HP Instant Ink Useless

[KSib]

I feel like this is just an unfixable problem, but I keep running out of ink and this Instant Ink service does not send me ink before that happens. I went to the virtual support to try and get some shipped and it says 10 days to wait for that. I try to get an agent, but when it auto-populates my serial number, it says it's invalid so I can't talk to anyone.

So now I need ink, but have to wait potentially 10 days. What is the point of this service?

I think I've had to have an agent send me some manually twice before, but that doesn't seem like it's an option this time since the virtual assistant can't find the serial number that was auto populated by the same virtual assistant 😂

It's such a headache since these printers have an awful way of calculating ink used which is what this entire service relies on.

[Hawks_Eye]

Hi @KSib 

Welcome to the HP Support Community! 

Thanks for posting your query! We're here to help you get back up and running.

I'd like to help you with your Instant Ink issue.

My sincere apologies for the inconvenience caused to you. We'd hate for you to be stuck in a situation like this. Because you matter to us.

Not to worry I'll do everything I can to help get this sorted for you. 😊

In order to locate your account, please provide either your registered email address or your Instant Ink account ID or the printer serial number in a private message, and I'll look into this. 

To access your private messages, simply click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Support Community profile, next to your profile name. 

Take care, and have an amazing day!

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

Note: Do not share any of your personal information in public, such as serial number, phone number, email ID, etc.

[KSib]

Thanks, but I've already cancelled the service and just picked up some ink elsewhere.

The problem is having to have someone manually intervene every time I run out of ink completely defeats the point of the service for me. The idea is that when the ink is low, there should already be ink being shipped to me so this doesn't happen. The reality is, I keep running out of ink (this is the 2nd or 3rd time now) and then I have to contact support to manually send me more which I then have to wait days (potentially a week) for.

It's unfortunately a service I can't continue to use as it creates more problems than it solves.

[Hawks_Eye]

@KSib 

My sincere apologies for this inconvenience caused to you. Sorry you had to cancel the subscription.

Generally, after your first shipment, Instant Ink cartridges are sent as needed (not monthly) based on your ink or toner usage. 

Keeping your printer connected to Wi-Fi is one of the key requirement so your printer can tell us to send replacement cartridges before you need them.

Not sure why this was not done as I do not have the account information to check what went wrong.

Again I regret the inconvenience caused.

We'll be archiving this case, but feel free to respond to this thread anytime to continue the conversation. 

Take care, and stay fantastic! 

Regards, 

Hawks_Eye

[jlodgec]

I have an almost exactly similar problem. I've bought two HP Printers and have always had the Instant Ink svc. I have only received cartridges by begging for them. The reporting system is faulty, but I think it's intentional based on multiple CSR responses to my issue. I pay every month, and have never received a cartridge shipment automatically. Now, they claim that I can't get another shipment b/c I received their charity cartridges in June, and they do not detect that they have been used! They can't tell that I'm using them? What's the point of the service if you don't get served w/ product monitoring??? I'm paying them to never get ink!

[KSib]

Yeah, it was just more of an inconvenience than anything else. I stopped the service and it has been way less of a headache to just buy my own ink. I don't quite understand the point of the service since it can't detect ink levels properly. I think since the printer just guesses based on pages or amount of color printed out (which is a terrible way to do it for a liquid that can dry up), HP doesn't get informed by how much ink you actually have.

It's fundamentally broken, with no real fix.

If you're actually printing enough to not have that problem, you'd probably be better off with a laser printer from another company and if you aren't printing that often, then you'd be better served either buying regular cartridges in a store or refilling them somehow.

[jlodgec]

It is interesting that no 3rd party company has seized the opportunity to outbid HP in terms of service. . .you could just estimate the use of your own printer when you sign up as a user, and pay per month accordingly, and say, every 4-5 months if you use your printer sparingly (which I do) and then reassess every 6 months to a year if you are paying for too high a tier or too low, etc. The only service that used to do kinda this was giving people re-cycled cartridges which did not work.