I know this is a bigger company and not some fly-by-night on ebay but I have to share my horrible experience with this company with you all just to give you a heads up on what to expect... I have read other posts where people on the site have had problems with Howell but I ignored them (I guess this is a lesson learned)...I have been buying stuff from them for about 2 years now averaging about 3000.00 total and have, up until now, had an average experience-but nothing so bad that I have had to complain-WELL, to get on with the story..August 20th I placed an order w/Howell for a SPEC Stage 2 clutch w/lightened flywheel and a Phantom Grip for my Eclipse...my ORIGINAL plan was to place the order and have them send it to Howell itself cuz I was planning on going to the Howell Open House August 28th cuz I went in 2003 and had a blast! Well, when I called and placed the order, Todd had told me that I would receive it all the next Tuesday (5 days later)if I had it shiopped to my house..I couldn't believe how quick that was so I changed my plans to receive it then and made an appointment to put my car in the shop at like the best transmission place around here the next Friday (3 days after I was supoost to receive my stuff)...well, tuesday came and my Phantom Grip arrived but not the clutch..i called they said it would be there Wednsday...Wed no clutch...called, it would be thursday...thurs no clutch...called they said it would be fri and so i went ahead and put it in the shop in which they went ahead and pulled the tranny to install the Phantom Grip in the meantime...finally after almost another week, and 50.00 in storage fees at the shop, I called SPEC themselves and they said the order was never placed ...so i called Howell and they said SPEC was lying..blah blah...and finally after calling them back and forth for about an hour (even though this SHOULD have been Howell's job) SPEC called me back and apologized for Howell's mistake and agreed to ship it overnight to me- I guess they have had this problem before ..anyway, since SPEC stepped in, I DID get it overnight and had it put in the next day on Sept 4th... another part of the story is this...the mechanic would not install the Phantom Grip...he said the process is too complicated and it is dangerous to not actually have a true LSD vs a Phantom Grip..well, i wasnt sure if that was true so i called around to other shops around and believe it or not the only shop i could find that would do it was in cleveland and wanted an additional 550.00 to do it ummm, nevermind...i don't need it that bad...i had just forked out almost 1600.00 on the clutch, grip and and shop fees alone...i couldnt afford to fork out another 550.00...so I called Howell and told them the situation-cant remember the guy I spoke to but he was pretty nice-sounded younger and had a heavy accent...anyway, they agreed to accept the return and I sent it back next day...that was a month and a half ago...and still no credit..i called after 3 weeks and they told me i would have to call back in another week cuz the guy (todd) who handles returns is on vacation ummm, so no one else knows how to do this? what about the OWNER-which may I add is who I spoke with...anyway I call back a week later they had no idea what I was talking about...so I had yo call them back yet the next day in which they told me the credit was being processed...few days later-nothing-so I called back and they said OOPS...we forgot to do it for the love of GOD! what do I have to do to get something done...SO...they said give it another few days and it should go through...this takes me up to yesterday...I called them cuz still nothing in my account (this was a Visa CheckCard btw so it would go back into my checking account instantly) well, I called them and they said the credit went through and was already taken from their account and i should have it...so i call my bank and they have no record of it...called howell, verified the number was correct...it was...decided to call Visa... they said they have nothing either and have no idea what they are talking about ...they also told me if they did give me a credit, they should be able to provide me a tracking or reference # ...well, i am still waiting for that...ironically, Howell doesnt have one ...so I am gonna call back again today i guess ...so almost November and no credit...I wish howell would get off their A** and figure out what the F**K they are doing ...this is ridiculous and I will never even consider them again! BTW...dont even try to gripe at them on their OWN site cuz all they do is call you a liar and put you down...nothing is ever their fault! Thanks for listening... I Should have gone with EXILE RACING instead... i will know next time ME ...Anna

-Anna (96 Eclipse GS)

http://www.cardomain.com/memberpage/474544

I agree with you and understand. I called to return rings that i didnt even touch after they arrived. The guy said call back after lunch to speak to Todd. I did that and then he came up and said todd was on another line to call back in 15 minutes. Well, did that and he was gone so i had to call back. So i had to call the next day, i had my wife call since i thought they were trying to get around me. I told the first guy about my return and he knew what i was talking about. Then when when my wife calls and finally gets todd, he says i cannot return any internal items. The first guy could of told me, it says on there website, no returns on electrical items. My rings are not electrical. I still got them, but i will not buy from them again. They have the worst customer service. I am disappointed with there service. Sorry about your situation, hope you get your money back soon.

99 RS-T
"New bottom end(8.6:1 w/long rods)"
Turbonetics 60-1/Portfueler/etc!!!!!

I'll agree with you too. Its been almost 4 weeks since i've ordered my stainless standard sized valves, and still howell hasnt even gotten them yet. its bullshit, they told me i'd have them in my hands 5 days after i ordered, and now its been almost a month. Terrible customer service too, all they do is blow you off. I'll never order from them again, last time i ordered from them it took forever too. on top of it all the shop where my car is sitting has been charging me 10 bucks per day since i ordered them. what a joke

--------------------
99 GS-Turbo 3.55 MTX
S16G @ ~15psi - FMIC - Forged Internals
Clinton Township, MI

Status: Parting Out...

i ordered a set of camshafts 6 weeks ago and after four weeks, it took two weeks before I could get a straight answer on what was going on with them and I am still waiting. a car show I was going to is this weekend and i'm s.o.l. on this now cause I can't go. I know they are waiting to get them from crane but 2 months to get camshafts. that's bogus. it's been a week since they were supposed to be dropped shipped from crane and i still don't have em. guess it gives me a chance to order things i dont' have now but i loose out on going to a show.