.
The rules for banning can be reviewed in the Sticky at the top of this section.
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-Alex77-
Samba Member
Joined: December 09, 2008
Posts: 513
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Wed Jul 11, 2012 6:56 am Post subject: |
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| sts9292 wrote: |
It is sad, very sad that a large umber of the so called "good" vendors and VW parts suppliers are going down the drain because of the poor customer service, lack of professionalism and a neglect to keep the hobby honest. I am seeing this trend year after year. In the end is the consumer that suffers because they get ripped by these scum bags. Even after they know they are out of a viable business model they can keep hiddding behing the internet wall !!
Shame on you !! The Samba should take action and ban these folks from doing business on this site. Come on EverettB ... take a stand !!! This is not the first time the issue has surfaced. Stop them before it gets to be the doom of the site .... What else do you need? |
I feel the same, but thank good i have only few choices here in Finland and Europe to choose where to buy parts  Btw. nice latemodel beetle
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EverettB
Administrator
Joined: April 11, 2000
Posts: 69809
Location: Phoenix Metro
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sts9292
Samba Member
Joined: March 15, 2004
Posts: 218
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| Posted: Wed Jul 18, 2012 10:22 am Post subject: |
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Yes, indeed. I received a check from him, not a credit to my credit card which is the correct way to transact because it leaves a trail. But, that is fine.
The interesting piece of information I gather from your response is that he immediately responded to your inquiry EverettB, but never responded to mine emails or voice mails  . Sorry … I have to point this out. |
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