Z20 Ink Issue

[DKMN]

This is a current printer that works well and meets the needs of my small business. HOWEVER, HP knowingly decided to stop manufacturing the cartridge that works (z20) and replace it with a new cartridge (z10). In an attempt to be able to use my printer, I have ordered ink on line, driven around town to multiple stores to try to locate the ink, bought ink directly from HP, called the HP support center and dealt with 4 different people... been put on hold, had my call disconnected, and been assured "100%" that the solution would work (and it didn't). Repeatedly, the call center associates in India refuse to transfer me to their manager - despite multiple requests. This has gone on for over 3 weeks. 

Bottom line, this is very poor customer service, and I am highly dissatisfied.

The call center associate that I spoke with most recently indicated that I need to buy all new z10 ink (when I only need the cyan ink, and I have 6 perfectly good cartridges of other colors - black, yellow and magenta). Then she indicated that I should call back and they will perform "regionalization" on my printer.

Really? I need to throw out all of the HP ink I have on hand (cost of over $100) and buy new, different HP ink (cost of over $100), and trust them that this will work... all to fix a problem that they created? So, the solution is to spend more money with HP? Unbelieveable.  

As a small business owner, I am confident that I would be out of business if I treated my customers this way. Yet, HP as a large corporation conducts business in this way without regard to the customer experience.

[DKMN]

I received a private message from the HP help desk suggesting that I kindly call an 800 number for technical assistance. It promised "easy and hassle free" service. After my many calls to HP and all of the time I have wasted on this issue? Easy and hassle free is not what I have received. Why would I call an 800 number again? This is a further example that HP doesn't understand what good customer service is.

[Bob_Headrick]

Who was the user that sent you a Private Message?  Did they have an "HP" next to their name? 

Beware of fake HP Support

Be alert for scammers who may be posing as HP representatives and only call numbers from people who have a  label next to their screen name. If you think you have received a fake HP Support message, please report it to us by clicking on the blue “Report Inappropriate Content” button above the message. Thank you!

[DKMN]

Thanks Bob. Employee was Monica Newton. While the note looks official, it may be a fake.

[DKMN]

I have reported this private message from Monica Newton as "inappropriate content".

I encourage other forum participants to be wary of potential scammers.

Deb

[DKMN]

I have been contacted by the "fake" agent, but no official contact from HP regarding this issue. I just responded to a customer service survey and included the following comment:

GIVEN THAT HP KNOWINGLY MADE THIS CHANGE THAT CAUSED A SIGNIFICANT INCONVENIENCE AND COST IMPACT TO THE CUSTOMER, MY PREFERRED SOLUTION IS THAT HP PROVIDE ME WITH ALL OF THE NEW INK CARTRIDGES NEEDED TO PERFORM THE REGIONALIZATION SO THAT MY PRINTER WILL ONCE AGAIN WORK. ALSO, HP SHOULD UPDATE CALL CENTER WORKFLOWS SO THAT THIS KNOWN ISSUE AND PREFERRED SOLUTION IS CLEARLY DOCUMENTED AND MADE AVAILABLE TO FUTURE CUSTOMERS SO THEY DON'T HAVE THE SEVERE INCONVENIENCE AND BUSINESS OUTAGE THAT I HAVE EXPERIENCED.

[Ciara_B]

Hi @DKMN

Sorry to hear about this frustrating experience.

Just fyi some background info...Earlier this year the HP950 cartridges were regionalized (so the overall selectability no. "950" stays the same but there are different zoned cartridges for Europe, USA etc.) . Further details in the link below

https://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c05318138

[Bob_Headrick · Accepted solution]

@Ciara_B  It is clear the communication for the regionalization of the 950/951 cartridges was handled very poorly.   

One problem is there was nothing on the package to indicate that the new -Z10...Z40 cartridges were tied to specific regions.  The printer would "lock" itself to the region of the first -Zx0 cartrdige that was installed.  A common issue seems to be folks buying genuine HP cartridges on Amazon or similar without any warning or indication that they are newly regionalized, and then their printers become locked to the wrong region.  The problem only becomes visible in the future when they need replacement cartrdiges.  If the new cartridges do not match the region the printer is now locked to there will be an error.  

An additional issue is the regionalization reset process - only a very limited number of agents are trusted with the special proceess for changing the region of a printer, and many seem to lack the training that the process even exists. 

With a set of 950/951 cartridges costing nearly US $100 it is very frustrating for users that are caught in this issue.  It is especially problematic since the regionalization issue did not exist for the first five years or so of these products.  Until this year the 950 and 951 cartridges were universal.  The regionalization was only added in early 2017, long after the last printer that used the 950/951 cartridges had been sold and most of the pritners were out of warranty.

Overall this has been poorly handled from the beginning.  in @DKMN's case it is particularly frustrating.  I asked to have this case escalated and the supposed agent that contacted here through PM was a fake.

I would hope HP would fix this issue.

[Ciara_B]

Hi Bob, good to hear the case has been escalated. I've also fed back this thread to the engineering team that rolled out the change; I agree a refresh of the communication to the support agents may be in order. Ciara

[kevin-t]

@DKMN

I have brought your issue to the attention of an appropriate team within HP. They will likely request information from you in order to look up your case details or product serial number. Please look for a private message from an identified HP contact. Additionally, keep in mind not to publicly post personal information (serial numbers and case details).

If you are unfamiliar with how the Forum's private message capability works, you can learn about that here.
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