fake ngk's from the parts store (maybe?)

[daktah]

yesterday i went to get some plugs from the oreilly down the street, some ngk tr5gp's. i got 8 (duh), 4 in separates and 4 in a set. when i got home i took them all out and was about to install them when i noticed that some of them had faded ink on the ceramic and awful roll stamping quality on the body. i looked closer and noticed there were exactly 4 that were ugly and 4 that were perfect. suspicious, i looked a little closer and saw that even the electrodes were different.
if you look in the pictures there is a used genuine, new genuine, and fake (in that order) youll see that on the 2 genuines only the finewire electrode pokes past the ceramic, but on the fake the whole cone shape does with very little finewire at the end of it. and yes i know its hard to make that out on the used plug, but just trust me that in person it looks exactly the same as the new genuine just missing some length on the finewire. i decided that if these werent fake they were at least a crappy lot and i didnt want them.
but as i was picking the boxes out of the trash i noticed that, "coincidentally", half of them were a different size and of a lower print quality if you look closely enough (all of the art and colors are noticeably more dull, and if you have good eyes youll see the gradient in the background is worse). if these arent knockoffs i dont know what are. i put them back in their boxes, went back to the store, explained it to the guy (who expectedly didnt seem to care) and bought some tr6ix's that came in a pair of sets, after checking out a few from each box of course.
has this happened to anyone before, especially recently? do you guys agree these were fake plugs or just a crap lot?

[1JEWLDSSRS]

I think you would get more visibility if you posted this in the bolt on or mechanical maintainence section and not the cosmetic maintainence section. Good luck. I buy mine from Summit Racing.

[gtstorey]

Someone could have bought fakes from ebay/amazon and then O'riellys and returned the fakes to the parts store for a refund. I've heard of people doing this with used plugs also

[daktah]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

I think you would get more visibility if you posted this in the bolt on or mechanical maintainence section and not the cosmetic maintainence section. Good luck. I buy mine from Summit Racing.

wait what? how the hell did that happen??? i was sure i posted this in the normal maintenance sub!
funnily enough ive been getting mine from amazon and had no problems with fakes, neither these nor for my ferds. how ironic.

Originally Posted by gtstorey

Someone could have bought fakes from ebay/amazon and then O'riellys and returned the fakes to the parts store for a refund. I've heard of people doing this with used plugs also

you know i had that exact same thought just as i was pulling back into the parking lot but i kept it to myself just in case the guy thought i might be doing that myself. seems the most reasonable but who even knows anymore.

[bsn]

I was in the parts business 30+ years ago, even back then people would buy a name brand product then try to return it later with a junk brand or used product inside-we always inspected every return because of it. You can bet people are picking up parts a local stores because they can get it now, then ordering off Ebay or Amazon and returning the cheaper parts when they arrive,

[Badbubba]

Originally Posted by gtstorey

Someone could have bought fakes from ebay/amazon and then O'riellys and returned the fakes to the parts store for a refund. I've heard of people doing this with used plugs also

My thoughts exactly, before reading your comment.

[ABM2SS]

people would buy a name brand product then try to return it later with a junk brand or used product

Worst story was a friend bought synthetic Gear Lube for his newly rebuilt 9" Ford Rear Axle. Used one quart, opened the second quart and noticed it had a seal, whereas the first one didn't. Long story short, he discovered that the first quart was used oil that someone returned as unused. He had to disassemble and clean the axle.