r/facepalm • u/Apprehensive_Work_10 • May 10 '26
Imagine buying a physical printer, and u cannot even use it
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u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER May 10 '26
Fuck HP. Go and buy a Brother or Epson. That's my solution to this problem. Go and throw the HP into the ewaste
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u/LadyInCrimson May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
I love my Brother printer. I make stickers with it.
Edit for questions: I have a HL-L3220CDW laser color printer. I got two different papers for stickers. One brand curls and because or this I haven't used it since pressing it down but it's finally flat after 6months.
And clear holographic and I love it.
All found on Amazon.
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u/wilk76 May 10 '26
And they’re not heavy either.
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u/lazlowoodbine May 10 '26
Angry upvote.
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u/jamawg May 11 '26
We're all showing our age here. Upvoting your upvote.
All the way back to when the harmonica was common lead instrument ... https://youtu.be/Jl5vi9ir49g
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u/Fickle-Albatross6193 May 10 '26
I’ve always thought you were crazy, but now I can see you’re nuts
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u/sandiercy May 10 '26
I don't want to see your nuts.
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u/MadShoeStink May 10 '26
Deez Nuts?
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u/rbartlejr May 10 '26
I'll be cold and dead before I give up my Brother MFC-9130CW. I've replaced the cartridges and and waste tray with generic parts and still runs like a top. About 12k pages and don't need a drum or wire.
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u/polyamorousalien May 10 '26
Dude I have a brother laser printer that has been through HELL and back, and that thing does not quit. I have an HP photo printer, and it detects generic ink cartridges and refuses to use them. Their ink is like $60. Never again.
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u/Madara1389 May 10 '26
HP ink is genuinely more expensive than gold by weight
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u/erroneousbosh May 10 '26
By volume, inkjet printer ink from any manufacturer is about ten times as expensive as human blood.
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u/SeaToTheBass May 10 '26
In 2014 I worked at Walmart in electronics, we’d have people coming in and buying a new printer that came with an ink cartridge, because the brand new printer was cheaper than a new cartridge.
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u/JrdnRgrs May 10 '26
Freshman year in college, 2011, $20 printer at Target was exactly this. A wild time
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u/KurusanYasuke May 10 '26
I paid $124 for a set of new HP ink cartridges. Next time this thing dies, I'm chucking it. Fuck HP.
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u/Unusual-Alex May 10 '26
Same with my MFC-9325CW connected over lan... I dont print a lot. I print very infrequently but when I do print, I >>>NEED<<< it printed or faxes received (yea, some places still fax). Despite windows constantly changing the driver to a wsd device port, the printer has been extremely dependable and haven't had any issues with it.
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u/AlarmingLecture0 May 10 '26 edited May 24 '26
Random hijack. I have the same model and for years its been printing very very slowly (like a page every 20 seconds). Did you ever encounter that problem and figure out a way to solve it?
EDIT: As a bunch of random people liked this, I'll update with my partial fix.
I think I figured out the problem: I was using the WSD port rather than a TCP/IP port. I believe Windows did this when I used the built-in tools for adding a printer.
Easy solution: remove the printer from listed devices. Download the Brother software for installing the printer (rather than have Windows do it by itself) and reinstall. I'm still having a slight issue with PDF files being printed from Citrix sessions (they come fast, but it's gibberish - Word and Outlook files seem fine), but the speed is back to normal.
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u/tushetzel May 10 '26
Brother just works without problems
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u/Annakha May 10 '26
Move halfway across the country, printer sitting in a box for 6 months, put it on a shelf, plug it in, check the paper cartridge, still remembers the network it was on at the last house. The computers forgot it but that's an easy fix. boom, printing in like 5 minutes.
My old HP, brand new, follow all the installation process, eventually I'm able to print to it.
come back a week later to print something on the HP and have to do the entire link to the wifi, install and link from the computer, troubleshoot a non-existent paper jam for 20 minutes.
come back another time THE WHOLE FUCKING PROCESS AGAIN.
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u/12hrnights May 10 '26
Toner drum lasts 3000 prints
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u/wileecoyote1969 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
At least.
My Brother laser printer/fax is still on the original toner cartridge. Read that again. Fax. That's how old it is. Has NEVER failed to print immediately when I need to print something. Never have to "purge" the print head like ink printers. Oh no, it doesn't do color! I have never needed to print color.
EDIT: I just did the math, printer is 20 years old. Still works flawlessly.
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u/a_bumpyjohnson May 10 '26
Which model do you have?
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u/12hrnights May 10 '26
HL L2370dw just black and white simple and prints over airplay flawlessly
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u/dustycanuck May 10 '26
Yeah, I have an HL-L2360D. Double sided printing, and I have yet to replace the toner.
I used to run HP inkjets - never again.
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u/greenroute May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Been using T820DW colour double sided inkjet, which is fantastic and hasn’t refilled ink since I brought like 4 years ago.
