Epson will give out a $45 credit to consumers to settle class-action lawsuits filed against them in California, Texas and New York. The lawsuits argued that a “substantial” amount of ink remained in Epson inkjet cartridges at the time that the printer indicated the cartridge was empty. The settlement applies to anyone who purchased an Epson inkjet printer between April 8, 1999 and May 8, 2006. The $45 credit is for use at Epson’s online store, and can be used on printers, inkjet cartridges or any other products. Also, instead of the $45 credit consumers can choose to receive a $25 check from Epson and a $20 credit for their store, or else a 25% discount ($100 is the max discount) off products at the Epson store.

Now in our opinion, this settlement is kind of lousy. This has always been a big complaint of our customers who use Epson printers and they find it pretty annoying that their printer will basically stop working because it says a cartridge is empty, even though it usually isn’t. Under the terms of the settlement, Epson admits no wrongdoing and will not change any of their technology. They will change their packaging to note that “empty” cartridges are going to still have some ink in them. So the lawyers get their big cut, Epson can say they did nothing wrong, and consumers are left with a credit from a company they may never want to buy from again. It could even prove to be a gain for Epson, if consumers use the $45 credit and then spend additional money or if they elect to take the 25% discount. What is supposed to be a penalty for them could turn into a flood of traffic for their online store.

On a positive note, the settlement is pretty large and the process to claim it does not seem that difficult. This is not the usual class-action settlement where you have to fill out five forms to get your $2 share of the loot. If you registered your printer with Epson, then you will automatically receive the credit. If you haven’t, you can go to http://www.epsonsettlement.com/ and find the claim form there.

The last day to send in a claim form is June 22, 2006.

Class Counsel and Epson America Announce Class Action Settlement [Press Release]

Update 5/30 - Ron, one of our commenters, left this note: “I got this back from Epson about the e-store code: Per this website, the settlement benefits are not distributed until AFTER the court considers final approval on the settlement. The settlement benefits will be available no sooner than the late fall of 2006. Thus, any Epson Store codes will not be activated until after the final settlement.”

This would explain why a lot of people have been wondering about actually using their benefits at the Epson store.

Update 6/1 - Another commenter, Jerry, pointed out this link: E-Store Code Notification. So if you sign up, you will be automatically notified via email or postcard that your code/benefits are ready.

Update 9/18 - The latest news on this case is that the settlement was officially accepted by the Court back on August 15th, so this should mean that everyone’s E-Store codes are valid. If you are still having trouble, you can always try calling 1-877-506-4031, which was a number set up for all class members. There is a pretty long recording that you have to listen to at first, but you could always try hitting 0 to see if an operator appears.

Update 1/22 - http://www.pacificink.com/blog/2007/01/22/epson-settlement-update-2/

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