Inkjet Printers Defraud Customers

November 29, 2006, 12:00:00AM. By Jane Mundy

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San Diego, CA: "I feel like I have been conned," says David Shields. "If these inkjet printer manufacturers had disclosed or made any reference in their advertising or marketing that inkjet cartridges are designed to be replaced yearly, I wouldn't have bought one because I don't do nearly enough printing to justify replacing four cartridges every year."

David Shields is a smart shopper; he researches a product before purchasing, but his HP inkjet printer took him by surprise. "I read reviews online before buying any computer equipment and usually make purchase decisions based on different sources of information," says Shields. "I bought the HP 2000C Professional Series inkjet printer - after what I thought was astute evaluation - based on quality, performance and cost. Soon afterward, with no warning, a message came up on my computer screen telling me that all the expensive ink cartridges were date-expired and had to be replaced - four separate cartridges that average about $50 each.

In order to keep using the printer, I had to roll my computer's calendar date back to an earlier period so I could try to make use of the remaining full ink cartridges. But this became too annoying and I would get the wrong dates on office documents if I forgot to roll back the calendar for the current date. As a result, I disconnected the printer and it is now sitting on a top shelf, collecting dust, fully functional with four full cartridges. Except the date on the computer must be rolled back to "fool" HP's ink cartridge embedded time chip. I searched the Internet to try and find a 'work-around fix' to disable this embedded chip - no luck. If you can't hack into their software, it would be almost impossible for the average person to rewrite it so it becomes disabled.

I paid $650 for this printer and don't think I ran 100 copies. In addition, I replaced the black ink cartridge shortly after I purchased the printer as it was running low. But all the color cartridges are original and almost full. Because my wife and I have home offices, we have a few other printers so I reverted back to using my old 1986 Canon LBP 430 laser printer. That printer has cost me a total of $80 to replace one toner cartridge and it still works, 20 years later. Back in those days they hadn't got up to speed with memory chips.

Basically, Inkjet printers are just about given away these days so the consumer gets locked into buying their ink. I think these companies are a bunch of crooks! I sent HP a letter but you know how consumer support is; I never heard anything back.

HP should start off by sending everyone a refund check for the printer. And I would be happy to give it back - I can't even sell it on eBay. I saw similar printers with an asking price of $15-$20 and there doesn't appear to be any takers.

Here's another option that would be satisfactory: make non-time sensitive cartridges and make it possible for the consumer to buy them. I don't believe these manufacturer claims that the memory chips are installed 'to protect my printer from age-deteriorated ink'. I think HP and others installed the chips to ensure a steady after-market flow of inkjet cartridges, leading many consumers to throw away otherwise usable cartridges that still contain substantial amounts of ink.

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