Regionalization reset

[7nyerik]

Today I called the number you suggested (800 474 6836). I was all set to do my regionalization reset. I had everything that was needed. First live voice I got was a pleasant American accented male named "Mike.” Mike told me they could not help me. That I'd have to get HP in East Africa to help me. I told him that I had already tried that -- that they (East Africa support) told me to call USA support as I had USA cartridges and need to reset to the USA region. Therefore, I was getting a run around. I asked to speak to a supervisor. After a wait of over 20 minutes, I spoke to "Glen." Glen also would not help. He repeated that I should call HP support in East Africa and tell them that USA support was unable to help me. I asked to speak to his supervisor -- he refused, saying that they would not talk to me even if he asked. I was getting nowhere, so I told him I’d try his advice – i.e., call HP East Africa back. I did NOT do that. I decided just to try again. This time I got someone named Ronnie (with a non-American accent). Ronnie was very polite and helpful. He just took me through the regionalization reset. It does take time. Nevertheless, it worked fine. Kudos to Ronnie. Raspberries to Glen.

What’s the big deal? Why is it that folks don’t want to do this?

[pcwizard]

Hi 7nyerik,

Thank you for the update. I am glad to hear you were able to finally get the issue resolved. Sorry you had such a issue with getting this taken care of. I will be forwarding your comments to the Ink division in order to help get this issue resolved for customers needing regionalization resets.

[7nyerik]

Can PCwizrd, or anyone else, confirm or deny this:

A brand new HP printer that has never had any ink cartridge installed in it, is not regionalized at all. It gets regionalized when the first cartridge(s) are installed. The printer then regionalizes to that set of cartridges. So, whatever cartridges are used first, determine the "original" region.

Is this correct?

[pcwizard]

HI 7nyerik,

HP customizes some products and cartridges to meet specific local customer needs. During your initial printer setup, the printer automatically set itself to accept cartridges specific to a country or region. If you take your product from that country to another country, you might not find cartridges with the same number on the label as your original cartridges. These cartridges will not work in your product even though they appear to be compatible with it. If you purchase cartridges that you believe are compatible with your product, and then try to install them, you might see one of the following error messages:

• 'Incompatible Cartridges'

• 'Cartridge Not Intended for this Printer'

• 'Incorrect Cartridges'

Finding and Installing Cartridges after Moving to Another Country

[7nyerik]

Oh wow! This is all so crazy!

So now after 2+ hours on the phone with HP support (USA) and Ronnie walking me all the way through the regionalization reset process -- it turns out that the whole thing was unnecessary! The cartridges for the HP Officejet Pro 8600 are the same all around the world. Why did no one at HP support simply tell me that when I was going through this process!? We had previously, about 2 to 3 years ago, had a very similar situation when we bought a new HP printer. That was when I learned about the whole idea of regionalization. In that case we simply tried to use the USA cartridges we had in stock, and they would not work, after a bit of a look around the www, I discovered regionalization. That time it was not too difficult an issue as I was helped over the phone to reset it. So, when we had to buy another printer recently here in Kenya (the HQ sends printer supplies for all our printers from the office in USA, as we are a very mobile organization moving from place to place around the globe) I assumed the same would be the case -- my bad. However, when I called to ask for the reset, why wasn't I just told that the printer in question does not require it? There is no way I would have known unless I had experimented with the USA cartridges. That I had not done simply based on my previous experience. It still seems odd that “Ronnie” would walk me all the way through that process without his realizing that it was not necessary.

So, now I know that some printers are regionalized and some are not. It seems there is even an HP site where one can find out if certain printers have regionalized cartridges or not.

So, I feel a bit foolish – but live and learn is a saying that fits here.

Thanks for your help.

[pcwizard]

HI 7nyerik,

Glad to hear you have the printer working. Have a wonderful day.

[Bob_Headrick]

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@7nyerik wrote:

Oh wow! This is all so crazy!

So now after 2+ hours on the phone with HP support (USA) and Ronnie walking me all the way through the regionalization reset process -- it turns out that the whole thing was unnecessary! The cartridges for the HP Officejet Pro 8600 are the same all around the world. [snip]

So, now I know that some printers are regionalized and some are not. It seems there is even an HP site where one can find out if certain printers have regionalized cartridges or not. [snip]

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If you have a link to an HP site that lists which products are regionalized and which are not please post it here.  The only way I know to tell is to use the HP SureSupply site, enter your country information in the bottom right, check the supplies used for a given printer, then change to a country in a different region and repeat the process.  If the cartridge numbers are the same across (for example) the USA, Ireland and India the printer is not regionalized.  This is a somewhat cumbersome process, if there were a site that direclty listed regionalized and unregionalized printers it would be much easier.

[dblA]

I did call and got no further than the person who refused to call; so I would say refusing to call is not irrational.  The representative was friendly but firmly unhelpful.  Why this has to be such a problem is beyond me.  And it is not the customer's fault; the idiot who decided to regionalize printer cartrtidges better figure out how to help people out. 

[joceebarrera]

I am facing the same problem as the rest. I bought the printer in the US and now I am in Ecuador. Here the only cartridges they sell that are compatible for the HP Deskjet 3050A is the 122, while in the US they use 61. I just got off the phone with an HP assistant and supposedly the supervisor is going to contact me tomorrow morning. I hope they will contact me, although I would have prefered the solution right away. 

[george-p]

Hi @joceebarrera ,

I have sent you a private message. If you are not sure how to check your private messages then this post has instructions that will guide you through the process.

Regards,
George