The delivered pads have a different contact profile. Material isn't identified on the bag, so I can't say whether that changed too. I've only compared appearance so far

Keep that distinction: visible profile difference, material unknown. Has the seller identified the actual pad revision fitted in the sample trial?

And does the delivered bag identify a part number, even without material details?

Delivered bag has a part number. Trial report names the gripper but not the pads. I've asked the seller to identify both contact sets

I would keep the complete assembly in the application comparison as well. Pads can change where the sample sits between the fingers, so even a material answer won't establish holding, presentation and release in your trays.

Luis, agreed; the pads need to be identified as parts, then assessed as fitted contacts in the intended transfer, not approved as loose samples on someone's desk

Has anyone offered the demonstrated set as an alternative, or is the seller only asking you to accept the replacement?

Only acceptance of the replacement so far. I'd consider an evidenced substitute, but the alternative of supplying the trial pads has not been answered

I wouldn't assume the trial pads are available just because they appeared in the demonstration.

Exactly. Ask for availability and responsibility for any replacement supply separately from technical equivalence. Otherwise an apparently simple choice can depend on a part they cannot currently supply.

Seller has identified the delivered material and sent a drawing with the bag number. It still hasn't linked the trial pads to a revision or demonstrated the supplied set

Useful identification for the supplied side, but the trial reference remains missing; don't let the new drawing be treated as the comparison you asked for

Does your toolmaker confirm the delivered pieces match that drawing, including the profile you noticed?

That physical comparison is pending. I'm keeping the drawing and bag reference together so the toolmaker can check the actual supplied pair, not another example

Then pads identified on paper, physical match unchecked, application equivalence still unproved. Plenty left before installation.

That is the status I would give the planner, Robin, with both the trial-pad availability and substitute assessment unresolved. The robot arriving does not make either tooling option ready for use.