Do All Genuine Brake Discs Come with The Hologram and QR Code on Side of Box?

Al_Ross

Just received another purchase of Brembo Discs from GSF,Ebay Store. No anti -piracy Hologram or QR Code on side of box with this order. Should I be concerned? They tell me they get them direct from manufacturers.

HansOndabush

Best thing to do is give the manufacturer a call and ask them. I did this a couple of times ref. Gates timing belts and in both cases found I had been sold old stock i.e. they were beyond their sell by date by years.

The hologram thing can be a bit hit and miss. The motor factors down the road has Gates timing belts without the hologram but as far as I know they are genuine. The manufacturer should be able to confirm the situation; they are usually quite helpful as they don't want fakes any more than you do.

AdrianC

Somebody like GSF will not be flogging fakes - they're probably one of the biggest distributors of parts from most of the manufacturers they deal with.

Brake discs don't have "best-before" in the same way that rubber products, especially something like cambelts, do. But I really can't picture GSF stock kicking around for very long at all. Maybe if it's for something a bit niche, and has been forgotten in the back of a local store's stockroom, but not central stock sold online.

Al_Ross

Brembo Discs are made in China and dont have a UK office,but managed to find some email contact,so sent them a photo of the box.

Why would Brembo warn us to check the box Hologram and QR  code then not put in on the box.

Please see Bremo Link

https://www.bremboparts.com/america/en/products/customer-services/recognize-original-products

AdrianC

Umm, that's a Brembo US link.

HansOndabush

Same thing with Gates. The EU site says only buy with hologram etc. but UK supplies don't always have a hologram.

Al_Ross

HansOndabush said:

Same thing with Gates. The EU site says only buy with hologram etc. but UK supplies don't always have a hologram.

Where would uk supplies come from, my last lot says China, these say China, big differences on the label markings on these.

Same are made in Italy I believe.

I was thinking maybe someone bought a set from GSF and returned a fake set for a refund. Would all returns get sold on their Ebay Shop cheap? I paid £42.83 for a set of these for a Corsa D,box was un-opened, yet their website price is £103.21

HansOndabush

I don't know about Brembo but Gates are made in Scotland; I phoned the manufacturing site and used the product serial number to find out if it were genuine and when it was manufactured.

Goudy

How some parts are packaged is a lot to do with their market, though you're right to be worried, there are a lot of fakes out there.

Brembo probably wouldn't bother with fancy packaging for products they supply direct to a manufacturers factory.

They will be different again when packaged as a genuine manufacturer part to say a dealer.

And perhaps different again with their direct retail parts.

They also might change that again with the parts they supply large parts suppliers/distributors.

These all tend to get churned up and find their way to different markets.

There's a story about the Lada factory, cars made for export had some better quality parts fitted than the cars for the local market. A lot of employees "liberated" these and sold them on the black market but you could go into a local Lada dealer and still buy the better export parts. The dealers just shipped them in from the part manufacturers and suppliers direct.

Al_Ross

Nah,Brembo Retail Discs and pads always come in the same syle of sealed boxes.No Hologram or QR Code on box spells fake,see below,.

Brembo link https://www.brembo.com/en/company/news/counterfighting

From their page:

1) Anti-counterfeiting QR Code​     
The first clue and also the most reliable one you have a fake Brembo product on your hands is the fact there is no Brembo Check QR Code. Brembo products (both car and motorcycle ones) always have a QR Code affixed directly to the product or the box and by using the Brembo Check app, you can simply and quickly certify that the products are original ones.

If the product does not have a QR Code or an anti-counterfeiting card (previous method), you may be dealing with a fake product.

With Brembo Check installed on your mobile device, all you have to do is use your smartphone to scan the unique QR Code on the label which can easily be found on the purchased component or the box to know if the Brembo product is original or not. 

More information on how the Brembo Check APP works can be found here.​

 

HansOndabush

Well if you have decided they are fakes, why did you come here asking if they are fakes? Do you plan on returning them; there should be no problem with ebay refunding you?