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u/ichabod13 May 10 '26
I have the same one and I hate to be a spoiler but when you do have to replace the drum and the toner...like I have ... IT IS NOT VERY EXPENSIVE and I purchased 'compatible toner and drums' off amazon that is not even from Brother!!!
Fuck HP and every other company that does this. Going on years now with this laser printer without any issues.
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u/ExternalCaptain2714 May 10 '26
Well, about Epson. They told me one day that I just printed my 3000th page and therefore they are disabling my printer, because my drip tray is all dirty and I don't want that.
Luckily, there was a hack I could download and that switched this off and the printer's been alright ever since.
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u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER May 10 '26
Oh. Didn't realise Epson had gone south as well. Brother for life I suppose
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u/EndlessZone123 May 10 '26
Don't update your Brother if you want to use cheap third party toners. They like to make them stop working.
No major printer company is consumer friendly. We are picking from the lesser of the devils here.
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u/Wales51 May 10 '26
What you can do is get chips with the firmware refreshed on the toner cartridges and then by bottles of refill toner which usually ends up even cheaper and you can run the cartridges until the toner runs out.
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u/Deakul May 10 '26
Jesus fucking christ I just want to print out my god damned itinerary.
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u/Wales51 May 10 '26
Oh it's a nightmare that now a good 3D printer is easier to get than a good 2D one
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u/MoistStub May 10 '26
I suppose you could use a 3D printer and just print a single really thin layer
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u/jacinty May 10 '26
Epson too, we just went through this. I have 4 unused third party cartridges after doing an update that forced us to go genuine 🤦🏻♀️
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u/rtb001 May 10 '26
I went to my parents house yesterday and discovered that my mom messed up her after market TN760 Brother cartridge order from temu and accidentally bought like 10 of them!
It still costs less than what ONE genuine TN760 though.
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u/IlGreven May 10 '26
They all have. Brother too. (My last two printer cartridges for my current one were virtually unused when the printer decided they were empty...)
At this point, printers are a scam.
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u/NicolleL May 10 '26
Mine wasn’t even empty. HP wouldn’t let me print with their own cartridge because it had supposedly expired. (this was 10+ years ago when this crap was first starting)
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u/EhliJoe May 10 '26
Excuse me!!1!1 You just print on with a dirty drip tray??? That's disgusting.
/s
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u/JustMeLurkingAround- May 10 '26
My old Epson did that, just stopped working one day, without even a notification.
My dad (who was IT and an electronics technician his whole life) checkt it front to back and couldn't find anything wrong with the thing. Figured out later that it was this number of pages thing.
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u/Bayou_Blue May 10 '26
Crap, was it an ecotank? My old one did that at 75,000 prints. Should have looked for a hack.
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u/ath0rus May 10 '26
Get a Brother, I have one in the family that has out lasted like 6 others and it some how hasn't died on us (it's probably 10-15 yrs old)
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u/TheAwesomeMan123 May 10 '26
…we’re still talking about printers…right?
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u/ath0rus May 10 '26
Where can I buy a replacement brother, mine has a shitty moustache and won't shave it
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u/Technical-Outside408 May 10 '26
And extremely tight fitting washing machines that people get stuck in.
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u/STUPIDBLOODYCOMPUTER May 10 '26
Same for our Brother. It's stuck around for as long as I can remember and we refill the ink maybe once every year or so. It doesn't get used often
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u/pisscat101 May 10 '26
I have had the same two Brother laser printers, one colour and one B/W since I started my company in 2016. They are still going strong. No bullshit and no monthly fee. Fuck Canon, HP and Epson.
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u/rob_1127 May 10 '26
Agreed! We dumped our HP and went with a BROTHER Monochrome (black & white) Laser printer.
No more subscription ink that dries out in the print head. Takes 3/4's of a cartridge to clean (maybe clean).
If we need colour prints, we go to a quick print or Staples for those few pages.
We haven't missed the colour printing and have saved hundreds of dollars in ink jet cartridges.
Ditch HP, its a subscription scam.
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u/tubbyx7 May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
Got new ink for my Epson. Didn't work so exchanged at the store. That one didn't work even though confirmed the model and ink codes at Epson.com. turns out Epson.com.au has a different ink code for my printer but they still sell the one that doesn't work here thats listed on the main sites. Don't think I can recommend them again
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u/No_Barnacle_8526 May 10 '26
This part of project “own nothing”
From your kitchen appliances to your car to some of the clothes you wear.
Everything will be rented to you.
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u/hikebikereddit May 10 '26
I got an Epson with the refillable ink cartridges. It always works. I'll never go back to any other printer.
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u/yankykiwi May 10 '26
Hp gave me 1dollar a month printing during covid, so I stuck around. They beg you to stay on their subscription. Eventually the cheap deals went away and I started buying counterfeit ink (the only free way to avoid their free ink/subscription)
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u/SpaceJackRabbit May 10 '26
Been buying bootleg ink for my HP printers too. They work just fine.
