It's Not Goodbye, It's See Ya Later: Colleagues Salute Consumer Bob

Bob -- From everyone at NBC 7 San Diego, past and present, we wish you a happy retirement. Thanks for all of your hard work, and more importantly, your friendship.

Marianne Kushi

NBC 7 Anchor

"Hey, Bob. You know, we're really, really gonna miss you. I think you can remember the two of us, we worked together at another station and I remember thinking, you know, this is a person who has such integrity. Besides that, outside of Consumer Bob, you have helped so many people, your faith has driven you, your family has driven you.

And I remember the time when we were working at the Broadway station in Downtown San Diego and we'd try and kind of sneak out for our 20-minute lunches. You'd have your three rolled tacos and your 20-ounce coke and I would sit there, I copy you and have your three rolled tacos and you talk about your family and I can't even keep track because you talked about them so lovingly.

Was it your daughter who's the attorney? Or your son who's in the Navy? Or your daughter who's a linguist or a flight attendant? And of course, Lorraine, who always insisted on having homemade cards. And I just thought to myself, this is such a guy who just lives outside of work and is so generous and so kind.

So I think people really need to know that about you. And of course, we also talked about traveling the world because that's your special interest, too. So I hope in your next half of your life you'll be able to do that when you want to do it. You won't be hindered by any kind of schedule. You'll be able to go surf and, of course, spend time with your family and your grandchildren.

I as a colleague and a friend will miss you so, so much!"

Monica Dean

NBC 7 Anchor

"Consumer Bob. Here is a man who has dedicated his professional career to helping people, to solving their problems, to getting their money back, to standing up for the little guy.

Consumer Bob loves people, and what the viewing audience doesn't often see, but we have the pleasure of knowing here, is that that is authentically who Bob is. He loves people on camera and off camera. This is the guy who takes a Saturday to take your family photo. This is the guy who shows up on your doorstep with his wife during a pandemic with homemade baked bread.

This is the guy who listens when all of us here in the newsroom have our own consumer issues and call with complaints, and he's patient, and he's humble, and he's kind, and he's creative and he's so good at what he does.

He lights up a room. People love Bob and Bob loves people.

And so Bob Is ending his time here at NBC 7, moving into retirement. But what I can tell you without a doubt is that Consumer Bob will still be Consumer Bob, and you may not see it here on NBC 7, but he's going to continue to help people and he's going to continue to love on people, and he's going to continue to solve problems and be the guy that stands up for somebody else because that is just who Bob is.

We love you, Bob. You have inspired me immensely. I'm going to miss you in the newsroom, but we wish you all the best. We love ya."

Catherine Garcia

NBC 7 Anchor

"So, I've had the pleasure to work by Bob's side in a studio for almost two decades now and one thing I can tell you about Bob, he is really loud. I mean, like booming voice loud. When Bob speaks nobody else talks because literally you can't, you can't hear the producer in your ear, you can't hear any other reporter in the studio. When Bob talks, we all listen, whether we want to or not!

The thing I really admire about Bob is that he brings the same enthusiasm and passion to his reporting. If he's trying to help somebody whose, you know, freezer just stopped working and wants to get it replaced, or if he's going up against some big government agency and trying to make sure that hundreds of people's water bills are accurate. He doesn't care what it is, he just wants to make sure that any wrongs out there in the world are made right.

So, when I think about some of the stories that Bob does all the time that we come to look forward to, it's his teaming up with Goodwill for this Little Black Dress event that happens every year. I mean, here you got Bob, the least likely guy, right, that you think is going to get into making sure women have these really cute black dresses, but he does and he's so enthusiastic about it. And I'll tell you also, Bob was into thrifting and a big advocate of that before anybody thought it was cool.

One of the things I've really enjoyed about working with Bob over the years is getting to know his family. You know, when I first met him, he was this very proud father with these wonderful kids. Now he's a very proud grandfather, and over the years he's come in with pictures on his phone of these beautiful children and I think that he's just an amazing family person, a dad and grandfather.

Something else cool about working with Bob is he has all these interesting hobbies that he likes to tell you about. So he's got this super cool Volkswagon van that he's really proud of, as he should be. It's really amazing. He is a great surfer and his stories about being out in the water are always fun to hear. And then on top of that, he's an amazing photographer and some of the work that he's done over the years, not only for here at NBC 7, but just in his personal life, it's really impressive and I've learned a lot from him when it comes to all of that.

