Complaint and Warning about Howell's Sheet Metal in TX!!

I'm writing this thread out of frustration ! Over Two months ago I place an order with Hal's Sheet Metal in TX. I wanted them to make up custom 1929 truck cab corners with a sedan trim line. Ryan of Hal's Sheet Metal told me that it was no problem they could make them, would take a couple of weeks, tops.

Along with the cab corners I was going to purchase a 1930 visor, a cowl panel for my 29 cowl, and a back window panel for the cab corners; all which were things Ryan said were ready to go, he would just have to make up the cab corners.

So the order was tied up waiting for Ryan to make these cab corners. After the two week timeline had passed and a month had passed without word, I phoned to check the progress. Ryan told me that they would be ready by the end of that week. I phoned him 3 other times and every time it was the same story, "they'll be ready this week for sure".

Today was the final straw, it's been about 2 and a half months now, and I'm super discouraged and frustrated. I phoned Hal's today and aksed Ryan if they were ready yet. He told me that they were working on a bunch of cab corners and that mine would be ready tomorrow or the next day.

I told him that I was sick of the lip service and run around and that I wanted my cab corners. If they weren't ready and shipped in the next couple of days he could cancel the entire order, and if they were ready to be shipped I wanted a discount for all the hassle and run around. I feel like I had every right to tell him how I felt.

Ryan responded by saying "I'm not going to discount your order, I"m the only guy in the world making these, so you can sell your car for all I care" and then he hung up in my ear.

Now, I'm sorry, but that is not good service or business for that matter. The whole experience has left me super sour and discouraged. All I want to to is get my truck finished!!!

I hope that nobody else has had to deal with this kind of thing while trying to build a car. There are enough things to figure out and barriers to overcome to get road ready...I don't need this kind of shit from a professional business that was supposed to have the answer for my needs.

If anybody knows of anywhere else I can get this kind of sheet metal from I'd greatly appreciate it.

If you are a customer or friend of Hal's sheet metal, please make sure you let him hear about this and take it into consideration when you're in the need for sheet metal in the future.

Thanks for listening
-Steve

 

sure hope you can find them elsewhere.... this could get interesting

 

I wonder if he used to work for Obsolete Ford.

Obsolete Ford sucks by the way.

 

thats total bullshit..no one should have to deal with that much crap..and on top of it to give you his attitude after what i would conciter mucho patience..wrong way to do buisness in this market and in this hobby.."way of life"..in my opinion if i were you i would definetly find another source and be sure to let the shit hole know you didnt have to sell your project because he couldnt perform. you did it with out him and so will many others. F.O.A.D. to him!

 

I hear business opportunity knocking.

 

http://www.hotrodders.com/cgibin/rl...uct-category=Companies%20H-J&icon-status=

 

What an asshole. Giving you a discount would have been the least he could have done for making you wait so long, and treating you the way he did is inexcusable. I'd say review his business on the link that WelderSeries posted to let others know about the way he treats his customers.

 

Welder Series...is that you Paul? This is Steve Wadden, the kid from Nova Scotia building the model a. I spoke to you on the phone different times and you helped me out alot with advice and tech! I appreciate it!

Do you know of anybody in Canada making custom sheet metal or selling model a stock sheet metal?

Pretty soon I'm just going to have to tackle making the corners myself

It's just intimidating to attempt, I've never done anything like that.

Thanks for all the responses!! Keep em coming.

 

Are you talking about HOWELL'S near Beaumont in SE Texas?
Just checking, if there is a Hal's and you're badmouthing them instead of the other...

 

Oh shit, i didn't even think of that.
It could be howell's, but it sounded like hal's on the answering machine and when the guy answers the phone. They have an ebay store, 09-40 sheet metal. I don't have anything from them with their name written. I'm going to try to look into it more so this is clear.

I'm sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the heads up.
-Steve

 

Would this be Howells, you are talking about? I buy from them because I cant make it as cheap as I can buy it from them. I just ordered a bunch of stuff from them, and had all of it within the same week.
If you cant find anyone to fab your corners, I might be able to do them for you.Send me a PM, and we can discuss this further.

Tim @ www.irrationalmetalworks.com

 

I have very little use for anything on hotrodders.com with the anit Coker stuff they have going on over at that site.

Product complaints are one thing, what is going over at that site is insane. Especially if you really know about Gas Monkey and such.

As for the problem at hand, I thought another company did make those?

 

I did just check the howell's sheet metal website and the contact person is Ryan. I'm pretty sure that this must be the shop.