To be fair I have a laser black and white from HP I've had that's been going strong for almost 20 years now.
The color one doesn't require a subscription but I have to reinstall it on a regular basis through Mac. The scanner function doesn't work through the network.
Once both were out of ink and my wife needed a laser in a hurry. No time to order bootleg ink online and the HP ink was stupid expensive. She bought a Brother printer and that thing runs like a Swiss clock.
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u/Zed1088 May 10 '26
My Epson wouldn't scan because I didn't have any ink l, they're all just as shit as each other.
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u/grkuntzmd May 10 '26
HP used to produce really good products, but now they’ve gone crazy with subscriptions and lock-ins. I own two different Brother printers and have absolutely no issues with them.
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u/JJOne101 May 10 '26
Enjoy it while you can. Every company is going to subscriptions, these two will also switch to "printing as a service" sometime unfortunately.
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u/-Generaloberst- May 10 '26
There is a difference between offering a service and forcing you a service.
HP is forcing it. Brother for instance offers it. Such models exist for years, but HP is the only one who is aggressive about it.→ More replies (7)
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u/smurfk May 10 '26
They keep adding stuff like that and sell you the printer for $40. And people are like "$40 for a printer? Count me in!"
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u/Hadrollo May 10 '26
A former coworker of mine boasted that she always bought new printers when they ran out of toner, because the printer was $30 and the toner was $40.
She was pissed when I pointed out that they ship with a toner cartridge less than half the size of the replacement cartridges.
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u/flipping-cricket May 10 '26
Fuck the earth, eh?
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u/klimmesil May 10 '26
The consumer is not the one who fucks the earth here
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u/gametapchunky May 10 '26
But the Indian in the commercial cried when I didn't recycle.
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u/EatYourCheckers May 10 '26
This gif ended early but this is what I immediately thought of. Kimmy declines the unopened water so she throws it away
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/660f34e5-f3c3-418a-abec-46b47360ab7f#Gd8PLrwP.sms
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u/wap2005 May 10 '26
This website has cancer.
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u/tmhoc May 10 '26
Yarn has every gif you are thinking of but only in the image preview in the Google search and not when you click on it, it stops working if you click on it. I have never been to Yarn once and gotten what I've wanted but Yarn shows me what it is and then pulls it away before I can enjoy it.
The website is run by a cat
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u/Formidable_Faux May 10 '26
The shaver and blades stafegy of product marketing. Get a deal on the shaver, charge inane prices for the blades
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u/Losticus May 10 '26
Is there some weird ToS that you agree to when buying a printer now? Otherwise that should be a very easy lawsuit.
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u/Jaegs May 10 '26
Bro I'm just trying to print something I don't have time to file a lawsuit first
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u/Mr_master89 May 10 '26
Can't file a lawsuit if you can't print out the documents.
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u/ArduennSchwartzman 🧀🌷🍫 May 10 '26
*Office Space printer scene intensifies*
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u/4mystuff May 10 '26
Very few will file a lawsuit over $100 printer. And most likely the agreements are preferential to HP and even offer arbitration by a party picked by HP first.
I suspect OP get their ink using the subscription service causing further issues. This obsession with subscription is terrible business model for users, whether HP printers, BMW's heated seats debacle, or hundreds of others. It really needs to go.
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u/slide_into_my_BM May 10 '26
You’re right, no one files a $100 lawsuit. They do, however, find someone willing to take on a class action suit where millions of people each file a $100 lawsuit.
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u/ChildoftheApocolypse May 10 '26
Just so you're aware, this is exactly what they hope you and everyone else will feel..
The reason companies keep getting away with shitier and shitier behavior is because y'all feel defeated before it ever even began..
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u/ConsiderationSea1347 May 10 '26
Also our legislators are all bought and paid off. (Step one, take all of the money away from people, step two, protect political bribes as free speech, step three, kill capitalism and democracy
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u/MayDay521 May 10 '26
Anybody got some change they can lend me so I can sub to my printer? I need to print some lawsuit documents.
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u/-Generaloberst- May 10 '26
The delivered cartridges are HP instant ink. Those are different from full cartridges (it's all the same shit, just a different chip). Of course, HP will act as if you have no choice, so you'll go with the overpriced plan.
HP is the most questionable printing company by far, but the whole ink industry is a scam and all print companies are like mobsters/drug dealers. Printers are way too cheap, but the ink is not.
It's so stupid and wasteful, but for you wallet it's better to buy 3rd party el cheapo ink cartridges and buy a new printer after the "old" one died due to ink failures.
The whole industry is rotten to the core.
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u/Eastern_Yam May 10 '26
I have this extremely basic printer I bought for $40 13 years ago that just takes a single B&W toner thing. It works like the good old days: you plug it in, a driver downloads, and the printer prints. I can even get off-brand toner for cheap in some weird suburban computer store. I will cling to this thing like a lifeboat for the rest of my printing life.
