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HP sued for deceiving ink printer users (San Jose Mercury 19.Feb.05)
A class action law suit was filed in Santa Clara County superior court. It alleges that HP's 'smart printer' technology deceives customers to buy new ink cartridges before the ink has run out. The software renders cartridge unusable through the use of built-in expiration date. So far the allegation, neither party was willing to comment on this litigation. The class action is on behalf of users who bought HP inkjet after February 2001. However, in this article San Jose Mercury quotes an ink printer test published by PC World in March 2004 edition. PCWorld found out that many printers stopped to print before the ink runs out. For example, Epson Stylus C84 stopped with 20% of the ink left, and Canon i850 stopped with 10% of the ink left. If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... Thomas |
#2
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ThomasH wrote:
A class action law suit was filed in Santa Clara County superior court. It alleges that HP's 'smart printer' technology deceives customers to buy new ink cartridges before the ink has run out. The software renders cartridge unusable through the use of built-in expiration date. So far the allegation, neither party was willing to comment on this litigation. The class action is on behalf of users who bought HP inkjet after February 2001. However, in this article San Jose Mercury quotes an ink printer test published by PC World in March 2004 edition. PCWorld found out that many printers stopped to print before the ink runs out. For example, Epson Stylus C84 stopped with 20% of the ink left, and Canon i850 stopped with 10% of the ink left. If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... Thomas I would think the issue is how did the represent what they were selling. For example if they indicated that it would use all the ink in the cartridge, then they have a problem If they indicated that each ink cart would last X number of sheets or square inches or would provide X ml of ink and it shut of after providing that amount while still having some inside, then the customer's complaint is not valid. -- Joseph Meehan 26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math |
#3
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I believe most of us assume that virtually all the ink in the cartridge
is there to be used. This really bothers me because I only use my HP printer for final prints, thereby raising the question in my mind if I am being ripped off. I have looked at my documentation and can find no evidence of what to expect. Nor does my printer, purchased two years ago, give me any heads up on remaining ink. This mess is one reason I like Canon printers with individual transparent easily refillable cartridges. What you see is what you get. There's no secret that inflated ink prices are what drives HP's market share. Nor is there any secret that were this to change HP would see its profits and prospects head in the direction not only of its low margin pc business (and deteriorating server one), but Dell. And guess what. This will happen. |
#4
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On Wed, 23 Feb 2005 00:18:00 -0800, ThomasH wrote:
A class action law suit was filed in Santa Clara County superior court. It alleges that HP's 'smart printer' technology deceives customers to buy new ink cartridges before the ink has run out. The software renders cartridge unusable through the use of built-in expiration date. So far the allegation, neither party was willing to comment on this litigation. The class action is on behalf of users who bought HP inkjet after February 2001. However, in this article San Jose Mercury quotes an ink printer test published by PC World in March 2004 edition. PCWorld found out that many printers stopped to print before the ink runs out. For example, Epson Stylus C84 stopped with 20% of the ink left, and Canon i850 stopped with 10% of the ink left. If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... I can tell you for a fact that HP is not alone in using such technology. rafe b. http://www.terrapinphoto.com |
#5
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Joseph Meehan commented courteously ...
