BLACK INK NOT PRINTING SOLUTION

[Sandara01]

First, a deep THANK YOU to forum members who suggested using alcohol to clear a clogged print head and to the dedicated HP employees who volunteer their expertise to provide practical, effective solutions on this site.

My 92-year-old parents' printer was refusing to print black and had been doing so for the past three weeks. We finally had a tech look at it (she had been on vacation, so we could not get it to her sooner). By the time we got the printer back from the tech, we were three days past warranty.

I had tried everything HP suggested on the website--changed cartridges, turned the printer off and on, reloaded the drivers, run the cleaning cycles, and even wiped the print heads with alcohol as suggested on the forum. Still nothing. I called HP. The HP rep suggested doing everything I had already done . . . multiple times . . . except, he had a fit when I told him I had used alcohol. He told me I should use nothing other than water to clean the heads and that I should read the information HP had online. I told him I read about alcohol on the HP forum, but somehow, that did not register with him. Then, I told him I had gotten serious with the alcohol--placed a cotton ball SOAKED with 100% rubbing alcohol on the print head with saran wrap and a water bottle cap over the top to slow the evaporation, and periodically, every couple of hours over 12 hours, used a syringe to rewet the cotton. That really set him off. I was going to destroy an already dead printer.

The HP rep tried to give me a "deal" on a replacement printer and chided me that, if I had contacted HP the previous week, the printer would have been replaced for free. While we were talking, I took off the plastic and cotton and started another cleaning cycle to see if the ink would resaturate the pad and allow the printer to print. The first head cleaning failed (The alcohol had probably not yet cleared). After the second cycle, the test print produced a rich, saturated BLACK.

Guess I should not have used alcohol . . . then the HP rep could have sold me a new printer to replace one that failed before the end of the warranty period. He was strong into his sales pitch when I started thanking him profusely and telling him that the printer now worked. Confused the heck out of him.

My parents are old, not tech-savvy enough to fix printers, don't drive, and have to wait until the on-site tech is available. I don't live with them, don't have the time to drive over every day to resolve stubborn printer problems, and don't necessarily know what "tools" I will need to have with me when I get there. They are on limited income. I have had multiple sclerosis for 40 years and I am on a limited income. 

The fact is the printer failed BEFORE the end of the warranty period . . . and, apparently, HP corporate policy has no room for recognizing that someone who reports a printer failure has probably been fighting with the problem for at least a week or two by the time it gets reported. Yes, I could see a problem if someone waited a couple of months . . . and I don't blame the tech . . . he was only doing what he has been trained to do and "worked the (obvious) "formula" just as well as any other HP rep I have worked with in the past.

HP corporate policy apparently includes a certain "joy" when a customer takes the time to try to resolve issues and misses the warranty expiration date. "If you had let us know last week" hardly engenders feelings of good will. (I, as a customer "failed," and it was going to cost me.)

HP corporate policy apparently also encourages its reps to deter customers from using solutions that might actually work on machines which are worthless since they are out of warranty. This strategy includes trying to make the customer feel s/he has done something stupid. "Did you read our webpages?" Same question again a few minutes later. I get it. Making the customer feel stupid is an OLD sales tactic. I am OLD. Yes, the HP tech was well trained. He did an excellent job in trying to convert a tech call into a sale.

"Your printer is 3 days out of warranty and it isn't working?" Heaven forbid we delay putting one more piece of plastic junk in the dump. Building printers with short-term planned obsolescence out of non-recyclable, non-replaceable, and often toxic components is socially and environmentally irresponsible. HP could be a world leader in sustainable technology and provide long-term world-class support of premium products. Instead, the focus seems to be on constantly designing new styles of ink cartridges and, between computers, printers, and dead ink cartridges, leading most of the world in solid and hazardous waste stream production. I ran a business off an Apple desktop printer for 10 TROUBLE-FREE YEARS. It can be done.

HP has chosen its values, built its culture, and tries to "present" itself as a consumer-oriented, socially responsible provider of top-quality, leading-edge electronic products. There is a lot of distance between "the image" the company tries to present and what customers experience as "the reality," especially for those of us who have been dealing with HP for a long time (almost 40 years) . . . the ones who know that HP printers always “go offline” or break, the dozen leftover cartridges of last year’s ink will never fit the replacement printer we were forced to buy this year, and "the scripts" HP techs use always focus on moving "problem resolution" to "sale"—whether it is for paid tech support, an extended warranty, a new printer, or “Instant Ink,” which depends on my opening my personal network to HP’s ink volume queries—more of a security risk exposure than I care to accept.

I realize these comments will never get to the corporate level where they could make a difference. HP has a business model and has run the business in pretty much the same was for as long as I can remember. It apparently works for HP. For me, as a customer, not so much.