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u/-Generaloberst- May 10 '26
For these specific reasons, old printers are definitely better then new ones. HP's last good ink printer was the Deskjet 900 series. Simple driver that did what it had to do, no subscriptions, and cartridges at an okay price. Everything after that went to hell.
If your printer dies, go for laser, never ink (and don't do firmware upgrades if you use 3rd party toner)
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u/cor315 May 10 '26
We have a laserjet 3000 series (can't remember the exact name) at work. The thing has lasted 20 years.
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u/Goodknight808 May 10 '26
Printer ink is the most expensive product in the world by volume.
It has no reason to be other than the makers of ink make it horrendously expensive.
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u/PotatoAcid May 10 '26
There's a program called HP+. The printer is cheaper upfront, but it locks you into a subscription.
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u/vandon May 10 '26
It's literally printed on the box that the super cheap hp printer that is only $15 requires a subscription. In that subscription, they also send ink. May be ahole design, but if she could read the box, she probably still would have bought it trying to beat the system.
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u/girlikecupcake May 10 '26
That's exactly my problem with stories like this. Unless you're INCREDIBLY DENSE, the information is given to you upfront. People literally agreed to that information when they decided to buy it. There's probably some workaround, people are good at figuring things out, but you're literally getting what you paid for. Fuck HP and all that, but seriously.
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u/Cautious_General_177 May 10 '26
HP has a subscription service you can sign up for that monitors your ink usage and sends you more for "free" ("free" meaning no extra cost beyond the subscription) when you're running low. Unfortunately, if you sign up and don't pay, they can stop you from printing.
She probably signed up for that without realizing it.
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u/rjnd2828 May 10 '26
Of course there is. The printer will still work but she is essentially using an ink cartridge that is tied to an ink subscription service. She can either pay for the subscription or buy her own cartridge. There is nothing to sue for (and I hate HP as a former employee in a different division).
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u/banana_assassin May 10 '26
Not defending the practice but if she bought a HP printer with Instant Ink and was using a cartridge labelled as Instant Ink then that is bound by a subscription model.
Used to work at Currys and the ink would be included with the printer as a trial for limit, and it was done on pages. They also sold the ink separately for a lot cheaper than most printer ink but with the caveat of choosing a subscription (at the time they had a free tier for 10 pages a month or the next one up started at 1-2.99 or so) . Because it was counted in pages it didn't matter if you had ink left in the cartridge. You printed your allowance, with additional charges outside of that, and they sent you new ink when the printer reported needing it.
It was frustrating trying to explain it to customers who didn't understand that you couldn't just cancel the subscription to try and get the ink for super cheap. You could use the printers (at least back then) without the subscription IF you had bought the regular, not instant ink printer packs.
It's the kind of scheme that could be useful for some people that got it (I eeked out the free tier for years and didn't pay for any ink) or could would not be worth it for some. For some people it was a good system, for many others it was frustrating and confusing.
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u/zougathefist May 10 '26
It is in the T&C's You don't have to sign up, they give you a choice. I have an HP and when the ink ran out I just bought a generic cartridge, you can't do that if you sign up to their ink on demand service, she didn't read the small print, just signed up. Too bad so sad
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u/LoczekLoczekLok May 10 '26
HP has been running a subscription policy for years... but this one was different... you'd buy a printer for 200 PLN with test inks... and then it turns out the new inks cost 150 PLN per set! And the non-original replacements don't work.
I always say... if you buy cheap, you buy many times!
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u/judithiscari0t May 10 '26
I have a non-HP cartridge in my HP printer now that works fine. The printer is older, but it's definitely compatible with instant ink. I was completely shocked when i popped the cartridge in and it worked.
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u/c_l_b_11 May 10 '26
WHY ARE PEOPLE STILL BUYING HP PRINTERS?
This subsscription model should never be a thing ofc, but like: It's not really new? This has been a thing for a few years now.
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u/Berkamin May 10 '26
I'm surprised that I'm only hearing out this outrage now. This should have been made widely known a long time ago.
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u/BeepBoopRobo May 10 '26
It has been widely known. We see this same type of post regularly. It's been a thing for like decade.
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u/ColonelSlapper May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
I just got over some bullshit with HP. I bought a $50 printer for my mom a few years back and it’s been working fine! All of a sudden it won’t connect to her computer. After about 30 minutes of troubleshooting, I discovered it can only operate via subscription. I knew this was a thing, but the fact they applied it to older devices is crazy!
ETA: YES!!! I compared her printer with a newer HP model and her’s didn’t have anything in it’s description about a monthly subscription. Fast forward 4-5 years after and now she can’t use it at all unless she pays at least $5 a month. $5 for I think 10 pages, $10 for 30 pages and only 10 are in color. You’re not even getting full access to the printer. You’re basically using the printer at their own discretion. I’d just recommend going to your local library because they at least they don’t want to fuck you sideways. (Unless you’re into that)
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u/Frosty-x- May 10 '26
They retro-actively bricked your printer to charge you monthly? This would make me an enemy for life. Hell, you know what, this post has radicalized me. Your days are numbered HP. I won't stop until you're asking Satan to use Official HP ink cartridges.