So, Bob, we are going to miss you so much around here at NBC 7. Things won't be the same without your presence, but we wish you the absolute best in your next adventure and we hope you let us be part of it because you are family and we love you and we wish you the best!"

Mark Mullen

NBC 7 Anchor

"OK, so before we talk about his work, we have to talk about what a great guy Bob Hansen is -- and Hansen is Consumer Bob's real last name, which a lot of people just don't know.

But all kidding aside, to talk about the contributions of Consumer Bob, it's remarkable. And if you think about so often when people do get into journalism, they'll specialize in a lot of things, right? You could be a political reporter, you can cover sports, you can be an investigative reporter. Bob Hansen decided to do a specialty, which helps people with consumer reporting. And in many ways, it mirrors all of the reasons that so many of us got into journalism in the first place, and that is to help people and hopefully make a difference.

You could probably quantify the things that Bob has done over the years in terms of talking about a contribution. You could, good luck with this, but go back to the television stations he's worked for, especially here, and count all the stories that he has done. You could count the number of newscasts that he's appeared, but I think more important and probably impossible to measure would be to try and gauge the number of people that he has helped over the years.

We have no idea of knowing how many moms may have watched one of his stories that talked about a recalled baby seat and, and they took that out of circulation. People who may have had tainted dog food unknowingly which was pulled out, things like that over the years, and that's what he has done so well and, and for decades as well.

The thing, as well, is that as jaded as sometimes journalists can be in this profession, this guy, despite all of this work, has always just had the best spirit and has this -- you'll know this if you meet him on the streets -- has this sort of like, kid-like, teen enthusiasm about everything, and he has the ability now to basically say goodbye and to this level of reporting and do so on his own terms. And with so many people that he has helped over the years, just a job really well done, Bob. Happy retirement.

I have no idea what Bob's retirement will look like. We'll hear about his surfing and the like, but this guy on his days off is more active than any of us here at work. So all the best to you, Bob, and thank you so much for everything that you've done."

Sergio Flores

Telemundo 20 Responde Anchor

"Mr. Bob Hansen, my consumer reporting brother in arms. You know, I am so fortunate that our careers overlapped when they did for I cannot think of anybody I could have leaned on as much as I did with you, to have that understanding -- a good, good understanding -- of what it is to be a consumer reporter slash investigator.

So, thank you so much for that. You are a legend, my friend, and I was very happy to be in the consumer trenches with you and enjoy a few laughs along the way. Best of luck in your retirement, my man!"

Susan Taylor

Former NBC 7 Anchor

"Hi, I'm Susan Taylor and I had the honor of working with Bob Hansen for more than 11 years, and it was just so wonderful to be around Bob. He always was in a wonderful mood. He had a great attitude, smile on his face, consummate professional, an incredible journalist, very high ethical standards, a wonderful storyteller and Bob was a champion for the people. I mean, he was Consumer Bob!

He was there to protect the consumer and he would tackle stories of, you know, folks who were taking advantage of the consumer -- the powerful, the wealthy -- and he would try and right the wrongs and he saved San Diegans hundreds of thousands, if not thousands of dollars simply by watching his gas price forecast. I did not fill up my tank on my car each week unless I saw what Bob's gas price forecast was.

So congratulations, Bob, on an incredible career. I wish you all the best on this next exciting chapter of your life. Have fun with your wife, with your four kids, with your nine grandkids, go travel. Just, you know, stay up late, sleep late, have fun, relax. You've had an incredible career and you deserve this next wonderful phase of your life. Take care, my friend."

Marty Levin

Former NBC 7 Anchor

"I'm Marty Levin here to wish Bob a happy and prosperous, what do you call it? Free time.

When I first met Bob, he was a grammar school student going to toy stores to alert the other children to good deals on different toys that came out, and then eventually he moved on to gas prices. I ran out of gas three times waiting for his forecast just to be sure that I went to the right station!

But I know Bob for having known you all this time, that you have some things outside of this television station that will take plenty of your time and to which you are devoted. So I wish you the best with doing that and adjusting to the idea that you don't have to go to work on any given day. Nobody said you've got to be here at 8:30 a.m., or you've got to be here at 10 o'clock. Nobody talks to me like that anymore except my wife!

Bob, best wishes on your retirement. Take care."