I have had this printer for a few years and it has worked pretty well. Some time ago I stopped using the scanner because it was quite slow and I could not stand to have the bloated HP software on my pc. Nevertheless, the machine has continued to print with only the driver installed on my PC – so it has been good enough.
Today however the device reached the end of its time with me. Despite the fact that I use it quite regularly and replace ink cartridges a few times a year, today the printer informed me that my ink cartridges had expired. Clearly this is a ploy to sell more ink cartridges. The printer gave me the option to print anyway, but I had to agree that it would void my warranty. So it is either an attempt by HP to sell more ink, or lower its warranty exposure, or both. Either way, as a customer I really don’t like being treated this way. I went ahead and pushed OK, but the printer still would not connect back to my PC.
I do have a second printer in the house, an Epson, that all of the sudden I like a lot more than the HP. So the HP is out. I probably won’t buy another HP product. I will definitely never call HP to tell them. Customer lost for life.
It happens that today a friend asked me what type of computer to buy. I did not recommend HP. I also related this story, probably another customer lost – maybe also for life.
Increasingly customers expect the products they buy to work. If a replacement can be had for a few hundred dollars it just does not make sense to spend the time and effort required to get support and repair it. If HP is monitoring complaint calls, or unresolved support incidents as a way to measure its customer satisfaction, I will not show up on any of those measures. Silently and precipitously however, the company is losing customers. Some may never return.
The first US based person to put their shipping information in the comments section of this blog post will get the printer. I will pay the shipping to anywhere in the US. I would also gladly send it back to HP – so if you are listening HP – just let me know.