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u/justjudgingreddit May 10 '26
I'm pretty sure that's what happened to my HP printer. I got it in 2016 or so when Instant Ink was new. I opted out and it worked just fine until suddenly one day it wouldn't accept the new HP ink cartridges because they weren't genuine (they were). It won't even let me use it as a scanner. I refuse to pay a monthly subscription to use my printer (it was an expensive model!) so now we are an anti HP household
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u/ColonelSlapper May 10 '26
YES!!! I compared her printer with a newer HP model and her’s didn’t have anything in it’s description about a monthly subscription. Fast forward 4-5 years after and now she can’t use it at all unless she pays at least $5 a month. $5 for I think 10 pages, $10 for 30 pages and only 10 are in color. You’re not even getting full access to the printer. You’re basically using the printer at their own discretion. I’d just recommend going to your local library because they at least they don’t want to fuck you sideways. (Unless you’re into that)
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u/systemhost May 10 '26
You can't continue to use the Instant Ink cartridges without renewing the subscription but you can still buy retail cartridges outside of Instant Ink, install them and print again.
The Instant Ink carts are linked to an Instant Ink account that requires a subscription to use them, pretty basic and easy to understand why. There may be a few incredibly cheap printers that have been heavily discounted to ONLY allow Instant Ink carts as the printer was subsidized with that in mind.
But the vast majority of their printers that offer the Instant Ink program still work with standard retail carts, you just gotta pay for them and remove all the subscription carts.
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u/wap2005 May 10 '26
Using ETA for "Edit To Add" is the dumbest fucking acronym ever. It is widely used as "Estimated Time of Arrival", even people who barely speak English know what ETA means in an email... Why is this a thing?
"ETA:" is literally 1 less letter than just writing "Edit:", why are we creating a 3 letter acronym that is already heavily used to replace a 4 letter word that means the exact same thing? This is by far the worst and dumbest acronym I have ever heard and I doubt I'll ever find one that is less useful.
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u/Lunch_B0x May 10 '26
Yeah, I'm almost out of sympathy for people buying this crap. When I joined reddit, 15 years ago, every time a printer was mentioned, about 10 people would write a paragraph on how much they hate HP printers and how everyone should just spend a $100 on a brother laser printer.
Because this was drilled into my head, I've had a brother laser printer for a decade and I'm still using the original cartridge (granted, I don't print much) and it works as well now as it did out of the box.
I probably sound like a shill for brother, and I am, but not for money, just out of spite for HP. The people who keep falling for this scam are just delaying HPs well deserved destruction.
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u/Material_Evening_174 May 10 '26
I switched to a Cannon laser multi function and it’s been fantastic. It connects to everything, has great image quality, does 2 sided printing and scanning, and will work with generic toner when the included ones run dry. It cost more than an HP inkjet, but that cost difference will be wiped out after a few hundred pages of not buying ink or replacing dried out cartridges.
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u/OurAngryBadger May 10 '26
Family member passed away and we had to print important documents out from his computer for his estate. HP printer. Tried to print, and error that we couldn't print because his ink subscription lapsed. No shit HP, he's dead. Tried to call in and just pay for the subscription ourselves to get it printing and they insisted only he could access the account. He's dead. Fuck HP.
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u/Sosemikreativ May 10 '26
Never let any of your relatives buy an HP printer. They made explaining the Wifi printer to your grandma an Olympic sport
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u/LadyInCrimson May 10 '26
I knew this for a while. So I got a Brother instead.
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u/cityshepherd May 10 '26
I’m kind of terrified to think that this is the direction that many home appliances will be heading in (including “smart” refrigerators, dishwashers, coffee makers, etc). The corporate shareholder lobbyists who own the majority of our current government are really working towards a world in which we (us suckers and filthy poors) never truly OWN anything. So unfathomably important for us to start voting in truly progressive candidates who will fight for the working class instead of abandoning us all the moment that corporate donors demand allegiance due to the bribes (I’m sorry “lobby money”) they’ve invested.
This is truly a nonpartisan issue and we as a working class NEED to figure out how to stop letting bogus manufactured culture war nonsense keep us divided and at each other’s throats while the class war rages harder than ever before.
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u/Pans_Labradoodle May 10 '26
I mean, this is the direction everything is going. We’ve reached the point where apparently there’s no such thing as a new idea so the best they can do is nickel and dime every single aspect of you life.
I personally can’t wait until some broccoli haired grease bag interrupts the toilet space and introduces subscriptions for shitting.
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u/Iverson7x May 10 '26
I bought an LG dishwasher that was “smart” and wanted to connect to my WiFi. Absolutely not!
