Inkjet Refilling News From CNN
There is a brief story on CNN.com about the ink refilling stations which Walgreens and OfficeMax will soon introduce. We use the term “story” loosely because it is more like a blurb and it really just references an article that appeared in USA Today. Although they are a bit late on this story, it is interesting to see that this news finally became truly national. There is a quote in the article from Lexmark spokesperson Tim Fitzpatrick:
“Refillers are providing you with used cartridges with print heads that were not designed for multiple uses and with ink that is not optimized for use with the printer….”
Athough Tim should surely be our arch nemesis we do agree with what he said in one regard. These days, between all the different manufacturers and all the different types of cartridges, there are a lot of different types of ink. While it’s true that there probably isn’t much difference between the standard black ink you find in a lot of cartridges, there can be a pretty big difference between the color ink that works in your HP printer from 1998 and the color ink that works in your Dell printer that you bought last month. Ink does differ between manufacturers, and photo ink is usually going to be different from regular color ink. So you have to be aware that if you do bring your cartridges into a refilling station, you are not going to be getting the same ink that was originally in the cartridge, and therefore you might not get the same results.
For these reasons, we sell inkjet refill kits made specifically for individual cartridges. We realize that the key to getting good results out of a refilled cartridge is to make sure the ink you are refilling with matches what was previously in the cartridge. So the HP 99 has its own kit, the Lexmark 82 has its own, etc. etc. You can take a look at our refill kit instructions page to see how the process works and see a selection of some of the refill kits we sell. Or you can just search our site to see if we carry a refill kit for your cartridge.
Refillable printer cartridges on horizon [CNN.com]
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March 23rd, 2006 at 10:02 am
I own a Lexmark All in One printer–6100 series which takes cartridges 82 and 83 (black and color. I WAS on your automatic order for refilled cartridges until I encountered difficulties getting a print-out. Unless I “cleaned the nozzles” before printing anything I got next to nothing in the print-out. This entails not only a waste of time, but also ink (both color and black) in order to “clean the nozzles”, this had to be done EVERY DAY, as it appears that the ink dries out overnight…I like the idea of the economy of automatic refills, but there is so must WASTE having to go through this with the refilled cartridges I wonder what economy exists. You sent me 6 refilles, and they’ve all been used up, in less than a couple of months…If there’s a chance of improvement in the process, would like to know about it.
A note from Pacific Ink: We are sorry to hear about the problems you are having and believe us when we say this is not common. We would not be able to continue refilling cartridges for our customers if they all had similar results. Sometimes refilled cartridges can require a cleaning upon initial installation, but it should not be anything excessive. We have found in some rare instances that some printers are more “temperamental” than others when it comes to refilled or remanufactured cartridges, so that is one possible explanation. Regardless, the results you are experiencing are not what we are used to or what we expect our customers to have to deal with. In the future, we can replace cartridges that do not perform to your satisfaction. Just let us know of any problems at 1.877.838.6843.
Karl - PacificInk.com
March 24th, 2006 at 9:43 am
except for one leaky e-210 cartridge… i am
satified.
the big issue and consumer unhappiness is the
shameless price gouging by LEXMARK and their
buddies…STAPLES and OFFICE MAX. I do not find
credability in the CNN article.
March 24th, 2006 at 11:05 am
I reciently bought a Lexmark all in one P6250 printer. It worked fine at first.When the ink ran out I bought new cartriges and my problems started. Right now it says cartridge error and will not print. The ink levels have not read right since I took the first ones out. The price of there ink is to high. I believe I will go back to an Epson printer next time.I have an old Epson 600 stylus that still works and they do not kill me on ink purches.
March 24th, 2006 at 11:26 am
Richard,
You can try to reset your printer. If you haven’t tried it, you can read more about it here:
http://www.pacificink.com/link.php?pg=cyclingtheprinter
Otherwise, you can contact Lexmark and see what they say. They will often offer to send you a new printer because they want to keep you buying their ink, but if you don’t want to use Lexmark anymore then it might be better to just cut your losses and go back to your Epson.
Karl - PacificInk.com
March 27th, 2006 at 11:41 am
I am not against making a reasonable profit,,,,but most ALL retailers of printer/fax machines are gouging the public, Yes, quality does cost more,but I wish the Manufacturers/Suppliers would be reasonable in pricing the ink. When a profit margine exceeds 50% above cost, for my knowledge that is excessive there on….
Having been in business of a different kind for 30+ years ,if a made 15% that was great ! Mostly 10% and times lower…+ the nature of my business did not experience volume sales neither, suppose that is why I am not rich !.
Thankyou…..
August 5th, 2006 at 12:19 pm
I feel that companies now understand that refilling is here to stay. Therefore, companies have made such anouncements so that people may buy these kits from them and not from a third party vendor.
This is what I read of the story.