HP Envy 5055 printer consumes too much ink and will not print in draft mode

[JWJW1]

This issue has been posed on this forum several times before—those posts were liked and seconded by other users, yet there is no good answer to this issue on the HP Support Forum.

So, let me summarize my issue: I researched this printer before purchasing and spoke to someone at HP, who assured me this printer could do the two things I wanted: scan and print efficiently in draft mode. And guess what, from day 1, “draft” mode looked almost exactly the same as “best” mode.  I tried to ignore it and uninstall, reinstall printer and drivers per instructions on this forum, which did not work. (I purchased the printer at the beginning of the pandemic, so going around to stores, FedEx, etc for returns wasn’t really an option at the time.) Finally, I decided to contact HP. After hours one evening on live message chat and hours the next day on the telephone, with techs telling me, night one: “It is probably the cartridge. We’ll send a new cartridge.” (It isn’t the cartridge. I can change the color to gray and print my own do-it-yourself draft mode, so the cartridge can perform.) The next day, a tech was having me uninstall the printer and drivers (yet again) and reinstall with other HP drivers. That did not work either. Finally, after saying that I intended to tell all of my hundreds of college students every semester to stay away from HP if they prefer not to waste money, I was connected with a supervisor. This man was very nice, and he explained that a “draft” mode like what I expected (and asked about before purchasing) wasn’t really available on this model b/c it was made for printing pictures. So the draft mode is still very high-quality (i.e. lots of ink).

So, why didn’t the techs tell me this hours before? Are they instructed not to provide customers this info? Do they not know how their own company’s printers work? Either way, the experience has been AWFUL. And I feel like HP purposefully deceives its customers. Right here on this very forum, you will see other customers complaining about the ridiculous amt of ink consumed by this printer: Hfelder from 4/2020 and WayneBrock from 10/2019. And Mort65’s post from 2/2019 titled, “HP Envy printer 5055 consumes too much ink.” None of these posts have an answer or have been marked “Solved.” And the HP respondents to these posts keep mentioning draft mode as an option to reduce ink usage. And keep making customers believe that draft mode, when used, will actually reduce ink usage.

HP, you should be ashamed. It is a dirty trick. You sell the printer as “versatile” and capable of producing “affordable prints” and “everyday documents.” You tell your customers they can save ink by printing in draft mode. But draft mode, the way one would commonly expect draft mode to function, does not exist. Per my own research, I have found that draft mode on this model prints faster but uses nearly the same amount of ink! No one mentioned that to me when I was researching the product or spending hours on the line with tech support. The cost of ink to run this printer will be more than the cost of the printer in 1-2 months. Seriously, it is that bad. And, no, I do not want to enroll in InstantInk. I want HP to act like a company that isn’t shady and greedy.

[Betty0610]

@JWJW1

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[JWJW1]

So, here is an update on my issue in case you are curious how HP deals with a customer who has experienced what I explained above, which I would summarize as either a case of gross incompetence or fraudulent business practices. As I said above, here on this very forum you will see other customers complaining about the ridiculous amt of ink used by the Envy 5055. (So bad that you can see it very clearly through one side to the other with standard printer paper. So much for the duplex function.) And the HP respondents to these posts keep mentioning draft mode as an option to reduce ink usage. And, when you chat with or call their tech support dept, they keep making customers believe that draft mode, when used, will actually reduce ink usage. THAT IS FALSE! Draft mode on this model prints faster but uses nearly the same amount of ink.

So, update: Today I waited on hold for nearly two hours, that was just to get in touch with my “Escalation Manager.” Once he was finally on the line, he offered me some options: 1) Return the printer. Pay return shipping. Get a refund, but he could not guarantee that I would get a full refund b/c I have had the printer for a few months (though I’ve barely used it). So, I would be out shipping costs and maybe part of my refund. 2) Keep the printer. He offered me $125 coupon to be used exclusively on the hp store to buy another printer (or any other items). And he’ll send an extra black and color ink. I agreed to option two after confirming that they have printer models that actually use less ink in draft mode and allow you to conserve ink. He assured me that the DeskJets and OfficeJets do have a draft mode that actually uses less ink. Fine. I’d rather not have any more HP products ever again. But, whatever. I agreed.

But guess what: I went to the hp store. Almost all of their printers are out of stock. Seriously. I’m not making this ridiculousness up. Go search DeskJet or OfficeJet on their site: zero DeskJet models available and two OfficeJet models available, both over $200. He was still on the line. I told him this information. I asked for a manufacturer’s coupon that could be used other places. “I’m sorry. That’s not possible.” Okay, well, give me a coupon that at least covers the cheapest DeskJet or OfficeJet that you actually have in stock. “I’m sorry. That’s not possible.”

Yep. Customer service at its best. At this point maybe I’ll just buy $125 worth of crap on their website, whatever is actually in stock. Then take the printer and those items and film myself re-enacting the scene from Office Space where they kick the s&%! out of the office printer. (The music from the movie scene is great, but I think some loud, tortuous-screaming death metal will better summarize my feelings about this whole experience.)

I will say one thing about HP: They are really good at giving you the run-around and wasting your time. Experts. I am impressed at how maddeningly frustrating they have made this whole thing.