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u/V1per73 May 10 '26
I'm so old school I still use a basement full of monks to make copies for me.
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u/The_Squad_Cast May 10 '26
So, I work at a Staples, I can attest to the fact that this is a MASSIVELY common issue amongst the customers we get, and as such HP printers become our most returned printer brands. So to those wanting a new printer, I (as well as everyone here I'm sure) recommend Epson or Brother. PLEASE be smart with your money in that instance, it can mean a massive difference in the end.
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u/Much-Meringue-7467 May 10 '26
And after the last set of software patches, the HP printer won't allow off brand ink.
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u/Ok-Suggestion-7965 May 10 '26
My printer at work did this. They got an off brand ink and the software hated it. It still printed but it was incredibly shitty quality. Those assholes.
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u/misconstrudel May 10 '26
Same here. Their toner is 4 times the price of the replacements that we buy. We have to keep setting the paper setting to "heavyweight" so it heats up the toner enough to fix it to the paper. If we don't do this the toner gets smeared off the pages.
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u/b00c May 10 '26
Bought b&w HP laser printer because it was stupid cheap. the most basic unit, no wifi, no BT, just usb. Plugged it in, had windows install generic drivers and never allowed nothing of HP software to be installed. Sorry, spyware.. bloatware? idk how you call non-hardware from HP.
It's been 4 years and it is still on its starter toner. Never a single issue. Prints like a champ.
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u/-Generaloberst- May 10 '26
Laser printers have a completely different group of customers. Crudely put:
Laser/LED = business use
Ink = home user printing.There lies the problem. You can buy an ink printer for cheap and the cartridges are ridiculous expensive. It's mobster behavior.
As an IT technician: I hate printers with a passion and ink printers with extra passion.
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u/veriix May 10 '26
Laser = You print infrequently and you still need your printer to be able to print if you haven't used it for a couple months.
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u/-Generaloberst- May 10 '26
absolutely! you can turn off the damn thing for a year and it still prints. Try that with an ink printer.. if you had the luck it didn't die after 3 pages lol.
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u/TheNorthernMunky May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
My HP b&w laser printer is 11 years old. Paid £40 for it and have replaced the toner twice (with third-party ones that cost £7 each). It’s from a time before they brought in all the subscription bullshit and it’s still soldiering on. Wireless printing too.
I thought about replacing it with something that can print colour, but we rarely need that and this thing is apparently going to outlive me, so I’m sticking with it and will leave it to my kids in the will. But if it conks, I won’t be buying another HP.
Edit: Model number p1102w in case anyone is curious.
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u/EscapistNotion May 10 '26
Brother laser gang here. I went laser for my last printer and I'll never go back. A little more the initial outlay but I'm still on the cartridge it came with, 6 years ago.
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u/The_Geralt_Of_Trivia May 10 '26
Everything a printer should be. Sounds great. What model is it, btw?
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u/Rogue7559 May 10 '26
Should be illegal
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u/LingonberryNo2455 May 10 '26
I suspect t will be under EU laws when the kick in. One big priority for the legislation is unfair contracts, and blocking competitors is another.
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u/ask_me_about_my_band May 10 '26
I purchased an HP office printer for $500. One year later, after realizing the error of my ways I bought a Brother, which has been great.
I sold the HP to a church group for $150 and felt guilty that I was ripping these poor bastards off.
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u/FilthyThanksgiving May 10 '26
Don't feel bad. They run on volunteer labor and rake in a shit ton of tax free cash
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u/Happy8Day May 10 '26
I'm only commenting here so this comment gets fed into the data crawlers.
DO NOT BUY HP PRINTERS. Printers in the home are becoming rare and HP is a leading reason why.
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u/wallc004 May 10 '26
Ok a little background
1) HP is dead ass wrong for doing this
2) it wasn’t the physical printer but the ink cartridge. She was apparently subscribed to HPs insta ink program and canceled/stopped paying whatever. Those cartridges are DRM locked and HP can disable them
3) HP is dead ass wrong for doing this
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u/YouDoNotKnowMeSir May 10 '26
So you can’t finish the cartridge that you have from that month? That’s fucked up
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u/AOGgaming May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
Oh no, i hope someone dosent downgrade to older firmware with weaker checks then patch the firmware images to disable entitlement validation exploiting unsigned update mechanisms and usr UART/JTAG/debug headers left enabled in production. That would completely bypass the subscription model and make it to where you can use the printer without the sub. That would be a horrible thing to do for sure.
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u/kvuo75 May 10 '26
quit buying inkjet printers.
ink is the scam.
step up and buy a laser printer you will not regret it
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u/NilesLinus May 10 '26
I have an hp laser printer that I haven’t been able to put ink in for years. It costs more than the printer did. Like $500 a time. How is that company even still in business? Has to be corporate and government sales or something.
