Filter Buyers Beware

[ekpolk]

Most folks who would bother to join this site are probably anal enough that they won't get taken, but I though I'd pass along a "phenomenon" I've seen in a couple AZ stores lately. Inside a number of pricey K&N filter boxes I found Bosch Premium filters! Personally, I usually carefully inspect each filter I buy carefully, in the store. If you don't, you might want to start. Some crook out out there is making a pretty strong case for the concept of the "capital misdemeanor"!

 

[65cuda]

A couple of years ago I was at AZ to buy some Pure one filters. Happened to open one of the boxes and found a regular Purolator filter in it. Checked and found a couple more boxes that way. Took them to the clerk so others wouldn't pay for something they didn't get. After that I always open the box to make sure of what was in it.

 

[TallPaul]

Good idea. Also shake the filter. I found a Purolator filter that rattled when I shook it. Also had a dent. Must have been dropped.

 

[unDummy]

Thats pretty common since boxes aren't sealed or shrink wrapped.
Its good to always inspect filters for damage.
Besides filter swapping and damage, verify the PN in the box and make sure filter isn't used already.

 

[Mike_dup1]

Maybe someone pulled a fast one. Bought the K&N, stuck another filter in the box and returned them to the store for refund. Retailers get screwed by this deception a lot. I once bought a a new switch at the parts store. I decided I better check to see if looked correct and discovered a used part inside. Someone returned that darn thing for refund and got away with fooling the counter person. People try to pull that a lot.

 

[glenncof]

After doing a filter study I suggest looking at & knowing what your preferred filter looks like in detail.

Of course I have seen the problem noted above where someone switches out the a filter to a less expensive box.

Brands often don't make any or all of the filters and source them from another company. This can change at any time, as well as, materials, workmanship, mfg plants, design, etc even if they do make it. And don't believe general information on a Brand's website (or another filter in the product line) will apply to your particular filter.

 

[JTK]

Hehee.. same thing happened to me at a local (long defunct) Ames department store about 20yrs ago. I bought a Fram like I always did back then, got home, opened the box and found another brand in the box. Same size, just a the house or 'cheap' brand they sold at the time. I took it back. Little did I know that filter was probably better than the Fram.

Joel

 

[wmcutter]

Don't use Fram but back a ways when the Tough Guard came out I opened a box at local Kmart to see the difference. Found the orange can. Opened several more, same thing. Some folks were switching the TG to the less expensive box. Manager was furious when I showed him. Always check the contents of any boxed item that can easily be opened.

 

[Patman]

A few years ago when I owned a 95 Trans Am, the oil filter of choice for that one was the AC Delco PF35L. This was better than the regular PF35, as it used a better filtering media. These filters were costly in Canada ($20) since you could only get them at the dealers, but in the US they cost roughly the same amount as the regular ones (around $3 or $4). I bought 4 of them, but when I got them home I was disappointed to find that 2 of them had been switched out for regular PF35 filters.

And I obviously could not return to the store since it was at least a 12 hour drive away.

Since that time I always got into the habit of checking every oil filter I buy (if it comes in a box)

 

[ekpolk]

Well, silly naive me, looks like there are a lot of folks out there who desperately need a hatchet planted firmly in their foreheads. . .

EDIT: Pretty soon, the USMC is going to let me go home, and I will be re-opening my law practice. I think my rates on the criminal defense cases are going waaaaaay up.

 

[ewetho]

Ran into that at WM and it was the generic cross to the FL400 and not the FL2005 that was on the box. Not good. Got a good one after the return. Not shopping their much anymore.

 

[Mr Nice]

This also happens with air filters.

People will swap out a more expensive air filter and put it into a box that that a UPC code (price) that is much cheaper.

 

[Trucku]

In Queens NY that happens with everything that can be opened...LOL

 

[1kickbuttranger]

Funny thing I noticed... My town is so ghetto that at the AZ here, the M1 filter boxes on the shelf were all empty for display only and the actual filter was behind the counter. They stoped doing that though...

 

[MonumentOiler]

Theives are everywhere. Lately I think everything but the lowest "line" filters (Fram Orange and Supertech) are in shrinkwrap.

 

[ThirdeYe]

The Honda OEM filters I bought from a source online were shrinkwrapped. I prefer them that way, helps keep the dirt/dust out too.

 

[Jeremiah]

Guess I've had to return to the parts store enough times, I'm trained to open and inspect everything before purchasing.

 

[Lonnie]

At a local Pep Boys a frugal shopper put a $69 price tag on a $250 air compressor and took it throught the check out line. The girl rung it up with out a second look, but the store manager caught him in the parking lot and called the Police. It appears that this frugal shopper had been useing this trick for quite some time. The Police found a house full of stuff, including a garage full of compressors and generators and stuff like that. I guess it can really help the budget if you can pick the sticker that suits you.

 

[Dominic]

I run OEM filters, which come in sealed boxes, and my filters even have a saran wrap dust seal on them. Amazing too, being they only cost me $5/ea

Yay Subaru and yay Toko Roki

 

[Warlord]

I once bought a cd and someone had put a cheaper price tag on it. I didn't know this but when I told them they were charging me too much they blamed me and called security. The only shrink wrapped filters I have ever seen are the cheap canadian tire frams.