Hp Tricks End-Users of Private Label Cartridges, Customers Duped ….

[news]

Hp Tricks End-Users of Private Label Cartridges, Thousands of Hp Customers Duped After Latest Software Update.

By Gerben Kreuning of 123inkt.nl.

Nederhorst den Berg, 25 April 2019 – In the last few days 123inkt.nl suddenly received complaints out of nowhere about the malfunctioning of newly installed 123inkt.nl private label cartridges in 25 different models of HP Officejet printers. HP appears, just like 3 years ago, to have rolled out a firmware update, as a result of which private label cartridges are no longer accepted by the HP printer. 
 

Research shows that HP has rolled out an automatic firmware update at specific printers. Certain HP Officejet models have been affected, which means that new private label cartridges may no longer be accepted worldwide. As soon as they replace the cartridge with a new private label cartridge, customers will receive the error message: "Problem with cartridge. One or more cartridges appear to be damaged. Remove the cartridges and replace them with new ones". However, this error message is incorrect. There is nothing wrong with the private label cartridges and they are certainly not damaged. 
 

Even with printers where automatic updating was turned off, a message suddenly appeared on the screen: "Update available" "An update is available which makes the printer work better.

Updates of this kind are deliberately rolled out by HP with the aim of excluding private label cartridges and making users believe that private label cartridges are of poorer quality. Hence the misleading error message that the cartridges appear to be damaged, while that is not the case. Thus, over the back of the consumer, the fight is started with sellers of private label cartridges, such as 123inkt.nl. Consumers should never be the victim of this. 
 

HP claims to be allowed to perform these updates because HP printer packages will be provided with a sticker from December 2016. It says that "cartridges without an HP chip may not work and that cartridges that work today may not function in the future."
 

However, 123inkt.nl believes that the printer is the property of the consumer who has purchased it. This consumer must be able to decide for himself which cartridges to put in his printer. A sticker does not change that situation. HP is no longer the owner of a printer sold by HP and HP does not have the right to disable someone's printer because that person does not use HP cartridges!
 

As soon as it became known that the real cause of the problem now found was again a firmware update from HP, 123inkt.nl informed its customers who use these printers by e-mail about the situation. 123inkt.nl received more than two thousand customer responses within just two days. These reactions show that hundreds of customers already had a direct problem and could no longer print. In addition, other customers could have problems in the future if no action is taken. HP is also trying in other ways to obtain a monopoly on the cartridges for HP printers. For example, in 2014 HP filed a lawsuit against 123inkt.nl, in which HP incorrectly stated that the memory chip on the private label cartridges would infringe an HP patent. After four years of litigation – in which HP took three consecutive defeats and spent more than half a million euros in attorney fees – the Supreme Court ruled on April 19, 2019, again in favor of 123inkt.nl. The patent is invalid and 123inkt.nl may continue to sell private label cartridges. 
 

 

Not The First Time.

In the past (September 13, 2016) HP did something similar, which meant that private label cartridges could no longer be used in one go. HP was sued in several countries for this in the course of 2017 and even had to pay damages in America (1.5 million USD) and Australia (50 Australian dollars per consumer). Under pressure, this update was subsequently reversed by HP.  At the end of 2016, 123inkt.nl set up a foundation for its customers based on these dark practices of HP, the 123inkt private label customers' foundation. This allowed consumers to join forces and represent their interests in the fight against the injustice that was done to them. In a short time, the foundation had nearly 1,000 members. 123inkt.nl takes care of all legal costs for the foundation, while all damages that may have to be paid by HP go directly to the victims of the foundation. 

 

The Stichting 123inkt private label customershad instituted proceedings against HP on January 18, 2017, but the Amsterdam District Court rejected a prohibition on such updates because HP had promised not to do so for printers prior to December 1, 2016 and the damage to customers would not be sufficiently clear . The foundation appealed against this and on 12 April 2019 the hearing of the appeal against HP took place. The ruling of the Amsterdam Court is expected on June 25, 2019.
 

The firmware update of three years ago on 13 September 2016 immediately and worldwide caused problems for all users of private label cartridges, which caused worldwide outrage. However, HP has learned from this "error". With the current firmware update, private label cartridges are only now refused when they are replaced by new private label cartridges. The difference compared to three years ago is that it is still possible to print with the private label cartridges that are already in the printer, but that the problems are now spread out over a longer period of time, so that this is less noticeable. 

Solution for the current firmware update

 

123inkt.nl directly contacted the chip manufacturer of its own brand cartridges to solve the problem. The manufacturer confirmed the problem and reported having received notifications from around the world. For private label cartridges from 123inkt.nl, we have already succeeded in developing new chips for the affected HP printers. These are currently in production and are expected next week. 123inkt.nl can then exchange (no longer thousands of) customers with their no longer working cartridges. 
 

Also a solution For Other Private Brands.

Consumers who do not use 123inkt.nl own brand cartridges can also go to 123inkt.nl for a solution. A suitable alternative is being sought for all victims, even if it concerns other private label cartridges that are not purchased from 123inkt.nl. 
 

Advice.

123inkt.nl advises its customers not to perform any updates from / for the printer as long as the printer functions normally. Without printer updates you can use the much cheaper private label cartridges without any problems. View a clear instruction on how to disable the automatic updates at http://www.123inkt.nl/update

 

Affected Printer Types.

HP Officejet 6950 HP Officejet Pro 8710

HP Officejet Pro 6860 HP Officejet Pro 8710e

HP Officejet Pro 6950 HP Officejet Pro 8715

HP Officejet Pro 6951 HP Officejet Pro 8715e

 HP Officejet Pro 6960 HP Officejet Pro 8718

HP Officejet Pro 6970 HP Officejet Pro 8719

HP Officejet Pro 7720 HP Officejet Pro 8720

HP Officejet Pro 7730 HP Officejet Pro 8725

HP Officejet Pro 7740 HP Officejet Pro 8725e

HP Officejet Pro 7740WF HP Officejet Pro 8728

HP Officejet Pro 8210 HP Officejet Pro 8730

HP Officejet Pro 8218 HP Officejet Pro 8740

HP Officejet Pro 8700.
 

 

About 123inkt.nl

With over 2.5 million customers, 123inkt.nl is the market leader in online sales of ink cartridges, toners, printers, paper and office supplies. The web store has been voted Best Web Store in the Netherlands in the Computer, Hard- & Software category for 12 years in a row. 

[Author]

April 30, 2019 at 12:04 PM