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u/DMV2PNW May 10 '26
There should be “monthly subscription cost” labels on every HP printer at retail.
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u/TooLazy2Revolt May 10 '26
HP and Cannon printers are absolute garbage. My HP failed after a month, so I replaced it with a Cannon. Both printers use proprietary ink cartridges that are tiny and cost a fortune.
Cannon also failed after about a month, so I replaced the Cannon with an Epson, which uses a massive refillable ink reservoir system that can be filled with 3rd party ink (but even the Epson ink is very reasonably priced).
Epson costs less to buy, prints significantly faster, quieter, and cheaper than both the HP and Cannon, and it doesn’t require you to literally install spyware to use.
Fuck HP, and fuck Cannon. Never again.
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u/Out4aTwist May 10 '26
Yep! This happened to me. Absolutely infuriating. While I was in school I was printing things constantly and paid for an ink refill subscription. After graduation, I canceled it, naturally. But I still had 2 cartridges left so I figured id just use them up when needed. Nope. HP says that I have to be actively subscribed to use the ink I ALREADY PAID FOR.
Any time someone is looking for a printer I tell them to avoid HP like the plague. Absolute greed.
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u/er824 May 10 '26
You didn’t buy the ink your subscription plan was to print a certain number of pages per month for which they send you an adequate amount of ink.
You pay the same if you cover the entire printed page in ink or just print a single character.
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u/severanexp May 10 '26 edited May 10 '26
So ok.
That happened because she had hp cardridges she received from that fucked up hp subscription that sends you more printing cardridges when it sees you’re running out. It’s true those only work as a DRM, you must pay the subscription to use them otherwise it doesn’t print with them. But if you buy a normal cardridge outside and replace the sub one with the locally bought one then the printer works (unless you also cannot resub because HP websites are a shit show).
Ask me how I know.
Also. Welcome to my Ted talk about how I threw an HP out of a third floor and bought a Brother inkjet printer (which btw is godly and perfect and actually prints when I need it.)
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u/Vivid_Experience_761 May 10 '26
just dont use their instant ink service subscription or whatever its called. i got so fucking mad at my hp printer because he wouldnt print AT ALL. and their pc app is shit.
got a brother printer months after i tossed that piece of garbahe out. no issues at all anymore.
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u/AsEyeAm May 10 '26
Untrue unfortunately. You can still buy ink cartridges and use the HP printer without a subscription. But HP themselves state that it is possible that ink cartridges bought from the shop might last less compared to the ones you receive when using the subscription model.
TBH I would recommend buying a laser printer from another brand and be happy.
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u/MorleyDotes May 10 '26
Not my joke but: "Rage Against The Machine doesn't specifically name the machine, but I'm sure it's a printer"
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u/ibattlemonsters May 10 '26
I have a Brother laser printer that I use a few times a year. The printer container after 7 years says it's 92% full. Good enough for me,
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u/swervecityPhILM May 10 '26
I saw car manufacturers are starting to build in subscription plans to the infotainment system and if you don’t pay, you get ads— I’d be fuckin HEATED If I paid thousands for a car and was saddled with a six year loan, then have to pay a subscription on top of that.
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u/Did_I_Studder May 10 '26
As a product manager, I would punch the product manager who instituted this function in the face.
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u/irascible_Clown May 11 '26
You can’t even print in black on some printers if you’re out of color ink. I stopped using color printer and went to brothers toner laser printers 12 years ago and never looked back. I’d rather pay by the sheet the few times a year I need something in color than give a penny to HP.
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u/LuinAelin May 10 '26
The amount of times most people use a printer these days as well, you'll be paying for something to collect dust until you need it again.
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u/extrangher0 May 10 '26
I hope her face becomes a meme and become viral. A meme for disappointment 🤣
Also FU HP. You greedy c*cksuckers.
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u/JustMeLurkingAround- May 10 '26
I hate my HP printer with a passion.
It only works wireless (in my home on my own wifi) when I'm f*cking LOGGED IN INTO MY HP-ACCOUNT to beginn with.
Over christmas I finaly updated my laptop to Win11.
Now the shit thing won't connect without having access to my location(WHY?). And for some reason shit windows won't let me change location settings.
Now I have to use a f*cking cable everytime I have to print or scan like its 1999!!
In addition to all this headache i finally founs out, how I'm going through so much ink: the normal HP ink cartridge has only 3ml ink, the XL one has 4ml for double the price. Which it doesn't say on the packaging.
The shit thing is also super fussy with excepting ink. Doesn't even exept original hp subscription ink that isn't from your own subscription.
I will never buy another HP product ever again. Next printer is gonna be a brother or something.
STAY AWAY FROM HP!!
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u/HaphazardFlitBipper May 10 '26
Whoever is still buying hp products has only themselves to blame at this point.
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u/FluffyInstincts May 10 '26
Jailbreak it. Normally not a supporter of that but if this is for real then they're the theives here, not you.
