Instant Ink

[Anneevo46]

The 'instant ink' option seemed like a good idea.  However counting how many pages we've printed whether they contain 1 line of text or a full page seems unfair.

Can I opt out of this option.

Also why can't we chat online with an assistant - it's obviously not working in the UK at least!

Anne

[sabretooth04]

You may cancel Instant Ink at any time.  Just go to your Instant Ink account and click on 'Change Plan'.

[Anneevo46]

If I cancel can I sign up for instant ink again if I find it works out cheaper?

I just don't like the way HP count the number of pages regardless of how much is printed on them.

Also, I know unused pages roll over but do they only roll over one month.  For example if I have 50 pages a month (I can't remember the actual figure) and print 10 then 40 roll over to the next month I get that but if I only use 10 again does that mean 80 roll over to the next month?  Then if I have 80 pages to use the next month and change my plan, do I still get those 80 pages to use?

Anne

[sabretooth04]

@Anneevo46wrote:

If I cancel can I sign up for instant ink again if I find it works out cheaper?

Yes.

I just don't like the way HP count the number of pages regardless of how much is printed on them.

Oh well, those are the rules.  Even if you print a . (period) on a page it counts as one page.

Also, I know unused pages roll over but do they only roll over one month.  For example if I have 50 pages a month (I can't remember the actual figure) and print 10 then 40 roll over to the next month I get that but if I only use 10 again does that mean 80 roll over to the next month?  Then if I have 80 pages to use the next month and change my plan, do I still get those 80 pages to use?

Nope.  You can only carry over 1 months worth.  For your example only 40 would roll over again.

Anne

All explained in the Term and Conditions you agreed too.

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[Anneevo46]

Ok. Thanks for that.  I upped my pages to 50 a month because I often print stuff for my daughter but it's not the same every month.  However she's about to buy a new printer so I can reduce the number of pages I pay for.  I'm just not sure if the instant ink option is cheaper than buying cartridges when I need them, especially considering I've only had one lot of cartridges since I bought the printer so it seems the cartridges last a long time.

Anne

[sabretooth04 · Accepted solution]

Just an FYI but the folks who get the best value are the ones that print full color pages.  Does not matter how much ink, it's still a page of full color.

[Anneevo46]

Thanks for the hints  I'm not sure it actually states that only one months worth of unused pages can be carried over.  But I may have just forgotten.  I did know I could change my payment plan but not whether I could opt back in to Instant Ink if I left it rather than amended my plan.

Thanks again.

[robrogan]

Oh, this is good to know. I got this service because my wife often prints a lot of notes (uses low ink, for light black text).

For a long time it was good, but if we use extra pages one month it automatically triggers a new shipment of ink. Sure, I understand if I have to pay for the pages because of this subscription program, but it's very wasteful to send new ink when the levels are not low. Since HP constantly monitors my printer data, I would recommend they consider a pay-per-page plan with ink delivered when you need it. These can be two separate things.

Anyway, the way it is now, I have a printer with 1/2 full ink and another cartridge laying around. Let's pretend I want to use up some of this ink to move on to the new cartridge. I can't... because each page gets counted, and in my attempt to use this extra ink, I would just trigger more ink being shipped to my home.

Okay so let's say I want to cancel this plan to avoid extra ink shipments. If I decide to cancel, HP will disable all these ink cartridges (even more wasteful) so I would just have to throw them in the trash. I guess it's a lose-lose scenario.

The lesson seems to be as recommended here, only buy this for photo printing? Or some other heavy-ink usage. To be fair, it use to save me money when it was $3/month, but now I got charged $20 for the overage and can't use up this $20 of ink haha... what a mess.