Folks Of Interest Anyone live near Howell sheet metal?

For my T project, we ordered from their eBay store. We made a mistake while ordering - accidentally got a coupe part in a bag of otherwise all roadster parts. They noticed and called proactively before shipping the order out to make sure we got what we needed, and the panels arrived ahead of schedule. That was quite surprising as both Robin & I had heard the horror stories about Howells.

The parts were all pretty good and didn't require tuning, except the panel above decklid for my 26/27 turtle deck. We are still working with it, the original piece is slightly arched in addition to being concave and having flanges on all four corners. Howells did not work the arch into their replacement panel and putting the arch in it is pretty tough as you are fighting both the concave shape of the metal and the reinforcement provided by the flanges.

 

Ordered a part 11 days ago on Ebay and it said they had 6 in stock. Time has come and gone for the delievery dates. Sent them a memo and waiting to hear their excuse. Shows it hasn't been sent yet on Ebays site.

 

This thread is a lot like Charlie Brown tying to kick Lucy's football. Hope springs eternal. Hope y'all get your stuff/

 

I still have no parts. I actually got ahold of Howell two weeks ago today. I was told that it was going to be personally packed and shipped after the phone was hung up and I would receive an email confirmation. Yeah right! Tried emailing last night and there website will not let the email thru. I’m more than pissed off, lied to cheated out of $900+!

 

If they pay more attention to eBay orders it’s probably because eBay provides worldwide advertising but also provides both positive and negative feedback so potential buyers can see. Also if their performance is really bad eBay will no longer allow them to sell there.

 

Yep, the only safe way to buy from them is via ebay or cash on the barrel in person. They don't dare screw up their ebay orders or list a part that isn't physically on the shelf for fear of losing their ebay storefront.

What sucks is that you've ordered and fully paid for your parts and while you wait, someone can walk in, or order those same parts on ebay and acquire them instantly off the shelf (YOUR parts that are on "back order").
It's an extremely poor business model, that's been going on for years so there's really no viable excuse such as material shortages or they're out of stock, etc. They have no sense of urgency to fulfill your order because they've already 'made' your money. They're on to the next customer.
The other poor business practice is that they're holding your entire ($900) order hostage by saying one part is on back order. Most companies would ship everything but the one part on back order. They're either overwhelmed with order back logs, disorganized, short of lead capital, or just don't give a shit. Could be 'D' all of the above.
It reminds me of the horror stories you see on the news where a "contractor" bids a kitchen remodel, takes a $5000 down, promptly demos the kitchen to the studs then vanishes. They track him down and find the 5k is being spent to finish 2 other 'remodels' he's had on his stringer for a couple of months...

They're the only game in town for certain parts and we'll probably see that factor get worse for us as more cottage industries and small parts manufacturers' die off.

 

Have you thought of contacting your credit card and file a dispute of the charges. Then one of two things will happen. They will get their ass in gear and get you the parts or you'll get your money back and never get the parts.

 

I went through this a couple years back when I ordered a pick up bed and tailgate from them. Shortly after they charged my VISA they refused to take a call from me. Months past and the bed never shipped, I could not get them to talk to me so I cancelled the charge due to a fraudulent transaction.

Shortly thereafter Howells did ship the bed and I refused to accept it and had it sent back to them. I purchased from another vendor and had it in a couple weeks. They tried to fight the charge reversal but they lost. I won't deal with them again. Once was enough.

 

Results of E Bay complaint this morning.

My parts due date had come and gone and the item was still on E Bay as (sold 6 and 6 in stock).
Tried to contact Howell's last week through EBay and no reply.
Complained to E Bay and received a refund notification three hours later, even though I said I still wanted the part.

 

I’ve been around the block w these clowns- Why on earth are they even in “business”? I will never understand people that choose to operate this way- it’s so much easier to establish a simple business model, and work it as opposed to winging it, making up stupid shit, etc.

Then, when “companies” like this go out of business finally, you will hear sob stories about “the bad economy” causing them to lose “everything they have worked for” their entire lives.

Pathetic and shameful- go do something else.

 

I’m at the end of my rope. I’m thinking I’m going to dispute the charges.

 

I have posted this several times over the past 10 years. This BS with Howell's never ends.

I had a bad Howell's experience. I live in Canada and ordered a 30 Tudor roof insert from them. They were to ship by UPS to Niagara Falls NY where I would pick it up. I had to call them at least 8 times, most times not getting an answer and their machine didn't seem to be working. Finally they told me it was shipped and on what day I could expect it. They sent me a receipt by e-mail so I went to pick it up on the assigned day. There was some delay at the border but I finally drove to UPS. As I was approaching the UPS terminal, a truck was pulling out of the driveway and the name on the side was similar to a notation on the invoice. I blocked the truck (not UPS) and asked if he had just delivered my roof to which he replied they would not accept it and it was on its way back to Texas. I finally convinced the driver and his dispatcher to give me the pallet. Had I arrived one minute later, he would has been on I-90, the entrance being next to the UPS terminal. To make matters worse, I paid $240 for the insert and $240 for shipping and what I received was a piece of 18 gauge sheet with two corners rounded off. It came no where near fitting and required hours of cutting and trimming to work. I could have bought the same sheet of 18 gauge locally for $40 and used the $480 to pay my body man to trim it like he had to with the Howell piece.

Warren