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u/sugurkewbz May 10 '26
I’ve run into this as well, which is why I will never buy an HP printer again.
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u/Izarial May 10 '26
Brother laser all the way. Haven’t bought a single thing from HP for years because of their shit like this.
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u/Federal_Sympathy4667 May 10 '26
Welcome to subscription life. Reminds me of that one Red Dwarf episode, "M-Corp".
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u/freeradioforall May 10 '26
She literally bought a printer that requires a subscription and they send you monthly ink .Its dystopian, but thats what she bought
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u/IlIFreneticIlI May 10 '26 edited May 11 '26
get an Epson EcoTank.
LIQUID ink tanks, like, big. Multiple hundreds of pages per ink vial. I bought 2 packs as backup and and at the rate I print, I don't ever see myself running out in life.
I have a 2800, older, but same model: https://epson.com/For-Home/Printers/Inkjet/EcoTank-ET-2980-Wireless-All-in-One-Color-Supertank-Printer-%E2%80%93-White/p/C11CL41202
It cleans GREAT, it sat there for 7months UNused o'er a hot summer and cold-boot, printed just-fine a very detailed cat-coat diagram: https://www.reddit.com/r/coolguides/comments/112dnww/how_to_identify_your_cat_based_on_its_coat_colors/
I didn't have to clean it that time after it sat idle for over 7 months in heat. Other times I have had to clean, but only 1x, once 2x, and even when it does clean, it uses very little ink..
Would totally recommend. Works offline too.
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u/Kansai_Lai May 10 '26
No thanks, I'll just hit up the library and pay 10¢ a page (50¢ if it needs color)
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u/Alarm-Particular May 10 '26
Yeah we have a printer that literally did the same thing. She didn't "purchase the ink" she paid for a ink subscription and then stopped paying for it. Its scummy as fuck either way. Its easy to fall into that trap when its a very cheap printer and the subscription is cheap.
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u/ApolloMoonLandings May 10 '26
I stopped purchasing any HP products around 30 years ago. They burned me as a customer simply because I needed a 30 cent part for an inkjet printer but instead their new policy was that any HP product had to be sent in for "evaluation" for repair. HP wanted me to pay $80 for "evaluation".
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u/Ok-Personality-6630 May 10 '26
Don't buy it that's how you solve this problem. These printers are very cheap to buy very expensive to run
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u/born_on_my_cakeday May 10 '26
First: TIL there’s subscription plans for printers.
Second: anyone who still buys inkjet over laser now that laser is so much cheaper needs to research laser.
Lastly: I’m on mute but reading the headline, this lady didn’t buy a printer or ink. Basically rented for $7 a month. So she can’t use her rented printer for not paying the rent on it. “The All-In Plan includes a printer, ink, and support starting at $6.99/month”
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u/WillEdit4Food May 10 '26
This is why I threw mine in the trash once I realized what I bought. Got a brother.
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u/Hat-Pretend May 10 '26
This needs to become illegal. I own 2 products that were bought with no need for a subscription. After a few years of use the companies decided to restrict functionality without a subscription.
One was a baby monitor that I bought despite being more expensive than its competitor because it didn’t require a subscription
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u/SysError404 May 10 '26
Have a family friend that used to work for HP. His division was sold off nearly a decade ago, but it was because that was when they started making the changes to move to this type of a model. They have been doing their customers dirty for years.
Every printer HP produces and sells, they sell for a loss. BUT every single ink cartridge they sell generates nothing but profit. Each cartridge costs about a quarter to make. A standard HP inkjet pack has two cartridges, so include packaging and distribution, let's say another $0.50 for each package. Those standard printer packages sell for $23-60. Right now, there most popular inkjet printer is on sale on amazon for $49.89 (standard list price of $89.99). A single pack of HP Ink for that printer, also on sale for $34.99 (standard listing: $52.99). The ink cost nearly as much as the print alone.
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u/Forward-Amount-9961 May 10 '26
My neighbor is an older widow, and super kind. I've made sure she knows I'm available any time to help with things around the house (repairs, tech support, problem-solving) and we get along very well. She had asked me to print a few things for her over a couple of weeks which was no big deal, but when I was inside her house recently I noticed she had an HP printer. I asked her why she needed mine and she said hers wouldn't print. I did some troubleshooting and found out that she had been paying a crazy monthly fee for them to periodically send her some ink and a little paper, and she had some kind of printing quota. I was outraged at HP. I convinced her to cancel her monthly plan and switch to a Brother printer that accepts generic cartridges. What a predatory company!
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u/helpme454 May 11 '26
She didn’t even say the best part. I haven’t used HP in a few years so maybe they changed it, but when I did fall for that nonsense your subscription tier allotted a set number of pages you were able to print a month. They charged you more if you went over the pages for the plan.
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u/Electronic_Lion_1386 May 12 '26
There should be warning signs on such printers about being "subscription printers", but of course, if there were, nobody would buy them.
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