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

Kilroy..I would have to agree!

 

+1.

 

Dang, I'm out of popcorn

 

I only buy from Obsolete as a last resort.

 

Ford made them take the Ford out of their name. They are now Classic Auto Parts. Still pull a vacuum. I only buy in person. I have tales about ordering. Not good. You do NOT want to give them a credit card.

 

If you can find some 20 ga steel, and know at least one friend who can assist/advise, I would try making the pieces. The stamped replacement panels often needed rework to make them follow the car's lines. You can form the lower panel edge w/a hammer and dolly, it just takes getting familiar w/the tin. Most of the lines have a positive "bow" or belly to them, and the earlier replacement panels overlooked this feature.

 

Talked to Ryan at Howell's today and made sure he heard what I had to say without him hangin up in my ear this time. I told him about the complaint being aired on the H.A.M.B. and the support from everybody on here....which is greatly appreciated!!!! Thanks to everybody for having my back.

Ryan promised the order would be finished before the end of this week and he'll call me with a tracking number to prove theyr'e on the way. He did give me a discount on the shipping...$50, its not much but its something.

I realize that the original price of the cab corners ($225) is very reasonable considering the time and materials involved. And at this point the hassle of trying to find somebody to make them as good as Howell's could just aint worth it for me. As long as get my panels A.S.A.P. , I'll be happy. That's all I wanted!!!

Stay tuned, they're not at my door yet.
-Stevie Dubbzilla

 

Now if they will ONLY fit. You wanted two lefts, right?

I've only bought from them once, but it was shipped immediately and fit. I talked to the son, he was as pleasant as could be. Maybe he's off his meds. Sounds like the guy is overwhelmed with more business than he can handle. Still no reason to be a Richard Noggin.

Two business principles: Protect our good name, and exceed the customer's expectations. It works. Maybe he needs to practice.

 

Rule No1 The Customer Is Always Right

Rule No2 When The Customer Is Wrong See Rule No1

 

A month or two late would be completely acceptable to me IF it was custom (and for a good price) not a shelf item that I really needed... they're just a little late making you a custom piece from scratch. No offence, but not big enough of a deal to post a beware/warning thread to damage a business reputation.

Nothing was stolen, broken or misrepresented...just a little late.

 

i live about 10 miles from these guys and my car club and i do business with them very regularly. there always backed up . you have to remember these guys ship parts all over the world,build shit and try to answer the phone. howells kicks ass. and by the way the owner has just suffered a heartattack recently so things my be a little more backed up.

 

I've delt with Howells before, and they delivered a decent product at a good price. I'll buy more from them in the future.
Just like any other story I'm sure this one has two sides to it.

 

Done business with them before. Nice people and on time.

 

done business with these guys a couple of times. slow, laid back and backed up to the rafters with business. customer base all over the world and some very long term customers. think you jjust got a bad deal on a bad day and that happens everywhere. no need to warn anyone away from them and i'm cetain under the right circumstances you would even get an apology if warranted.

these guys are aces at what they do and although slow, keep true to the art and their word.

Daymon

 

Are'nt they from Nederland,Tx?

 

Don't want to be an ass but you are wrong. If they are slow and backed up to the rafters that is what they should be telling their customers. Not repeatedly telling the guy they will be ready next week for 2 and a half months. They may very well be great guys that mean well but it they are not true to their word if they continually tell someone something that is not true. How hard would it be to just say "you know we are super busy and I'm not sure how long your parts will take but if you are willing to wait we will get to them." Maybe the one day the guy hung up on him it was a bad day but all this post is doing is letting guys know that if you order something from them you should be prepared for a wait that may be longer than what Howell's tells you. I for one would appreciate the heads up if I was going to order from them.

 

I ordered 2 27T coupe door skins from them about a week ago. Sure hope I don't have any problems after reading this.

 

You'd think someone who's from the same area as these people would let a sleeping thread lie, but what do I know, I'm from New York.

 

If your word aint worth %*$# then what good are you? If your way down on the list they should tell the man and if it takes public exsposure to get the truth and action then I would spend my $ some place else or use the $ to buy the tools to do it my self.

 

I'm pretty sure the patch panels from 90% of the suppliers are from Howells. They do a fantastic job.

 

I just popped some Xtreme Butter! You want half? Probably won't be much longer.

 

Well I have called several times and sent email asking for a status on my panels and have gotten no response. Things are not looking good!

 

please enlighten me as to the other side of the story if you have some info

 

Howell's has been doing business for a long time. Lot's of good stuff and happy customers. It does seem the service has suffered since the latest generation is at the helm. A couple years ago a friend of mine and long time customer of theirs picked up a back panel for a 27 touring for me and they let me pay later. The panel needed some serious massaging to fit and when I called them about it they told me to hit on it with a mallet to make it curve more. I ended up pie cutting about a foot and a half of the lip on each side to get the curve to match and it still had no compound curve to it. The price and the service were great, the fit wasn't. I have also seen their 28-29 cowl panels and they look cheap and crappy compared to Henry's

 

I bought a trunk lid skin off of them for a '27 T, seemed to fit pretty well, that was my only dealing with them and I don't remember what the shipping duration was but it obviously did not make an impact on me.

 

This is an old thread. I'm curious to see if things were ever resolved.

 

No complaint here but I was wondering if anyone has used the roof insert for the Model A? Reports? Howell used to be a good vendor.

 

I used a model A roof insert worked out very nice .I ordered some custom panels from them took a while but he was getting married at the time .Very nice products

 

Finally got someone to answer the phone today. He said my door skins should ship Wednesday of this week. Lets hope they do.

 

I would say so if there is someone else having the same problem with them.Customer service is 50% of a businesses repertoire.You may do great work,but if your customer service interaction skills suck,people will take their business elsewhere.If people are spending decent money for a product that is guaranteed to be done in a certain time frame,then it should be done in that time frame.Now,if it isn't possible for it to be done by the deadline,the customer has a right to know why,and a reason be given.There is no excuse for someone to reply to the customer in question the way the person answering the phone did,and then to hang up on the customer the way the person answering the phone did,well,that is just arrogant behaviour that would usually get an employee fired.