50% saving - is that still true?

[UnhappyPH]

You are still advertising a 50% saving by using instant ink.

But you just increased the prices of instant ink plans by 50% (the day after I bought the printer and signed up for instant ink).

I'm not convinced that your claim of 50% savings by subscribing to instant ink is still valid.

It's certainly not true on the lower price plans - so I would suggest that the advertising is misleading. Also, as the price increase was clearly known by HP at the time I subscribed, it's also disingenuous to advertise monthly prices which increase the next day.  

This is not a great start to the HP+ experience. And most of any claimed savings disappeared overnight - within 24 hours of purchase.

[Jay_G24]

Hi @UnhappyPH,

I'd like to help!

HP Instant Ink uses high-volume cartridges, pricing based on pages printed, and direct-to-customer shipping delivered only when you run low. This means fewer cartridges travel shorter distances and require less packages, allowing us to pass savings on to you.

For the instant ink members a notification was sent about the price increase or any update that is about to happen.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted. 

And, Welcome to the HP Support Community. 

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

Click the “Yes" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping

[UnhappyPH]

Thank you for your reply.

I was sent a notification about the price increase - the day after I signed up for instant ink.
When I last checked, the HP website was still showing the old (cheaper) price plans.
I feel this is very misleading. Other customers have expressed their dissatisfaction too.

A 50% increase is massive, given UK inflation is around 5% annually.  The email notification does not explain why there is such a large increase. But almost as importantly, when I signed up for the instant ink offer, it's apparent you were already notifying customers about the price increase. 

We all understand that prices can increase for various reasons. However, the complaint is about multiple areas:
1. The increase itself is massive

2. HP promoted instant ink with set price plans.  Then as soon as customers signed up - in my case, within less than 24 hours - you notified of this large price increase.  

This is very misleading, given other customers report receiving emails some 10 days earlier about the new prices, and there is no information on your website - or prior to registering - that a price rise is imminent.
Also, customers must sign up within 7 days - and are prompted during the registration process to sign up.  Why was there no indication before signing up of the new prices. You must have known this at the time. To keep this hidden is very dubious practice and I see that another community member has raised this with UK trading standards.
3. There was no information in the email notification about why such an increase was necessary. Customers likely would not have signed up if they knew costs would increase immediately by 50%+.

4. I was between the 15 page £0.99 and £1.99 tier. Now, the 15 pages reduces to 10, with only a 30 page instead of 45 page rollover.  What happens to customers who have more than 30 pages rolled over - do they lose any over the new rollover limit?

The other point which you have not addressed is that you claim 70% savings by using instant ink.  However, this is based on 700 pages per month - the top price plan. How many customers sign up for this price plan? 
Many of the printers being sold are advertised as home printers - suitable for family use. I'd be surprised if most families are subscribing to pay £22.49 per month (£540 over 2 years) for ink. Indeed this price plan is advertised as a business plan. And looking at your website link below, the most popular price plan is 100 pages per month.

Again, this could be deemed misleading advertising, even though this is mentioned much further down the page in the small print (literally). 

I await your response.

https://instantink.hpconnected.com/uk/en/l/?jumpid=ps_c317f441e0&jumpid=ps_c342b4ee4f&gclid=EAIaIQob...

[Jay_G24]

Please look for a private message from me requesting additional information. Keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Community's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community

[UnhappyPH]

Thank you.  However, I don't see a private message.

The linked guidance suggests I should receive an email if I receive a PM. And that there should be a number against the envelope icon. I have neither.

I haven't sent or received PMs on this community before. Am I doing something wrong? I am logged into my account,

[Jay_G24]

I have resent the private message, please check.

Let me know!

[UnhappyPH]

I have received and replied to the private message.

PS - I inadvertently wrote that HP claimed up to 50% savings.  In fact, for ink, you are still claiming up to 70% savings. This seems unrealistic, given you state on your website that the most popular plan is 100 pages - not the 700 pages per month  used for comparison. That's almost as many pages in a month than would be printed in a year on the lower price plan.

I've changed the subject to reflect your advertising.

[UnhappyPH]

Actually, I changed the subject in my reply.  But the topic is still showing the original title.

Can you amend the title to read as below please:
70% saving - is that still true?

[Jay_G24]

I will not be able to edit the post title but I have included your message in the escalation.

Hope this helps!