Officejet 8610 Error Message Incompatible Ink Cartridge

[Rion1]

My Officejet 8610 said that it ran out of black ink (950XL).  I replaced the black ink cartridge with a genuine HP 950 (not XL) cartridge and received the error message "incompatible ink cartridge".  I tried all of the troubleshooting recommendations that I found on HP Support (including unplugging the printer for 60 seconds, making sure the contacts on the cartridge are clean) but the problem did not go away.  I tried replacing all of the cartridges (color + black) but the problem stays.  HP tech support is not available due to COVID.  Help please!

I signed up for Instant Ink a few months ago but I have not activated my subscription.  I am located in the U.S. and the new cartridges say they are for use in the US.  I received the printer directly from HP at no cost when my previous HP printer died (twice).  I assume my printer came from the U.S. but maybe it did not.

[TEJ1602]

@Rion1

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details). 

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

Thank you for visiting the HP Support Community. 

[Rion1]

After spending 90 minutes with HP Support, the problem has been "solved".  The explanation:  I signed up for Instant Ink several months ago but did not activate my subscription by installing any Instant Ink cartridges.  However, the old (empty) ink cartridges already in the printer for more than a year were magically "enrolled" in the Instant Ink program.  As soon as any Instant Ink cartridges are used in the printer, other genuine HP cartridges can not be used.  The Support agent tried everything to "un-do" this, but nothing worked. 

After wasting 6 frustrating hours of my time on this problem, HP has agreed to refund the cost of the new (non Instant Ink) cartridges which will be thrown in the trash.  This all occurred after an HP rep assured me that the cartridges I bought before I enrolled in Instant Ink would work, for sure.

Another bad experience with HP printers.