No, the other Kohler Cimarron Toilet

I'm less than proud of the fact I looked at more than a few toilets for my new bathrooms. I settled on the Kohler Cimarron because it seemed to be high quality and it was the shortest (depth) toilet I could find for the price. Two of my bathrooms are really small, so an extra inch makes a big difference. The Kohler was about a half inch shorter, yay! And, admittedly, I was excited abou the aqua flush engine.

I purchased the first toilet at Lowes, on sales for around $230. Sadly, I discovered a huge crack in the tank when I removed it from the box. This was a major downer since I had to pack it back up and return. Next one I checked out in the store. (BTW, it seems to me that someone either returned it broken and didn't say anything - despicable - or Lowes put it back on the shelf. Either way, I've learned to check things out that would be a pain to return.

Ok, so I got the Lowes toilet home and it was easy enough to install. I went for the bells and whistles (XL 10 year wax ring). I even read the instructions about not installing the ring unless it's 70F or above for proper flow. Made sense to me. I put it on the heat register for about 15 minutes.

Now being so pleased with the Kohler, I decided to get another one for the master bath. This time I went to Home Depot since it's closer and it was also on sale. I found the same one: same color, elongated, 1.28GF, ADA height. I was really excited to get another. I installed it with great pride and then I opened and closed the lid. Something was different. It was the lid, it wasn't a soft close like one from Lowes. How could this be? It's the same toilet. Well upon close inspection. They're not exactly the same. The have different model numbers to start. The verbiage on the boxes indicates a subtle difference. The one from Home Depot says "Quick Attach, Quick Release Seat Included" The Lowes box says "Quiet Close, Quick Release Seat Included". So take note Kohler and Home Depot. This sort of chicanery is what pisses consumers off to no end. Specifically, you are selling different products under the same name and that's misleading. It was reasonable for me to expect to receive the same product as what was sold at Lowes. In actuality I don't care much that one of the toilet's slams closed, it's that I was duped. Will I return the toilet to Home Depot? Although it will be a huge pain in the ass, I may just do that. I have 90 days after all.

The models numbers are as follows Lowes K-118113-0, Home Depot K-11451-0. Neither of which generate any search hits on Google. Did I write too much about toilets? Perhaps, but I think this practice of Kohler is misleading and wrong and felt I need to say something about it. 

For reference, here is the Home Depot toilet for $228 (as of this writing) http://www.homedepot.com/h_d1/N-5yc1v/R-100658777/h_d2/ProductDisplay?catalogId=10053&langId=-1&keyword=cimarron&storeId=10051#.UN0ysonjmCs

And the Lowes for $239 (as of this writing) http://www.lowes.com/pd_39461-20602-11813-0_0__?productId=3163897&Ntt=cimarron&pl=1&currentURL=%3FNtt%3Dcimarron&facetInfo=

BTW, the extra $11 is totally worth it for the soft close lid!