HP extortion?
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
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Nope, you cannot. There is something in the printer firmware (deadman timer of some type?) that disables the printer if it can't phone home. The best part is that nothing in the HP software or the printer will tell you what the problem is. It just refuses to print.
Charlie Gilley “They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” BF, 1759 Has never been more appropriate.
I've had a couple of HP printers and cameras, and come to the conclusion that installing HP software is an absolute no-no. If it won't work without, it goes back. Also, I'm currently using an Epson printer. "Genuine" Epson cartridges would cost more than the printer (about £60 vs £50), so I get 3rd party, about £16 a set.
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MikeCO10 wrote:
use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces
This is an acceptable solution to this problem for sure, but I really likes Mike's sledgehammer recommendation as it allows the rage to build within you, flow through you, and into the object you are destroying. Thus, reconnecting you with the ancient gods of war, if only for a brief moment in time. something to consider for sure. :-D
Yep. I’ve used a 5lb maul on a tape player, and a 357 on various reports and a cheap tablet. Satisfying. ;)
Time is the differentiation of eternity devised by man to measure the passage of human events. - Manly P. Hall Mark Just another cog in the wheel
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
I only buy Canon printers. Only had an issue with one, which I returned and had it replaced. If I can't buy Canon, I would probably by an Epson. Never liked HP products since Carly Fiona ran the company into the ground and then wanted to do for America that she did for HP...
Steve Naidamast Sr. Software Engineer Black Falcon Software, Inc. blackfalconsoftware@outlook.com
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
I gave my final HP printer to the electronics recycler a year ago after it mysteriously failed, and got an inexpensive Brother b&w laser printer. Unlike HP's notoriously finicky installation procedure, the Brother came right up and has worked flawlessly ever since. I hear Brother toner cartridges are expensive, but I wouldn't know for sure, having not had to replace mine yet. It cost over $100 to replace the ink cartridges in my HP, and when I looked, the toner cartridge for the Brother is only about $70. It took 20 years of accumulated anger, but HP has lost my business forever.
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I gave my final HP printer to the electronics recycler a year ago after it mysteriously failed, and got an inexpensive Brother b&w laser printer. Unlike HP's notoriously finicky installation procedure, the Brother came right up and has worked flawlessly ever since. I hear Brother toner cartridges are expensive, but I wouldn't know for sure, having not had to replace mine yet. It cost over $100 to replace the ink cartridges in my HP, and when I looked, the toner cartridge for the Brother is only about $70. It took 20 years of accumulated anger, but HP has lost my business forever.
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
I'll Pay the Postage ! Been thinking of a new printer I have a Cannon MP 560 it has been great 10 or more years The issue is the ink is now $65.00 which is half of what I paid for the printer What Cannon do you have or recommend ? I seldom print more than once a month. Thanks
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
I understand your frustration, but it is just a business proposition that HP is using to try and make enough money to run their business. A few years ago they had a CEO that wanted to get of the PC business, or the laptop business, I forget exactly; why? because they were losing money at it. The printer business model is to give you a five hundred dollar printer for a hundred dollars and make the difference back on the ink. HP is not the only company that does that. By having a subscription I imagine that their reasoning is that for the low volume users such as yourself that you won't see it as a good value proposition and will go to another printer. That does not bother them because they were not making enough money from your ink buying pattern. Users who print more may find their subscription service quite acceptable. But it is possible that it will piss off all their users and they will have to adapt to stay in business. I remember how pissed off I got when NetFlix changed to streaming from shipped CD's. I didn't get it, dumb me. But now I can't imagine me stuffing a video CD into one of my old players.
