I have completely nothing against VPA !! more - I personally like you !!!
...I checked receipt - I bought mine from other place, but name really doesn't matter since it is about RIMS, not vendor
No worries, we take customer satisfaction very, very personally and am glad to hear it wasn't us. There is also something very important to note, and this will amuse you: OEM parts are like bananas.
When you buy your Chiquita banana and see that Chiquita label on it, that means it has been inspected and approved by Chiquita for sale. That doesn't mean that they actually
grew those bananas - chances are good that other producers did. That producer could grown millions of bananas, many of which are too small, overripe, bruised, etc. They don't ship those to Chiquita because they know they won't be approved by them. Do they throw all of those away? Probably not. They can sell them in bulk to other companies, grocers, farmers markets, etc. They may be from the same producer that sells to Chiquita, but that doesn't mean they are up to Chiquita standards.
It is often the same for "OEM" parts. The suppliers send the best products to GM, Ford, and Mopar while keeping the blems and other parts in house. While those don't often make it to market and rarely in a manufacturer box (GM, Ford, Mopar), sometimes they do. The problem is that those parts are often not up to the manufacturer's standards, thus why they are being liquidated elsewhere. For example, hundreds of 6-spoke wheels were liquidated on eBay a few years ago but didn't come from Mopar. They were priced well below even dealer cost - which Mopar will not do. Many were just fine, while some may have had fit-and-finish issues.
The bottom line is that to guarantee you are getting good OEM parts for your Viper, you should buy from a certified Mopar dealer. Folks like Woodhouse Dodge, Tomball Dodge, and others get them directly from Mopar, which virtually guarantees they are the best of the best. Viper Parts of America is also a certified Mopar dealer, but we always recommend you check with your favorite area Chrysler/Dodge/SRT dealer first.
Thanks for clarifying and being a happy VPA customer!