I would think the issue is how did the represent what they were selling. For example if they indicated that it would use all the ink in the cartridge, then they have a problem Didn't read the article or any info on the plaintiff's alleged complaints, but I don't know of a printer manufacturer who promises to drain every last drop out of a cartride. Most start warning you as the cartridge empties, supposedly to "help" you by preventing you from making a bad color print. I expect that manufacturers "push the envelope" on this, since they do make money from new cartridges, maybe more than on printes, as Gilette found selling razor blades and giving the razors away for free. If they indicated that each ink cart would last X number of sheets or square inches or would provide X ml of ink and it shut of after providing that amount while still having some inside, then the customer's complaint is not valid. Again, I've not seen a manufacturer dogmatically state a maximum number of sheets/square inches. Rather, what I normally see is a quoted *expected* number of sheets for text and a smaller number for graphics (where they talk about percent coverage). With thousands of printers on the market, I can hardly call myself an "expert witness", but whatever HP is or is not doing, it isn't even good business practice to shut off the printer (perhaps in the middle of the night when a user can't go to the store), but I suppose it's possible. What damages is the class action suit asking for, other than to recover actual out-of-pocket expense for unused ink, which would be small potatoes? -- ATM, aka Jerry |
#6
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I have a lexmark z605, which cartridges also cost an arm and a leg,and I
bought refills.It costs only 15 euro and has 2 20 ml syringes, also 4 refills.It has even gloves!It's made in Korea,BTW. -- Tzortzakakis Dimitri?s major in electrical engineering, freelance electrician FH von Iraklion-Kreta, freiberuflicher Elektriker dimtzort AT otenet DOT gr ? "ThomasH" ?????? ??? ?????? ... A class action law suit was filed in Santa Clara County superior court. It alleges that HP's 'smart printer' technology deceives customers to buy new ink cartridges before the ink has run out. The software renders cartridge unusable through the use of built-in expiration date. So far the allegation, neither party was willing to comment on this litigation. The class action is on behalf of users who bought HP inkjet after February 2001. However, in this article San Jose Mercury quotes an ink printer test published by PC World in March 2004 edition. PCWorld found out that many printers stopped to print before the ink runs out. For example, Epson Stylus C84 stopped with 20% of the ink left, and Canon i850 stopped with 10% of the ink left. If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... Thomas |
#7
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Ron wrote:
I believe most of us assume that virtually all the ink in the cartridge is there to be used. However what is your expectation of the number of prints each cartridge will produce? I believe, that while you may assume it will use all the ink, what you really are looking at is the number of prints per cartridge. For all I know it is not practical from an engineering point of view to totally empty the cartridge. Maybe the delivery will become inconsistent or maybe they can not measure accurately, so they provide more ink that the cartridge is designed to deliver to assure a consistent result. There is nothing the consumer hates more than inconsistent results. If you get 100 prints on one cartridge and then only get 95 on the next printing the exact same prints, you are going to be mad. I have often visited manufacturing facilities. The quality control lines of the better products often reject products that we would normally consider inferior like not enough beef in the vegetable soup, but they also reject the cans with too much beef. Beer lines reject bottles that are under-filled but they also reject over-filled bottles. This really bothers me because I only use my HP printer for final prints, thereby raising the question in my mind if I am being ripped off. I have looked at my documentation and can find no evidence of what to expect. Nor does my printer, purchased two years ago, give me any heads up on remaining ink. This mess is one reason I like Canon printers with individual transparent easily refillable cartridges. What you see is what you get. There's no secret that inflated ink prices are what drives HP's market share. Nor is there any secret that were this to change HP would see its profits and prospects head in the direction not only of its low margin pc business (and deteriorating server one), but Dell. And guess what. This will happen. -- Joseph Meehan 26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math |
#8
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Joseph Meehan wrote:
I would think the issue is how did the represent what they were selling. For example if they indicated that it would use all the ink in the cartridge, then they have a problem The basis of the complaint seems to be that they did not disclose the fact that the cartridges would cease functioning after a specific date, regardless of how much ink was left in them. Bob |
#9
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ThomasH wrote:
A class action law suit was filed in Santa Clara County superior court. It alleges that HP's 'smart printer' technology deceives customers to buy new ink cartridges before the ink has run out. The software renders cartridge unusable through the use of built-in expiration date. So far the allegation, neither party was willing to comment on this litigation. The class action is on behalf of users who bought HP inkjet after February 2001. However, in this article San Jose Mercury quotes an ink printer test published by PC World in March 2004 edition. PCWorld found out that many printers stopped to print before the ink runs out. For example, Epson Stylus C84 stopped with 20% of the ink left, and Canon i850 stopped with 10% of the ink left. If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... Thomas I have had 5 different HP inkjet printers, and NONE of them ever stopped printing when the ink ran out. The ones I currently have in use warn you that you may be running out of ink, but they do NOT stop printing, even when the ink runs OUT. I suspect this is another of those totally specious lawsuits based on nothing but desire to get into the pockets of major companies who would rather pay than be tied up in court. -- Ron Hunter |
#10
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"ThomasH" wrote in message ... If all this is truth, they just found the best possible source of income... Thomas If you are talking about trial lawyers, maybe. The lawyers will get paid millions of dollars. The consumers they are supposedly protecting will get a coupon for ten bucks off on an HP printer. |
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