Spent more $ on the Hotchkis part vs buying ProForged and this is what I get when I open the box. Kudos to Summit for refunding the difference but we need to stop accepting this type of practice.

that almost begs the question, who makes what, and how many different logos do they possess so they can imprint the appropriate logo on the part for the box it's supposed to go into ?

Just another reason to save all the old stuff you can.

Nice bait and switch.

That seems dishonest to me, if it's the same exact part and not mis-packaging: are the part descriptions the same ?

A buddy of mine makes racecar tools, and sells them to Summit, Jeg's, Speedway, and others.
They're all identical in materials, specification, and testing, except if the retailer wants their name etched/printed on the tool.
They all sell for about the same price, like within a buck, last time I looked, but business has expanded since then.
He doesn't control the retail price, though, so there could be someone marking them up more than the other guys do.

this practice is commonly known and referred to as private labeling. many companies do this as a way to save money on manufacturing and sell at a high rate of return.

does the quality appear to be the same?

Visually they appear to be ok, but I have nothing to compare them to.

I get private label products and what not, but only if price is identical, or less. Hotchkis selling these for $20 more vs buying them from ProForged is slimy. You pick a brand because you've come to trust their quality, or their marketing, so if you can't trust they sent you genuine parts then I can't do business with you any longer. Just my $0.02.

When I had employees, there were 3 rethreading sets i the shop. #1. Snap off $250, #2 MAC tools 165.00, and #3. a lowly Craftsman set $49.95.

Alll three sets were identical in everyway except for the label on the outside of the plastic box. Even the Box and labeling inside were identical and all were made in the USA. I actually called Snap off and asked about it. The guy I spoke with was really upfront and said no way of knowing if there was any difference as they source the tools from many different sources and he wasn't aware of any internal spec's testing etc.

The other possibility that I've seen a lot lately, people buy both, switch the parts in the boxes and return the cheaper, lesser part in the more expensive box.

You might want to check with Hotchkis to make sure somebody didn't return that in the wrong box. No reason to trash them without knowing for sure.


I ordered a pair of Hotchkis cuda subframe connectors from streetside and when I opened the box someone had returned their challenger connectors in the wrong box. I called Hotchkis and told them what happened and they sent the right ones that day along with a free shipping tag to return the wrong ones even though they weren't responsible for the mistake.

I’ve had a variation of this when buying from Amazon. I’ve received things that were clearly opened and one piece taken out. If the retailer doesn’t check the return, they will send it right back out the way it came in. I’ve noticed Costco getting more picky about looking in boxes the last couple years where before returns were simply scanned and set behind the counter.

I see that all the time. Magnum Force Racing sells their tubular control arms and dropped Spindles to other companies, and those companies just resell them higher. A few even buy their Wilwood kits through them to save a little money and have them drop shipped from the Wilwood.

I always ask myself if a vendor is capable of making said part or capable of designing something and having it made exclusively for them.

Menards and Home Depot come to mind

At the auto parts store I managed for awhile, a few customers would try to return a damaged/new or a used/failed part in the new box.
Employees are supposed to check before issuing a refund, but on occasion they don't.
That scenario should earn an ass-chewing, but that doesn't always happen.
Always open the new box before you leave the store.

Worse one I've seen; my Father in Law is changing his oil, the new oil came from Wal-Mart. He opens the oil and realizes that someone put their old oil in the containers and returned them.

He took it back and told the Wally World folks what happened, and they exchanged it for him. He got lucky. I really don't know how he didn't notice that the seals were broken.

We bought a new printer from a brick and mortar. When we got it home, we found that it was used. All the ink had been used up and then it was returned. Took it back the very next morning at a different location. That location said that they open items like this up and check them, and that it never would have made it back on the shelf at their store.

Got to be on the lookout in today's world.

I worked for a manufacturer of window air conditioners that supplied big box stores. Like clockwork, customers would buy them in June and return them in September.

Recently on FB Dakota page a member proudly showed his new upper ball joints installed. Said he used an electric impact gun from Harbor Freight to remove/unthread the upper ball joints. He said now he can return the impact for a refund. I asked him why return it as he will have more use for it in the future. He said he only needed it for the Ball Joint job and wanted his money back. When I bought my small Vulcan mig welder from HF the employee said "Please don't use it for your project then return it." People are frivolous cheap fools.

and yet, i buy tools for a "once in a lifetime" job, then wonder why my tool storage is so severely "challenged".

I do this on every oil change. I put the old oil in the original container and return it to Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart takes your old oil for disposal for free. They just limit you to 3 gallons per day. I can easily see how someone could see a new looking container sitting on the floor by the desk and returned it to the shelf without checking it. That's on Wal-Mart...not someone returning used oil for a refund.