Question: Has anyone had any contact with Dave Havlir of HavlirHouseofFabrication in the last two or three weeks? I have an order in for some headers and havent been able to reach him. Thanks
I talked to him on Friday. I have ordered parts from him and got them right away with excellent service. He is a one man show so he can get busy.
Good luck. Zero communication, wont answer any questions. If you send money expect lots of excuses. The worst experience I've had buying from the HAMB. Never again.
I was at the Charlotte Auto Fair last week and I was talking to a guy who had ordered a set of flathead headers from him. He told me that that his wife had just passed away and things were getting behind. This is what he told me and I am just passing this along.
QuickchangeV8, It was a pleasure to meet you at the Charlotte Auto Fair (BTW, I did purchase the Edelbrock Regular intake that we talked about). For everyone else.....as a point of clarification, it was Dave Havlir's ex-wife that passed and as I understand it there have been a number of issues to work through as Dave attempts to emotionally support his teenage children that have lost their mother. He has done some machine work for me recently and the work was perfect and turn around was quick. I have spoken with him a few times, most recently this week and he is recovering from being sick with a nasty cold and allergies. He sounded horrible and TIG welding must be tough with a severely congested head. I get the impression that Dave is a perfectionist which is why I came to him in the first place and I am sure that I will receive my headers soon. Although I have been involved with cars for the past 40 plus years I am somewhat new to the Hot Rod hobby and have never posted anywhere (until tonight). However, I get the feeling that this is a tight knit group that is there to support each other and help where possible. If I am correct and even though I have not met Dave personally I would ask that you cut him some slack at what has to be an extremely difficult time in his life. I have been in Dave's shoes to a degree and it is not a fun place. I'm sure he will be back on track soon. In the mean time, be patient and supportive, maybe throw him some business if you can (he makes really nice parts) and above all, keep him and his children in your prayers if you are so inclined.
I ordered some headers from him in January and he was super easy to deal with on the phone and worked with me. I called him a couple weeks later to check in and see what the progress was and he had told me he forgot my order and will make them the next week. A few more weeks go by and I call again to check up and he explains to me how he's a one man show and his ex wife passed and he was going to start on them the next week. A few weeks go by and I call again and he said he will be shipping them the following Thursday. Long story short I texted him last Friday after not getting them or a tracking number for a couple weeks after he said he would ship them and I never got a response. It has now been 3 months that I put my order in and I feel like I've been extremely patient and I totally understand his situation. I know his products are worth waiting for. Its just a little frustrating when you're out over 600 dollars and are continuously told empty promises.
Dave has the best intentions, but I think gets overwhelmed with work and tends to be bad at communicating. Even with just friendly texts. We did some trading a while back and it took months to close the deal and trade the parts to each other and there was no money involved. He DEFINITELY is not the guy that is looking to fly-by-night and steal guys money, but I think he does get behind on work and lets his customer service side of things slip a little. I hope stuff gets better for him, he has done a great service to the community offering AV8 parts that help guys put cars together more easily.
I talked to Dave today and he explained to me the situation which I totally understand. He shipped my headers today and I can't wait to get them. He really is a stand up guy and puts a lot of work into the products he makes. Hopefully things get better for him, he's one of the good ones in the industry.
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