*NEWS*99% OF COMP CTGS ARE MADE IN U.S.A./2004-10-14

[Anonymous]

The Printer Cartridge Wars

The Environment and Your Printer Warranty

Good for the Country, Good for the Environment

If You Care about recycling or the good of the Country's economy, consider these facts:

• 99% of new compatible toner cartridges are manufactured in the USA; most "OEM" brand cartridges are manufactured overseas
• Nearly 40,000 tons of plastic are saved from our nation's landfills each year, by remanufacture of inkjet and toner cartridges
• It takes on average 2 quarts of oil to manufacture a Brand New Toner cartridge but less than half of that amount to manufacture a new compatible toner cartridge

Your Printer Warranty and You

A legitimate concern of many people is whether using generic or remanufactured cartridges in their printer voids the printer's warranty. The answer is no.

The following is a partial quote of the text of the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Improvement Act, which deals with this exact question:

MAGNUSON-MOSS WARRANTY IMPROVEMENT ACT
United States Code Annotated
Title 15 Commerce and Trade
Chapter 50 Consumer Product Warranties
15 Section 2032

… (c) No warrantor of a consumer product may condition his written or implied warranty of such product on the consumer's using, in connection with such product, any article or service (other than article or service provided without charge under the terms of the warranty) which is identified by brand, trade or corporate name; except that the prohibition of this subsection be waived by the commission if:

1) The warrantor satisfies the Commission that the warranted product will function properly only if the article or service so identified is used in connection with the warranted product, and

2) the Commission finds that such a waiver is in the public interest.

In English, this means that no warranty may be voided by use of aftermarket products unlessthe manufacturer acquires a waiver that clearly shows such voidance would be in the public interest, or that their product will only function properly if the specified manufacturer parts are used.

There is one catch, however: the manufacturer (in this case your printer manufacturer) is not compelled to repair their product under warranty if damage done to the product occurred as adirect result of using aftermarket parts. In other words, using generic cartridges is fine, and if your printer ever fails under conditions which have nothing to do with the cartridge you are using, no problem. However, if the damage is directly caused (however unlikely) by the use of a generic cartridge, the warrantor may elect not to repair it, although the warranty would remain in effect for all other warranty issues.

* Post was edited: 2004-10-14 10:35:00

[Author]

June 23, 2013 at 10:53 PM