Hewlett Packard ripoff-deceptive ink cartridge anti-competetive practices Palo Alto California

Do you have HP printer ink cartridge problems? Focus on the printer, not the ink cartridige.

Further into HP's efforts to deceive the unsuspecting consumer. HP goes through this ruse of support and troubleshooting, print cartridge errors..... 99% of which ends up meaningless!

"HP cannot guarantee the quality or reliability of refilled or remanufactured cartridge"

What does this exactly mean? The quality? It means my standards do not meet HP standards. Is this why HP makes my printer inoperable? Reliability. If a refilled or remanufactured ink cartridge fails, it fails! I'll just send it back. But, for the life of me, I cannot understand why I cannot operate my printer? Can HP tell the world, under what specific technical conditions has HP determined that the ink cartridge has failed, and therefore making my printer inoperable? There answer would be crucial to HP's credibility on the issue.

Recently, when the recycled red ink stopped working, as indicated by my test page, on a more than 3/4 filled color cartridge, past warranty period, the recycler sent me another one, at no cost. Why then, as I questioned in my letter to Mr. ---, the test page ran fine, but the next day, the printer immediately stopped working? HP company policy of shutting down a consumers printer is saying, all recycled ink cartridges are not of HP standards, and we will not allow our printers to operate, or the consumer, the free choice, to decide quality choices in the use of the purchasers printers.

In order to let you think that your recycled printer cartridges choices are inferior, and damaging, HP goes through this whole procedure as outlined in their website reference manual.

Problem. A message or flashing light indicates a problem just after a new cartridge is installed A message indicates that there is a problem with a cartridge...Solution... Make sure the cartridges are compatible with the printer. See the manual for a list of compatible cartridges.

If the steps above have not solved the problem, follow the procedure below to wipe the cartridge contacts.... Wipe the copper-colored electrical contacts with a clean, dry, lint-free cotton cloth.... Be careful not to touch the nozzle area. .... If the steps above have not solved the problem, follow the procedure below to wipe the cartridge contacts..... Remove both cartridges..... Wipe the copper-colored electrical contacts with a clean, dry, lint-free cotton cloth.

If your cartridge doesn't look exactly like one of the illustrations above, locate the contacts by looking for an area with a number of small copper squares....If the steps above do not fix the problem, follow the procedure below to clean the electrical contacts more thoroughly: Gather cleaning supplies: Clean distilled water. Use bottled or filtered water if distilled water is not available. Clean cotton swabs or any soft, lint-free material that will not stick to the cartridges (coffee filters work well)....

Remove both cartridges. Lightly moisten the lint-free cleaning material with clean water. Clean the cartridge contacts. Avoid touching the nozzles. Replace the cleaning material if it gets dirty. Using a new swab, clean the electrical contacts inside the printer, in the carriage. The illustrations below show contact locations for some representative carriages. If the steps above have not solved the problem, repeat them. .

If the error still occurs after repeating all the steps, replace the cartridges. If you have already replaced the cartridges once without solving the problem, click the link below to contact HP. The printer may need to be serviced.

I like a fool, duped by this deceit, followed HP instructions, plus taking my printer apart. Nothing worked! Nowhere in these HP instructions does it mention you cannot use other suppliers remanufactured ink cartridges. If it had, it would have saved me a lot of trouble. Before making my printer inoperable, can HP tell me how many times must I purchase remanufactured recycled ink cartridges, allowing them to be fully depleted, and full use of my printer?

These HP service instructions are not meant for HP ink cartridge users, but mainly for fools like me, who risked destroying my perfectly operable printer. This is the reason they write this, 'whole support & troubleshooting guide'. Duped consumers who for one reason or another choose recycled, or ink filling methods to satisfy their particular print quality needs. HP tells you to replace the cartridges, knowing full well most are not HP remanufactured ink cartridges, but remanufactured ink cartridges from other suppliers. Closing you down!

I have 6 ink cartridges. They are mine, I paid for them. If I wanted to use grape wine as ink, that is my choice. Grape wine is not an HP patent. Why then can I not operate my printer on grape wine, and why would HP shut my printer down? (Perhaps someday HP will drag somebody into court over grape wine ink)

Charges for servicing the printer. Hp psc 2170 series all-in-one reference guide state on page 66 , For any hardware Product, the use of a non-HP print cartridge or a refilled print cartridge does not effect either the warranty to the Customer or any HP support contract with the customer. However, if Product failure or damage is attributable to the use of a non-HP or refilled print cartridge, HP shall charge its standard labor and materials charges to service the product for the failure or damage.

You see what their scheme is, and to unsuspecting consumers, ..contact HP..the printer may have to be serviced. I wonder how many times consumers have shipped, and allowed HP to service their perfectly operable printers, with absolutely nothing at all wrong with them? Serviced, and replaced only with HP ink cartridges, at a handsome profit. This happens because HP turns off the printer at specific times, for specific reasons unrelated to a ink cartridge problem. It all has to do with greed, and the fast buck.

What damage has there been to the printer? (Other than the damage done when taking one apart.) This all having nothing to do with print ink cartridges, or the printer. but with HP deceptive, and anti-competitive practices. And the free choice decisions of consumers.

By Michael -----
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
Published: June 8, 2005, 11:46 AM PDT

Hewlett-Packard settled its patent lawsuit with a Kansas City company that refills used inkjet cartridges and resells them to business retail outlets.
InkCycle said it has paid HP an undisclosed sum as part of the settlement. The patents cover the ink found in refurbished cartridges that are compatible with HP cartridges numbered 49, 57 and 78. HP initially filed the lawsuit in March after it discovered that
refilled inkjet cartridges sold under the Staples brand contained patent-infringing ink.

I ask again. What has this to do with my printer being shut down?

William
Frankfort, Illinois
U.S.A.

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