Price increase of HP Instant Ink

[Admiralty]

The increase from £1.99 to £2.99 represents a 50% increase which HP are unable to justify. 

[UnhappyPH]

Exactly.  

I looked at various online reviews and comments before signing up to Instant Ink.

I was surprised (well not really!) about the number of people who simply didn't understand what they had signed up for.

All subscriptions tend to increase - but generally by the cost of inflation, or a couple of percentage points more.
However, 50% is much higher than expected.

But it's the fact that HP continue to promote the old prices and advise customers of the new rates within 24 hours of signing up which is particularly dubious practice - moreso because the increase is so large.

Another community member mentioned the story has now been covered by The Register.  I wouldn't be surprised if mainstream media picks this up too. 

[thewildrover]

It's not just that though, I've just decided to hit the cancel button, and their calculations trying to entice me to stay are way off. That's such an underhanded method of sales.

It states that I would have spent £70 a year if I've bought cartridges outright, but my own usage data shows that a pair of XL cartridges is lasting me at least 18 months. At about £42 a pair, that's simply lying to me, it actually works out at about £28 a year.

At £1.99/mth, it presented good value to me, at £2.99/mth it does not.

As I've said, I have no issue with the accepting terms and condition, and that I have to send back my spare cartridges (would it have been more environmentally friendly to offer to sell them to me at the standard cost?).

[sjmleicester]

Don't forget if you cancel your subscription they will nobble your printer to stop it working with the existing cartridges you have probably already paid for.

I know when I forget to update the system with my new debit card the printer stopped working. 

I might look around for offer on ink cartridges. These increases are hard to justify

[thewildrover]

I've already sorted that, and have replacements on order.

As we've said, you haven't paid for any cartridges, you're paying to print something onto a limited number of pages. The supply of cartridges are part of that of course, but that's not what you're being charged for - that much is clear when you sign up.

[UnhappyPH]

I'm sure I read somewhere that the instant ink cartridges are larger than XL. So maybe they are basing on the cost of those cartridges. And perhaps not pro rata - that is, you'd need to buy a whole cartridge no matter how it lasts. Just speculation though.

[thewildrover]

I did check the part number on the cartridge I have used up here, and it’s the same part number that’s on the HP website for the XL cartridge.

[Jaytee888]

After less than 3 weeks this thread is now 8th in the all time list of Most Viewed threads on this forum.  Thx for starting it @llanelliguy.

I feel certain that it may have started off as having absolutely no consequence to HP.  Perhaps 10 days later, it may have been a ‘minor annoyance’.  Maybe now they’re sitting up and taking notice … or maybe not.  We need to get them discussing this around the water coolers and at VP level in the boardrooms.  
If you have something you want to say to HP, use whatever channel you can find to raise the profile of this sorry affair.  Mags, papers, TV, consumer protection et al.   Happy emailing! 🙂

[MikeSanf1]

Totally agree with your comments. This increase is intolerable. I have been with HP for decades and if they treat its customers like this when ink is the most expensive liquid anyway they deserve to lose customers. I did the field trial for Instant ink in the UK before it went online for the rest of the world. I hope people realise that if they cancel their contract their printers will stop working. I just hope there is a workaround. I hope they sit up and take notice of what we are saying.

[xraydent]

So much misinformation on the internet.  If you cancel your instant ink, your printer will not stop working.  According to HP, what will happen is that the instant ink cartridges you installed will stop working.  They will need to be replaced by genuine HP cartridges.  As part of signing up with Instant ink, you agree to never use 3rd party cartridges in your printer and this is locked in even if you cancel your subscription.