"$55 plus delivery totaling $86 for a paperback sized car owners manual. Total ripoff"

"I bought one in October 2022 and had trouble getting to open. Helm technical help is non-existent. Not sure what I did but I did finally get it to open and it worked okay. Tried using it today (July 3, 2023) and I get the following message: "Critical Error: Failed to get installed content protection service version". There appears to be no way to get help for this issue from Helm. I did send them an email but don't have a lot of hope that i will get a helpful response. This is ridiculous!"

"Bought a service manual for a 2021 Honda DRF300L. In looking at the torque specs, they would list a specific bolt size in mm but when compared to the bolt on my bike many of theirs were off. Like this specific bolt for this specific part is 10mm and this is the torque. Well that supposed bolt in my bike is actually a 14mm so what's the correct torque then? Many bolts are this way and some are correct. What kind of crap is that? Useless manual."

"I recently went online based on a recommendation by the local Chevy dealer that I could get the service manual I needed from Helm. I’m trying to help my son rebuild his S 10 pick up. The only manual that popped up on their website was labeled inspection/maintenance emissions diagnostic manual. But when I looked at the description, it included descriptions of other engine related subjects.


I didn’t really want to buy a large service manual, but would’ve preferred to get it in a smaller format like USB drive or CD ROM. Unfortunately, they only offered the paper product. When I looked at the shipping information, I saw a series of two dollar charges depending on whether I was using standard or all the way up to next day air.


I suppose I wasn’t all that pleased when I realized after it had been delivered, that my bill for this transaction was $243. I was also somewhat disappointed to find that their product had absolutely no information about rebuilding an engine. I don’t have any idea why the Chevy parts guy would refer me to them, when there are so many other online sources that have better options in terms of being deliverable online, with no shipping charges, as well as having the actual information that I’m looking for. To recap, $50 for information that I did not need, and a whole bunch more money that I didn’t see coming, because I was assuming that the two dollar charges were gonna add up to about eight bucks. Yes, I agree with you that I should’ve checked my receipt, but I was trying to get the order in quickly so that I could receive it the next day. And, actually every time that I looked to see what the actual shipping charges were going to be, all I saw was TBD, because the app was so slow to update. I really hated this experience and sent them a response to their “how did we do?” questionnaire. The response I received back from Helm basically added up to “**** to be you”."

"Computer rqmts are for a 486 based PC. That means their display technology is dated back to the early 1990s. Despite that, their s/w will not display wiring diagrams nor provide any form of error message to assist with troubleshooting the reason WHY? Their personnel know absolutely nothing about their product and instead defer to FORD Motor Company customer service. Of course, FOMOCO is not about to place the customers of another company above their own so you wait for them to maybe call. They did call and leave a message once but the number they called from cannot be called back. So, you're dead in the water with no Coast Guard to call for help. You just stuck. This went on for months with emails back and forth and Helm saying they'd issue a return but not following thru with doing so. Finally had to file a formal dispute with the credit card company that also took months to conclude.
Geez, steer clear of these disreputable idiots for they know not what they do."

"I purchased replacement owners manuals for my Toyota RAV4 (the originals were stolen).

Toyota posts a free PDF of the manuals on their website. These manuals are nothing more than printing the PDF, using a large paper cutter to cut the regular 8x11 paper to match the printing (about 1/2 of the size of the 8x11 sheet) and putting on a cover and binding. As a result the manuals are about twice as thick as the originals. The cutting was poorly aligned so that some edge printing (chapter sections) was cut off.

The postage and handling of $23 on a $40 book was excessive for something just put in the regular US mail.

I would not purchase again. I could have created virtually the same book with a printer and a paper cutter.
"

"Two times now I have purchased a software for Ford IDS software only to find out that the application must be updated before I can use the subscription I just purchased. Once the software is updated, I am told that the subscription is already in use (on the same computer) and cannot be used. Helm support is horrible, no refunds, lost money on both jobs due to time wasted on their garbage application and lack of refund for unusable license."

"Helm products are very good and easy to order but their return process is very expensive. "

"I had bought a service manual from this company online, they charged my credit card and sent nothing. Two weeks later i called them and told them i still have not received the manual, they told me it was shiped, i ask when, they put me on hold a few mins, then told me it hasn't shipped, that it was on back order the day i ordered it and came in the next day, they said they will refund the 7.95 handling charge and prioity mail it to me at their cost and i will have it friday, July 2cd. well... they still did not ship it and still kept my money. This business has no right to charge me for something they didn't have or ship at the time i ordered it, furthermore they didn't do what they said they would do. They sat on the paid order a total of almost 3 weeks. I had enough of this company. "

"Purchased the official GMC factory manuals for a 2004 Chevrolet Silverado pick-up. $135 for a five volume set that weighed 18 pounds. The manuals are perfect for the person wanting to do their own maintenance and repairs. The order was shipped quickly and arrived in a few days via UPS. The manuals were in perfect condition thanks, in part, to the perfectly-sized cardboard box they were shipped in. The trained apes hired at UPS to load and unload the boxes must have forgotten to toss the box with my manuals against the walls this time!!! :)

Helm did the job right. Shipped merchandise in excellent condition and got it to my door within a few days. I suppose UPS has to get a little bit of credit for not damaging the box or its contents.

As far as I know Helm is the only source for original GMC service manuals."