OT - Genuine v. Compatible inkjet cartridges

Having recently exchanged some highly critical e-mails with Epson over their ink cartridge pricing policies, and 'badgering' messages with their ink monitoring software, I have today received a survey from Epson asking about the use of compatibles and ink pricing.

Such questions as: An Epson genuine black ink cartridge costs £9.xx ( I can't remember the exact price). How much would you be prepared to pay for a genuine cartridge?

Anyone who wants to complete this survey and tell Epson what they think of their genuine cartridge pricing can access the survey here:

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Kev

Reply to
Ret.
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You think the cartridges are expensive? Did you know the nasty little devils at Epson have a software clock installed in their printers which clock every time you use the printer ... when it gets to a certain number the printer stops working and you either have to buy a new one or have to pay to get it 'serviced'.

This website has free software to reset your printer and save you £000's

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Ash

Reply to
Ash

Yes I used that software with my last Epson printer. Unfortunately, at the moment, my current Epson printer is not supported.

My main gripe with my new printer (Epson SX600FW) is that once you have put a compatible cartridge in, then every time you come to print anything - a warning window pops up telling you that you have a non-genuine cartridge installed. The print will not continue until you acknowledge this message. This means that if you set up a run of several documents to print, you cannot leave the PC because the message pops up before each document will print. The only way to stop this message popping up is to disable Epson Status Monitor 3 - but if you do that then the ink level monitoring is also disabled. It's outrageous. I have no problem with a single message, after you have installed a compatible, telling you it's a non genuine - but badgering you with the same message prior to every print is unacceptable.

Kev

Reply to
Ret.

Just looks like a referral link to me, with no software at the end of it.

Reply to
John Whitworth

Opps .. try

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Reply to
Ash

try

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A shame it is only for a small range of printers and not Mac compatible though

Reply to
AJH

Yes I think I was lucky there finding software which worked with my printer. I had been up all night writing a report I had to give next day and when it came to print my printer just stopped and said a part of the printer had reached the end of it's serviceable life and I needed technical support. After much looking around the Internet I found this was a common 'fault' with the Epson inkjet and that this software resets the printer software counter back to 0. I rest the counter and the printer sprang back into life ... that was over a year ago now and it's still working ok.

Ash

Reply to
Ash

Checked mine when I first had problems and it was virtually dry!

Reply to
Ash

yes I checked my Epson 1290S a couple of times and there is loads of capacity for excess ink there

Reply to
AJH

I wonder why it is that as consumers we'll put up with this sort of practice from the Inkjet manufacturers who put an inbuilt service life so that after x number of prints it dies? I wonder what would happen if the washing machine manufactures did the same and after x washers you had to call an engineer out to make sure there was no fluff in the plug hole or the car manufacturer who set a limited of 50,000 miles and then you needed to buy a new one? I think we'd soon stop buying there product so why to Inkjet manufacturers think they can get away with it? I've told Epson what I think about them and that when I finally replace my printer it wont be an Epson .. then again will the next printer have the same inbuilt short life span.?

Ash

Reply to
Ash

I have also told Epson that I will never buy another of their printers again - despite the fact that I am on my 3rd Epson. My most recent one, an SX600FW, is different to the first two in that the 'Status Monitor' software sends up a 'warning' window every time you try to print anything, if you have inserted a compatible cartridge. The print will not continue until you acknowledge the warning. This means that you cannot line up, say, 3 print jobs and walk away, because prior to each print, the message will pop up giving you dire warnings about the dangers of using compatibles, and the process stops until you click 'continue'. The only way to stop this message is by disabling Status Monitor - but if you do that it also disables ink monitoring.

The message is very clearly not designed to be informative - it is intended to 'bully' you into switching back to genuine cartridges. Well, Epson can dream-on. If they think I am going to spend almost £10 on a cartridge that probably cost them less than £1 to produce, they've got another think coming.

Kev

Reply to
Ret.

yes you would think that they would realise that this is a fiercely competitive market, and that it would be in their interests to reduce the cost of new cartridges to acceptable levels so that Epson users will stay loyal to their brand when either replacing a printer or buying additional printers and products. AJ

Reply to
AJH

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