Terrible Service - How do I make a formal complaint?

[ash7771]

Hi - could anyone point me to how I can log a formal complaint on record for HP and the very dodgy Smart Ink subscription process?

I have gone all over the support pages, via HP Smart app, etc and the only thing it will let me do is comment to a virtual robot. I enrolled into the crazy subscription model because I needed to print a 2 page document this weekend. So I went for the ligtest plan - to expire 6th July, and 10 pages, as I only needed to print a 2 page pdf urgently.

Anyway, all set up, green for go everywhere - on printer, on the HP Smart app - I put my paper in and press 'print' - it goes through the motions, paper comes through and is completely blank. Ok, so I reset, re-install, the alignment pages etc are coming through fine in colour. So I try again, and again 2 blank A4 pages come out. And guess what, the stupid HP Smart Ink system is counting this as 4 pages used even though no ink was ejected onto the surface! So I try something else, hoping I am not going to go over the limit without this urgent 2 page document printed. Finally, the only way I can get it to print this 2 page document is by using the 'Print Documents' button directly within HP Smart app, and only for PDF - it does it a light blue colour only, rather than use the black cartridge ink.

So I have got my 2 pages printed (just about) but with the HP Smart app saying I have used my limit of 10 pages for the month. Fine, I have now cancelled it - but want this to be a contemporaneous record, that I am now uninstalled HP Smart and switched off the printer, because I do not plan to ever use this printer or subscription service ever again. However, I do not trust this bogus thing to not suddenly randomly detect that I am 'using ink' even if I am not printing anything and then suddenly charge my credit card for 'additional pages' over the limit. I will challenge this with my credit card company if they do it and happy to put in a complaint with BBB too. Unfortunately, HP like to hide, so they don't provide any other way of recording formal issues - clearly because they are not interested in customer satisfaction, just get their profits and make their CEO happy.

[Valsimot]

The ink plan counts printed pages, not the ink you consume. The ink plan doesn't know the difference between a blank page and a full 100% printed page; it's 1 page in both cases.

You are having blank pages printed because ink inside the cartridge dried, and you need to replace them.