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So, bought an HP Envy printer, not so much by choice but needed it that day, and didn't want to pay a fortune for it since it is in a second location where it isn't used much. It came with a free subscription to instant ink and in a moment of stupidity, I signed up for it. Mostly because I was thinking these cartridges will dry out before they are empty. Fastforward 6 months and here is an email from HP (emphasis added): Hi Michael, Your free trial of HP Instant Ink for your HP ENVY 6458e All-in-One Printer will be ending on 24 February 2023. We want to make sure you have a seamless transition to your subscription plan. Time is running out! Finish your subscription account today! • Add a payment method today, so you can continue printing with the subscription ink cartridges after your trial ends. • You can always change or cancel your plan anytime from your dashboard. •IMPORTANT! If you do not provide a payment method, your subscription cartridges will no longer work after your trial ends. I've printed 148 pages in 6 months, 40 of which were special and I could have waited to print them on my Canon at home. My options are to pay $12/yr to print 10 pages per month, or $48/yr to print 50. Or spend around $35 and buy new cartridges and throw out perfectly good ones. The option I'm really considering is to buy a new Canon for around $140, take the HP outside, use my Sawzall and cut it into about 5 pieces and send it to the CEO of HP. I know the cost effective option is to just pay the ransom, but it's really a matter of principle as I will never buy anything from HP again, and that includes a potential tens of thousands of dollars for work. I have a week, so I'll stew on it for a while.
I learned long ago to never ever buy an HP printer. It's Brothers for me all the way. They work under Windows and under Linux. Also, there's third party toner cartridges that seem to work perfectly fine in them. I got the wifey a black and white all-in-one and got myself a color model.
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I'll Pay the Postage ! Been thinking of a new printer I have a Cannon MP 560 it has been great 10 or more years The issue is the ink is now $65.00 which is half of what I paid for the printer What Cannon do you have or recommend ? I seldom print more than once a month. Thanks
My Canon was a steal; it was a floor model of an image class laser at Office Depot. I had gone in to buy $80 worth of HP cartridges and left with that printer for less than twice the price of the cartridges. At a glance, the Canon Pixmas look pretty good. Best buy has a decent sale on a few for $100 or less. And the cartridge set for some is only $30. I haven't used a Canon ink jet in years, so I can't compare it to today.
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I understand your frustration, but it is just a business proposition that HP is using to try and make enough money to run their business. A few years ago they had a CEO that wanted to get of the PC business, or the laptop business, I forget exactly; why? because they were losing money at it. The printer business model is to give you a five hundred dollar printer for a hundred dollars and make the difference back on the ink. HP is not the only company that does that. By having a subscription I imagine that their reasoning is that for the low volume users such as yourself that you won't see it as a good value proposition and will go to another printer. That does not bother them because they were not making enough money from your ink buying pattern. Users who print more may find their subscription service quite acceptable. But it is possible that it will piss off all their users and they will have to adapt to stay in business. I remember how pissed off I got when NetFlix changed to streaming from shipped CD's. I didn't get it, dumb me. But now I can't imagine me stuffing a video CD into one of my old players.
Kevin, I think my frustration was with the two things. The horrible wording of the email, someone's poor idea of a marketing ploy. I waited a month before I bit on the subscription free trial. As soon as I signed up, they shipped me two high yield cartridges, with the note to not install them until the printer ran out of ink. That was about two months later. So, I've had an XL set in the printer for just over two months. The existing cartridges are well more than 1/2 full (God knows, you cannot get that info from the printer). So, they'll shut them off if I don't pay; I can go buy a $32 set of original low volume and toss out two cartridges that have more ink left in them than the new cartridges. Not sure I see the sense in that. It was about $150 when I got it and it has dropped some since. There is no way this is close to a $500 printer. My Canon color laser only listed for four and change; I paid less than half that since it was a floor model that had printed 16 or 18 pages, lol. And they don't play big brother watching, either. HP needs to be more honest if that is their scheme. Of course, if they put out the "we'll be watching" message in their marketing, they probably wouldn't have much in the way of sales unless they really give them away. Since they sold/split off HPE, not sure what they'd have left.
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I recently replaced my Canon multi-function inkjet with a Brother multi-function laser. It was a lot more expensive, but I'm not wasting half the ink in head cleaning and whatnot every time I want to print. The darn thing just works, and the lack of hassle is worth a lot.
I agree about the Brother Multi-Function Laser. I have an MFC-L3745CDW and it's everything I need, but non-genuine toner carts are a no-no. At least the one I tried. Everything was fine for about 10 sheets, then the machine claimed the toner cart was missing and no amount of reseating would convince it otherwise.
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I agree about the Brother Multi-Function Laser. I have an MFC-L3745CDW and it's everything I need, but non-genuine toner carts are a no-no. At least the one I tried. Everything was fine for about 10 sheets, then the machine claimed the toner cart was missing and no amount of reseating would convince it otherwise.
Thanks for the head's up on the toner cartridges.