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InkJet Printer Frustration

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OklahomaRich McCafferty isn't the only one fed up with his inkjet printer; he recently noticed an Epson printer chucked into a shopping cart and abandoned in a Wal-Mart parking lot. Guess someone else didn't have any luck repairing or returning it either.

"I had a few Epson inkjet printers and got rid of them too," says McCafferty. "The cartridges for these printers said they were out of ink before they were even close to empty and the after-market cartridges wouldn't work. What really irked me was that the manufacturer's cartridges were new and because I didn't use them for a few weeks (we had to move) they dried up, rendering them useless." And they ruined both his printers.

"The heads on Epson printers are not on the cartridges so if the head becomes plugged, it is part of the actual printer and doesn't get replaced when a new cartridge is inserted," explains McCafferty. "We were replacing cartridges that had ink in them and Epson reasoned that it had to leave some ink to protect the head... very frustrating.

Not only is that a poor design, it is also a feeble excuse to make more money - by making the consumer buy a new printer instead of fixing the problem. I phoned Epson and they told me to send in the printer for repair. But the repair was going to cost more than buying a new one! When I phoned, their customer service department knew exactly what was wrong - they told me the problem right away, without even having to take it in. They must have a lot of people calling them.

Epson told me to run the cleaning cycle over and over but that just wastes a whole lot of ink. I just ended up throwing the printers away and I think that is what most people do.
I had one for about six months and the other for about 18 months. It gets rather expensive to run a home office with shoddy equipment.

They don't make the head as a user-serviceable part - it isn't something you can change or fix yourself. There are some sites on the Internet that tell you how to do-it-yourself, but I don't think that's the solution. And it's very messy. In the end I just bought another printer but it was definitely not Epson. I think they put this printer on the market just to sell more cartridges. And the more problems they have with the heads, the more printers they can sell - not a completely honest business practice."

Epson America, Inc. (EAI) has agreed to settle several lawsuits by giving consumers $45 towards the purchase of printers and ink cartridges. The lawsuits alleged that Epson inkjet printers showed the ink cartridge was empty when in fact they were not. However, the settlement does not require Epson to change the thresholds at which the print cartridges report empty. Epson America claims it will make it clear on new products that even though the printer reports no ink, a "safety reserve" of ink still sits in the dispenser.

The class action claims that anyone in the US who purchased an Epson inkjet printer between April 8, 1999 and May 8, 2006 may be eligible for a $45 per-printer credit purchased between those dates from Epson's online store. Or eligible customers can forfeit that $45 credit for a $25 check from Epson America, plus a $20 credit instead. As a third option, Epson will give 25 percent off items in its online store, up to $100.

Rich McCafferty's two Epson printers set him back $400. He isn't too thrilled about any of the above options.

READ MORE ABOUT Defective Products

Ink Jet Printer Cartridges Legal Help

If your ink jet printer cartridge ended before it was actually out of ink, please contact a [Ink Jet Printer Cartridges] lawyer who will evaluate your claim for free.

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