Just to clear this up for everybody, I contacted the ebay seller 09-40 and he left me a phone number. When I phoned him, he said what sounded like hal's sheet metal....and I thought that was the name.

But now it looks like it's most like Howell's sheet metal. I can't be %100 sure until I speak to Ryan again. He's not answering the phone there right now.

I apologize for the mix up!

 

I just confirmed that it is Howell's sheet metal for sure!!! Not Hal's!!

haha, I feel like an idiot now.
Does anybody know how to change the thread title?

 

Howell's has been in business for at least 30+ years, from Granddad to Dad to Son, I guess. They always had a reputation for good products and crappy customer service.

 

I don't think that's any kind of exuse. I've been waiting over two months to try and get my truck straightened away. This is terrible.

It would have been fine if in the beginning he would have told me..."yeah, it's gonna take three months to make your cab corners" Then I could have made up my mind at that time. Instead, he told me 2 weeks tops, and makes me feel like a dick for calling him and asking what the hold up is.

 

Yeah usually the guys that actually do the work shouldn't also answer the phone!

Most likely they have a poopload of stuff to do, and when you figure a shop rate at $100 an hour, It doesn't sound like your corners are worth it for them.
Squeaky wheel!

tp

 

dam skippy,, thats a shitty excuse! and a sorry way to treat any customer ..bad dog..no biscuit..maybe if that is well known, how they treat their buisness and customers. maybe it needs to be well known on here that they dont need our buisness!

 

I had an experience with them with some outer patch panels i wanted some about 10 inches instead of the normal 6 inch. Same story lots of runaround i went ahead with and used the standard 6 inch ones when they didn't show. As soon as the doors were finished the taller patchs showed up on my door and a charge showed up on my card.

Good news for me was they refunded the charges and told me to keep the panels.

Troy

 

my way of running a buisness is tell the customer the truth if you want to keep them..im sure if he would have told this guy .."hey were a little swamped" well get to ya in 3 or 4 weeks ..than at least you know where you stand..dont bullshit your customer..they will not be your customer they will be someone elses customer.

 

and than to get shitty with the customer and tell tham that he doesnt care if he has to sell his project? WTF? who does this fuck face think he is..hot rod god?

 

Zibo, I'm not sure I understand what you're saying? I hope you don't really beleive that I'm in the wrong here. I was given a timeline, and I'm in the process of doing my first car, the most exciting thing I've ever taken on, and this guy figures he can just keep giving me the run around and not living up to his side of the agreement. I'm up here going crazy wanting to get on the road.

I'm gonna tell you something, I wish I lived in Texas! Ryan wouldn't have to worry about being tied up on the phone with me, because I'd be there right now to get an explanation for my treatment...face to face.

 

I appreciate your support von rigg. I'm going to be sending this link to Howell's sheet metal.

Keep the support coming people! I really appreciate it!

 

well as i see it theres no other way to look at this but ...WRONG!
no excuse to get shitty with a customer . period!
especially when you havent done what you agreed upon..im sure giving this guy a 5 % off deal or free shipping would have cooled his jets and sent him in another direction on his project until the metal came in.. I Own a family constuction buisness..if i treated my customers like this i wouldnt have a job. and ive been at this for over 28 years. aint no way to win over in this hot rod buisness by pissing off good people with money to buy your shit! do it...get it done!

 

oh and BTW..i will not be spending any of my hard earned money to get shit on by a vendor..or a supplier..there are always more than one way to skin a cat...and he is NOT! i repeat NOT the only guy that knows how to bend sheet metal..so suck on that!

 

I don't know anything about the site... the company review page seems like a universal place to make your feelings known about a company.

 

Personally, I'd see if someone else could make them and not give you a line of BS about it... buy your order there... and if this order ever shows up, tell 'em sorry you already paid for panels with someone else. Let them screw themselves out of the time, when they finally do get to it. Cancel the charges on the card if you have to. But maybe they'll do like they did on the guy with the 10" patch panels and just tell you to keep the stuff.

 

Hi Steve, this is DW Horton. My dad says hi. I don't know of anyone off hand, but you could call Horton's and see if they have any sources. I'm wondering if Gaslight does them?

 

I'm trying to look into that now DW. Thanks!
I ended up buying some deep drop steering arms from Horton about a month ago. I forget now who answered the phone. Anyway, they were the magnum ones, really nice parts and super fast shipping!
Thanks!

 

yeah, they keep a whack of them in stock.