Printer region reset

[climserv]

I have a Deskjet 3639 printer purchased in Switzerland.  I have now relocated to India, but find that the 302 cartridges needed are not available in India. 

I purchased the compatible cartridge 803, but it cannot be used without resetting the region of my printer. 

I contacted HP Customer care, and after spending several hours with them, they finally told me that the reset cannot be done online, and that the printer needs to be taken to their authorized service centre.  As the printer is out of warranty, they also said there will be charges for the service at the discretion of the service centre operator.

I find this very frustrating, especially if I have to shell out more money over and above the new 803 cartridges that I have already purchased and are of no use to me.  I am not sure why HP makes life so difficult for people who have to move between regions.  This limitation was not highlighted when I purchased the printer - I would not have gone for HP printer had I known about this limitation.  Can they not devise a simple procedure and train their customer care staff to provide the correct information? 

Any help to resolve this will be greatly appreciated.  It is a pity if I have to throw the printer into the trash can, considering that it is in perfect working condition.

[Raj_05]

Hi @climserv,

Welcome to the HP Support.

I will be more than happy to help you out here.

To perform a printer region reset you need to meet the following conditions:

1. You need to have the printer full feature software installed on your computer.

2. You need to have all the cartridges either from the region/country from where the printer was purchased originally or the new region/country to which you want to reset it to.

3. Make sure HP Smart App is installed too.

Do keep me posted.

Take care and have a good day.

Please click “Accepted Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution. Click the “Kudos/Thumbs Up" on the bottom right to say “Thanks” for helping!

Alden4

HP Support 

[climserv]

Hi Alden4,

Thanks for your quick and encouraging response.  Here is my feedback on the requirements listed by you:

1. I am not sure what you mean by full feature software, but I do have "HP Deskjet 3630 series Basic Device Software" (Version 40.17.1242.23305) installed on my Windows 11 machine, and it works quite well with the printer, both for printing and scanning.  If there is another software with more comprehensive features, please point me towards the source;
2. I do have used cartridges from the country (Switzerland) of original purchase of the printer, and also brand new compatible cartridges from the country (India) of my current location.  However, the original cartridges are no longer printing as they are almost empty.
3. I do have HP Smart also installed on my machine.

I look forward further advice from you to make progress in this issue.

Thanks again,

Climserv.

[Raj_05]

Hi @climserv,

Thank you for your response,

Connect the printer via USB (usually you need it in case your internet connection is not strong or may have downtime while performing it. You can skip it and perform the process under wifi as well)

Launch HP Smart and click the product ink levels to open the Supported Cartridges window.

 Clicking ink levels in HP Smart

Hold down the CTRL and SHIFT keys (Cmd + Space in MAC) and then right-click on the empty area to the right of the ink levels.

Clicking to the right of the ink levels

The Set New Regions window opens.

Please share screenshot of this window on Private message. 

In order to access your private messages, click the private message icon on the upper right corner of your HP Community profile, next to your profile Name or simply click on this link. 

Use the "Copy to Clipboard" feature to paste the values here.

Alden4

HP Support 

[climserv]

Hi Alden4,

Somehow I have not been able to follow through the steps outlined by you.  What I see in the launching screen of HP Smart is this:

If I ctl+shift+right-click to the right of the "Estimated supply levels" nothing happens but a small hint appears within a box "Hide Printer".  I tried going into Printer Settings --> Advanced Settings --> Estimated Ink Levels, but I do not get any region-setting window.

You had suggested in your private message to reach out to HP Customer Care in Switzerland, but I cannot do so as I am now in India.  The HP Support Team in India, whom I have already contacted, have not been helpful at all.

This is very disappointing to me, as I find no way of using my printer unless I import the cartridges from Switzerland.

ClimServ.

[climserv]

Hi Alden4,

Don't bother.  Finally I got lucky to connect to a brilliant HP Customer Support Agent on WhatsApp support, and she resolved my problem by resetting the region to India.  It is now working fine with the cartridges purchased in India.  From this experience, I learnt the following:

• Most HP Support Agents have no clue about regionalization resetting, despite the simple procedure needed to do it.  One agent had the audacity to advise me to buy a new printer rather than struggling with this process.
• You need HP Smart to reset the region, and it can be done online onsite without taking your printer to any service centre.
• Printer being out of warranty is not a constraint to get the resetting done.
• The authorized HP Service Centre may not entertain requests for regionalization resetting (which was the case with my location).

I hope someone in HP sees this and helps the few customers who have to shift regions by simplifying and training their Agents to quickly resolve such problems.

Thanks,

ClimServ.