By NIK ROBERTS
Tech Tips
Need tech advice? Look no further than Hamilton County’s own Noble Geeks.
My name is Nik Roberts, and I am the owner of Noble Geeks located in Downtown Noblesville. I have over 15 years of experience in the tech field.
This week, I am going to share a recent experience with a customer’s HP printer issue.
I got a call that a customer’s printer would not work. All they ever did was replace the ink. Other than that, they had no idea about how to diagnose it.
When I arrived at the customer’s house, the printer was confirmed to be not working. I begin to perform basic troubleshooting.
The computer says it’s printing, and the printer is silent. I eventually perform a factory reset, and behold I now get an error! E9, which means the internal printer software was corrupt after a quick lookup. At this point, I called to get HP on the phone. I am expecting this thing to be a paperweight and I was ready to negotiate getting an exchange for a new device.
HP answers, I explain everything I have done and what the error code is. HP’s rep says “Hmm, I think this might be an issue with the ink.”
I am personally shocked, but I go along with it as he transfers me to HP Instant Ink.
New rep, problem explained again.
This rep goes on to inform me that because the customer had a new credit card due to an expiration her HP Instant Ink subscription has been suspended. I was already thinking I was going to get a runaround.
I say, “OK, we can fix that but let’s get this printer fixed first. Why have ink for a printer that does not work?”
I am then informed that because her subscription for ink had been suspended, she cannot use her printer in the meantime.
The official HP ink cartridge was far smaller than the replacement cartridge from Instant Ink. (Photo provided by Nik Roberts)
HP essentially has taken this very kind customer’s printer hostage!
This customer spent well over $200 for this printer, and all because of a $4.99 per month ink subscription unpaid you are going to disable the customer’s printer – their own property!
Now we also need to make a trip somewhere to buy ink at a store.
Now let me tell you about that ink … The one from the store was official HP ink, but it was HALF the size of the cartridge from Instant Ink.
At this point, I have lost all faith with HP.
I write to you here today and want to warn everyone from ever having to go through any of this. My customer shouldn’t have had to.
Send Noble Geeks your tech questions to get feedback, advice, and details on previous experiences with the topic of your choice. Email your tech questions to techtips@noblegeeks.com.
My printer was also disabled . I spent time troubleshooting only to find my printer was being held hostage ,even buying ink from a vendor I couldn’t print . I went back to instant ink and printer works fine. My next move is to file a complaint with attorney general and BBB !
My HP 6400 has also been disabled after cancelling insta stink. The kind technicians at HP said it was a “port” problem and offered to fix it for 150% of the original purchase price.
These “buy our ink or else” tactics reek of communism. The least the ink bullies could do is disclose their policy so buyers can make an informed decision. Filing a class-action lawsuit might be the only solution.