Car Brake Pads Installed Incorrectly

Hello,

I took my car, 98 Civic to a local store for brake pads to be changed.
After regular driving of 12,000 miles after the change, there was
sqeaking/metal scratching noise, and I took it back to the shop to
have them check it out. They told me the caliper was sticking and was
not releasing correctly.

I then found out that my Honda Warranty covers a faulty caliper, and I
take it back a honda dealer to have the caliper replaced. I told them
my story with the previous shop that did the brake pads, and they ran
a diagnostics. They told me my calipers were fine, and the problem was
brake pads were installed incorrectly (the inner and outer pads were
reversed), and combined with A/M brake pads that were very inferior,
the pads wore down quickly, and causing the sensor to scratch on the
rotor.

Honda then told me they recommended new brake pads and possibly new
rotors.

My question is:
1. Can the car brake pads be installed incorrectly ( They looked like
they were symmetrical enough to not make a difference whether the
inner pad and outer pad was reversed and admittedly, i have untrained
eyes to judge).

2. One other thing I noted: The brake pad that wore down, wasn't even
in thickness, even though it was thinning out in thickness, it was at
an angle.. so what i think is the front end of the pad was thinner
than the back end of the pad.

3. If the caliper was sticking on both sides, .. shouldn't the pads,
both inner and outer be worn down to a very thin level, but even in
thickness throughout the pad ?

4. And if the caliper was sticking on one side, .. shouldn't the side
thats bad(sticking) cause the pad to be really worn down, but at a
even level ? instead of an angle ?

I was also thinking the only way I could really tell if the caliper
was bad, .. would be to drive it another 12000 miles, and see if the
pads were thinned out again, at a slanted angle, like before, .. and I
am sure someone out there would be able to gauge as to whats likely
and whats not.

I've gone through a lot of the postings on this group, and found one
posting to ask if its possible to have pads backwards ( he sounded
like it was an impossible thing to do), and also 2 postings that
suggested that could be a problem for other postings...so there seems
to be mixed consensus about pads being installed incorrectly

Any brake experts out there for civic 98 car ?

 

It is possible for cheap pads to wear out in 12,000 miles.
Pads usually wear more on the inner one than the outer one.
The leading edge of the pad can wear more causing some of the
unevenness you observed. Installation and other hardware issues can
also increase the wear and unevenness. Perhaps the wheel bearings were
loose also.
The proof in the pudding is that your cheap brake job only lasted
12,000 miles. Now find a decent shop and get it fixed.