-
×InformationNeed Windows 11 help?Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
Windows 11 Support Center. -
-
×InformationNeed Windows 11 help?Check documents on compatibility, FAQs, upgrade information and available fixes.
Windows 11 Support Center. -
- HP Community
- Printers
- Printer Ink Cartridges & Print Quality
- My printer is being held hostage!!!

Create an account on the HP Community to personalize your profile and ask a question
05-20-2023 03:48 AM
I was recently gifted a HP Envy Inspire 7255e All-in-One Printer for my anniversary, which was an awesome gift because I've always been fond of HP products. However, at the moment, I'm typing this message at 4:39 a.m. CT, because this afternoon I was assigned a huge 3,000 page printing project, due in a few hours, and HP has taken my printer hostage. I have tried everything and googled everything in attempts to use my printer. My new printer came with 6 months free subscription, I am allowed to print up to 700 pages/mo for free, the 1500 page subscription is the largest amount HP allows for a personal printer, so I immediately knew I was going to run out of ink. I picked up a few HP 64 ink cartridges from the store, in preparation for my evening of printing. Once I ran out of ink, I switched the HP cartridges that came with the printer, with the ones I bought from the store. Because it was after hours I used the virtual Customer Service chat, to speak to a live person. I was told that I would only be able to use a store-bought cartridge if I cancelled my subscription, she also told me that, this meant I would no longer get to finish the remaining 5 months of my free subscription. At this point I ran out of ink, and there was no way HP would be able to get a new cartridge to me in a couple hours, so I had no other choice but to cancel my subscription if I wanted to get this job done on time. After cancelling the subscription I received a message that said, "Have store-bought HP Original cartridges ready to install. You can continue using the subscription cartridge until May 20, 2023, however it will not function in your printer once your subscription is cancelled, even if it is already in your printer," which seemed like I was being presented with two options, to either continue using the subscription cartridge or use my store-bought cartridge. The wording is very misleading, it says, "You can..." instead of , "You are required to..." I quickly found out that, this is a requirement. So, once again I reached out to HP's virtual customer service, where I was told to contact customer service in the morning, even after I told them my project was due in the morning. I'm literally sitting here exhausted and shaking with anger because my gift, my personal printer, my property is sitting here unusable for the next 20 hours, because HP has taken my printer hostage, and they have taken away my rights as a consumer, they won't even allow me to use the store-bought ink cartridges made by their own company. I sacrificed my free subscription, and I'm going to be disappointing a few people this morning, which upsets me more then anything. This hardly seems fair.
05-22-2023 10:05 PM
Hi @kcarter82,
Welcome to the HP Support Community.
I'd like to help!
My apologies. To fix this issue, you will need additional support from our internal teams in HP. For that to happen, we will give you additional instructions/information via Private Message.
Please check your inbox on the forums page for the private message.
If the information I've provided was helpful, give us some reinforcement by clicking the Accepted Solution button, that'll help us and others see that we've got the answers!
Nal_NR-Moderator
I am an HP Employee